I show you what I mean.

Many months ago I got all my ducks in a row, air line, hotels, car rental. I booked with Thrifty at $212.96. That's a full weeks rental on a full size car. At the time it was the best I could do. Earlier today, I checked rates, and Doller was cheaper, $186.63. So I switched and figured since we leave tomorrow for Vegas, that was going to be it. Well, tonight I checked one more time....Thrifty $138.92. This is with all the taxes, and fee's, Full size car.
A savings of $74.04, Hey it's a Tank of gas!

On a side note, I'm wondering if the larger cars are a little more sluggish in rentals.

I'm wondering if the larger cars are a little more sluggish in rentals." ..........

I bet that's the answer in a nutshell, Lee.

But if you really want to bet'em in their own game.

Take the car but don't drive it anywhere.

Another $74.00 savings!

Good for you, Lee!

I've been getting a ton of email offers from rental companies - but they are all for the large cars - sometimes only for SUV's or bigger.

None of which is helping me lose the drop charge on my Wichita to Kansas City rental next week, but thats another story!

will, we really need you solving the Las Vegas economic issues. Lee saves $74.04, you save another $74. That's over $148 savings on a $138.92 rental. I like it.

FWIW, car rental companies are running out of the smaller and fuel efficient cars that people are requesting.

Well...if they are nice to me, I could be talked into a lux, top end model....if the price is right! LOL

Will, ever think of running for office? <G>

Lee, I took your advice and checked again for our rental next month. In July I had reserved a midsize at Alamo for 5 days at $139 per week with a $25 online coupon. So with tax and other unknown surcharges it was $165. Tonight I received another email from Alamo and decided to check again. I had to double take to make sure that I had put in more than a couple days. The weekly rate for a FULL size is $95.80 plus the $25 online coupon. With all the bells and whistles it totals to $108.
So what I thought was a very good deal is now even betterer. Yes that is a Southern term???

I think the term is "more betterer" or possibly "most bestest".

How about "Lots gooder"? I always check weekly when I have a rental car booked. I usually does go down in rates as the time gets closer.

Call the rate whatever you want, but this appears to be a great time to reserve a car or update a reservation. I checked rates for my November trip, and WOW!

The base rate for a "Wild Card" is $12.50/day at Thrifty, mid-size is $13, and full size is $15. After those dratteD taxes and fees, my 3 day Wild Card rental went from $90.98 to $55.92.

daisy-did you notice that a pt cruiser was 129 bucks a day!! whats that all about!i booked a caliber for 63 bucks for four days total.we shall see if i fit into it or put another way-if my bucket fits into their bucket.

Hey DAG, Whats up with the price on the PT? It did however make me laugh for our 9 days it was almost $800 before taxes!
I booked a premium car about 2 weeks ago, I just rechecked my price after reading daisy's note, and I can save a whopping $5. It wasn't worth my effort. I expect I might just drop down to a full size, when the time gets closer. 278 for my total cost. Dollar is exactly the same price to the penny.

ROTFL! No, DAG, I didn't scroll down far enough to see the PT rate. I only want to rent one, not buy it, but I do keep trying to tell my mom she should get a PT - every time she complains it's getting harder to get in & out of her Sebring.

Lee, have you ever tried Thrifty's Wild Card deal? They guarantee you at least a mid-size, but each time I've done it, they have basically asked me what I wanted. You might save $80-100 and easily talk your way into a Chrysler 300.

for upcoming trips i am usually booked two months in advance.other than air i usually change rental and hotel two or three times as offers roll in.as a fyi,on the bottom of the thrifty quote page there is a date that the quotes are good thru and i check as new dates are posted.my current not bad rates were only posted for a 24hour period so you almost have to check on a daily basis.i am paying 63 bucks total for 4days in a caliber (small suv type) and i did pass on the 500 dollar pt!

Daisy, I have done the "the deal" but had very limited results. Those 300's they seem to want to hold on to. Anyway, I want the bigger car for the trunk space this trip, My sister is traveling with us, and for a 9 day trip, that's a lot of clothes.
And yes, I'm prepared to pay at the counter for extra checked bags!

We had booked a compact but when we got there the guy said to pick from the mid-size row as there were not any compacts left. We got there about 11:00pm on a friday night of a long weekend so I guess thats a good time to get an upgrade?

a quick fyi-don't ever rent a caliber,it is the bottom of the car chain,so to speak!

I use a visa card for just about everything we buy and then pay it off each month. Like most of the banks they have a promotion of giving you points that accumulate and you can use them to purchase products or gift cards and vacations. That is how we paid for our Las Vegas vacation a few weeks ago. This time I called them and asked them to book a rental car for me and she put me on hold and came back with a mid size at Alamo for $383 for 7 days plus local taxes that I found out the hard way are $80-$85 dollars. Now I was just on the Alamo site before I called her and saw a mid size for $190. taxes in. I questioned her about this difference and she got really offensive and stated that they do not guarantee the lowest rate. HUH? It says on the bank website that they do strive to get the lowest rate. She says well this isn't the bank and what do you care as long as it isn't out of your pocket. I was steaming at that remark. OH really so who are you? I called the number the bank website provides thinking the bank would answer.
We are a distributer and go through a brokerage and can only book through a couple of companies. I was so mad I spent a half a day going through the corporate maze trying to talk to someone who could answer to me why it costs 3x versus what I can rent myself. This is still a work in progress as I have not gotten an answer yet but things like this just burn me up to no end.

LOL, here we go again! Keep in mind that no auto rental reservation is final until you pick it up - just like those hotels<g>.

First, the bad news .... the taxes are not necesarily $88-85; they are actually a percentage of the base rate. For a $383 base rate, your taxes would be closer to $150.

The good news is that I couldn't believe that rate and did some snooping - the short version is that you could rent a "wild card" from Thrifty for a base rate of $98.80, and the total rental would come to $158.17 after all the dratted taxes. This might be a good time to save your Visa travel bucks for a future trip. FYI, the "wild card" at Thrifty is guaranteed to be mid-size or better. If you do go this route, I would strongly suggest you sign up for a Thrifty Blue Chip card so you can bypass the loooonnnggg line at the desk and go directly to the booth in their lot.

Whoa..Are you saying even though I have a reservation number for a car and a confirmation number for my hotel I could show up and they may not have a car or room for me? Say it ain't so Daisy.

I have (I think) reserved a compact at alamo but I will go to the thrifty website and snoop around.

Its not hard to tell I'm a complete rookie at these things is it?
I don't know what I would do without all the great tips and advice coming from all you folks on this forum.

It ain't so, Rukiding.

What I should have somehow conveyed it that your reservation is not written in stone - at your discretion - you can cancel or change most reservations made directly with the hotel or car company. That is a LOT different than dealing with someone like Expedia that wants your money up front and pretty much locks you into the arrangements. Most hotel companies have a 72 hour cancellation policy or they will charge you for the first night if you don't show - I've heard that auto rental companies just cancel the reservation for a no show, but I haven't tested that theory myself.

For my November trip, I made my first Thrifty reservation in September - for a "wild card" at a base rate of $67 for 3 days. That got changed in October when they offered a $37 base rate. I doubt I'm going to mess with that one<g>. My current room reservation is at the Flamingo, and I'm not going to beat the rate, but I would change the location in a heartbeat if Palazzo or Venetian came up with a similiar offer.