We have been several places recently, most recently to Syracuse, NY, and the car rental prices are outrageous! Our next trip is to Atlanta and then California, and the rental prices in both of those places are also outrageous. Car rental costs more than airfare. Are you finding this true in different areas of the country? I saw one posting about rental prices fluctuating wildly in Las Vegas.........do you think this is because of the down economy? What do you travelers think? Is there any particular way, other than rental company web sites, that you find low car rental prices?

We have resorted to coupons just to get a break, but a free day really doesn't do much, when the prices are so high. Florida and Nevada have always been good markets for low rental car prices.

daughter just rented a car to drive to idaho on business.didn't mention how much she paid but there was 50,000 miles on the car!i will find out what co.

I think car rental rates vary based on volume and competition in the area. As Lee said, Las Vegas and many parts of Florida have very reasonable rates. But they are high volume tourist areas, demand for cars is high, and many companies compete for business there, hence the better rates. Other cities with high volumes of tourists (like New York and San Francisco) don't have high demands for cars, hence rental car competition is lower and rates are higher.

I frequently get rental cars with my business travel and sometimes my stomach cringes with some of the rates I pay. I even rented a car on a recent trip home to Buffalo and the rate was DOUBLE what I pay in Las Vegas - in Buffalo of all places!!

I think New York is also high because they have some strange rules on the collision damage waiver.

We rented a car in Atlanta at the end of July, and the price was ...........base around $ 180 for Tues night through Sun noon, from Thrifty, the least expensive I could find. The car was a Dodge Nitro (!) had 30,000 miles on it, and was pretty trashed. The inside was all scratched up with paint missing on door handles and dash, the car smelled like old food (but no smoke!), had no running board, and was really bad. We had to borrow a step ladder from daughter so I could get into the darn thing the whole time we were there. Rented a car in Chicago for upcoming trip...Tues evening through Thurs evening, Avis, for $ 195 for full size, and one in Oakland for Fri-Sun for $ 117. It's surprising to see such differences all within a couple of months.