John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son JESUS CHRIST FOR OUR SINS so whoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen ...
I've rented at least 20 cars in the last year and the best advice I can offer is to be kind, patient and genuine with the car rental agent (in person specifically). Acknowledge their efforts and time and be grateful. I've been upgraded on every, single rental in the last year, sometimes just a grade up sometimes from a compact to a midsized suv and even a couple premium and luxury upgrades. It pays to be a decent human being, especially now.
this is true. even if you aren't buying any additional services from me, if you're a nice person, i'm *at least* going to look for the best car in the class you rented, if not upgrade you for free. if you're a terrible person, you get the biggest p.o.s. car i have, and get to walk the entire garage to get it.
this is 100 percent true. If you are nice, kind, empathetic, and everything you said, I will do whatever I can to take care of you within reason. I have even gone to management to ask for discounts on the daily rate when we were slammed and wait times were long, just because you handled it the way you did. BE NICE TO THE AGENTS, THEY WILL TAKE OF YOU!
I worked in various fields of the automotive industry and including car rental. Everything he said is spot on. The only thing I will say is getting the insurance is worth it. I’ve had customers literally total the rental and with the coverage they bought didn’t have to pay a dime and didn’t go on their record.
When renting overseas always declined the insurance because my credit card covered it. I was sideswiped in a parking lot in England and here is what I learned. #1- you become the straw boss for the claim. The credit card company wants certain documents which you are to obtain from the car rental agency. The agency doesn’t comply or sends something else which the car rental agency won’t accept ...and on you go! Hassle after hassle. #2. When the credit card company finally settles the claim it won’t pay the tax or admin fees the car rental agency tacks on. Those charges amounted to nearly $200... way more than if I had bought the insurance offered by the rental agency when I booked....which I now do!
Hello, Do you recommend Allianz ,instead of purchasing the expensive insurance from the car rental company itself? I always purchase Allianz insurance because I rent cars frequently. I have however noticed customer complaints regarding their claim process, mostly for travel reimbursements.
I work in sales for Hertz inside of an airport. Everything you said is true, BUT if you would’ve told us you weren’t comfortable with the price, we have full control over how much we want to charge you a day since we make commission. We are taught to even cut prices in half if the customer is unhappy.
You get your money then. But make broke people even more broke by trying to cancel all their discounts, especially for students. Car rentals are more expensive than air tickets now.
The story was on NBC nightly news. They say that said the rental car company’s didn’t buy new vehicles last year so with flights getting full now they are short cars now.
There might be something to this Autoslash. I had a car reserved for $370 for 4 days through Enterprise and, through Autoslash, received a quote for a different branch just a few miles down the road for $270. I'm impressed! Thanks Matt!
Just wanted to say that I saved about $134 today just by following your car rental advice! Thank you so much, really, thank you for putting in the work on behalf of all of us who don’t know these things 💖💖
Hi Matt, I stumbled on to your channel on moments before renting a car on line. I watched this video and took your advise and booked with auto slash. My price dropped from $32 per day to $15.25 per day. Thank you for that! Also took insurance through auto slash. 7 days insurance for $63. Thanks again for the free advise.
Re: rental car insurance. I personally recommend it. Saved me tons of grief. My son rented a mini van, chose the rental company optional insurance at my insistence, then photographed every square inch of the car for our own protection. Had the van 4 days while staying at a hotel waiting for escrow to close and move in our home. One night there was a rowdy party and a lot of parking lot activity. When we turned in the van, they noticed a huge dent in the roof above the driver’s side door. My son had not photographed the roof! Don’t know if it was pre-existing or a result of the partyiers. Would have been thousands to repair. We walked away hassle free. PS. I’ve read where some rental car companies KNOW OF pre-existing damage, conveniently do not record it on your initial inspection, then ding you when the car is turned in. There have been instances where companies have done this scam several times using the same car. Therefore, I consider their optional insurance on a par with a solid password on your computer: mandatory. Don’t “cheap out”!
David,.....I agree,....I always pay for the extra insurance. Sure,...it sucks,...but,...like you said when need it you certainly are glad you paid for it. If a couple of times a year I ''take it on the chin'' for extra car insurance so be it.
Holy moly!!! I am so glad that I found you!! I have a 5-day trip to Hawaii coming up in June, and the car rental prices are ridiculous!! All of the companies are charging $700+ for a 5-day car rental!!! I was about to give up and not bother renting a car when I found you! I used the website that you recommended, and boom! The price dropped from $700+ to $300!!! I almost can't believe it!!! I am so thankful and grateful!!! I will be using that website for all of my future car rentals!!
Matt, what a timely video. Had reserved a car in Florida for a weeks vacation direct via Alamo. Almost $970 (with insurance for the week). Used AutoSlash. Booked the same size SUV (with insurance) for $501. JUST AWESOME. Many thanks.
*** Best Thing about Airport Rental locations, they are typically open 24hrs 365. Beats waiting for the rental place to open again or making it b4/after closing time
When you originally book the rental car from an airport off-site location, they let you know if the location is closed at the time you want to pick up the car. However, this kind of problem can arise if your flight is delayed, causing you to arrive too late to pickup the car on time, and the off-site location is closed at that later time.
HIGHLY recommend you take pictures of the vehicle or video inside/out when you pick up and drop off. Our rental was wet when we picked it up and something that looked like a water drop was actually a chip in the windshield. They tried to charge us $750 to fix it. And always get a receipt when you turn car in. My husband declined the insurance and when he asked for the receipt, they took forever to give it to him and insurance was conveniently added despite declining it.
Just saw your video. Excellent tips. As a former car rental employee the insurance tip is important, while working for Enterprise a nice elderly lady rented a car and declined the insurance ten minutes after leaving she was in an accident. She was fine just scared but since she refused insurance she had to pay $500 before she could get another car. Keep up the great work.
I worked at hertz.... Lots of people that book with a debit card on a third party site tend to show up and get screwed over because if they can’t pass a credit check they can’t rent a car or have an unexpected deposit. The best insurance to get (Atleast with Hertz) is the LDW(loss damage waiver) it covers the car so you don’t have to file on your insurance AND if it’s damaged you don’t have to pay the daily rental charges for it every day it’s in the shop (your insurance won’t cover that). Debit cards at the airport they will run a credit check, and hold a deposit on top of your rental amount (you must also have your flight itinerary) Sign up for the hertz gold profile, it’s free and you get perks!
I'm happy that somebody from Hertz has spoke up I've been renting for hertz for the past 2 years and it's great even the loyalty membership is amazing stacking up on points And just like you said the loss damage waiver fee is the best bet to go with is just I guess People are just trying to save as much money as they can but when they realize that a little bit of saving really won't help in the long run And I live in California Never had a problem with hertz
Used to be a Hertz customer. I think my husband was even a gold member or something similarly named. We only used debt cards and it was never a problem. For YEARS. Then one day, despite all that business, despite all those years, it was magically a problem. So that was the day that Hertz lost our business and we walked right over to Enterprise, where we have been customers for years without problems. They are nicer there too, so win/win. Hertz really blew it with some sort of change in policy.
Hertz Gold is great and free. How do you feel about cards that offer primary insurance (Chase United) or Amex Premium Protection ($20-25 flat rate coverage up to 42 days)
Out of all the advice given (and all were good), the best was GET A PRINTED RECEIPT. Once you are given a printed receipt it is a lot harder (not impossible but close to) for the car rental company to charge you for cleaning, repairs, damage, etc. Also this serves as proof that the car was return and the employee who received it did not see the need for any additional charges.
You need to be extremely careful with taking the 3rd party insurance through another company versus the car rental dealership themselves. While it may be cheaper, there are a hell of a lot of restrictions regarding what they will or will not cover. Always remember that you get what you pay for.
If you believe you always get what you pay for, i have some expensive and useless insurance that I’d like to sell you. Don’t go along believing in mindless truisms or buying all the upgrades and protection plans thinking you are getting anything close to the value of what you’ve paid for.
Its also worth noting that the 3rd party insurance companies don't pay the car rentals companies. rather you have to pay and then the 3rd parties will reimburse you
Just watched this video and tried auto slash. I'd usually default to the Enterprise near my brother's house. Auto slash gave me rates for a Hertz dealer that is actually 10 minutes closer. Saved me $130 for a three day rental over Labor Day weekend. Amazing! Guess I wasn't doing enough due diligence before. Wouldn't have seen this without your video. Liked and subscribed!
Here’s one. I’ve been told by multiple car companies that the rates go down after 12 noon or 1pm on thursday. And i’ve tried this out and it works. Lots of times i rent for a week even if i only need it for 4-5 days. It can save you money as well
I just appreciate that you actually understand how damage waiver works. Although I should let you know if you are home city employee at least for my rental car company you do not get commission for any add-ons. Although it may be different for other companies or airport locations.
I take photos of the gas tank and of every scratch or dent during the initial walk around. Just in case any proof of original condition is needed when returning the vehicle.
From someone that has worked in numerous car rental companies, Child Seats are not part of our commisions and the prices go from 10€ per day or 2-6€ per day for a Booster. But they are never, absolutely never part of our commisions, mostly because it's an obligatory product that you must have for your child and it's not really a sale.
I wished I would of seen these tips before! My mother in law was dying, so we had to use a car rental. I will never use Hertz again! They literally doubled my rental, when we tried to appeal for their compassion, due to an error. There slogan was, the contract is signed and there is nothing we can do. Horrible experience during a very difficult time.
Yes, booking through a 3rd party site will usually be cheaper, but not always. Also, if something happens and they run out of cars, reservations through 3rd parties are much more likely to get turned away than someone who booked through the company itself. And when it comes to insurance, some states haves laws that make so the rental agency doesn’t have to deal with 3rd party insurance. Meaning you will get charged for any damages and then have to get the 3rd party insurance to reimburse you.
One company that has the best prices is Costco. Yes, you need to be a member but if you rent cars a couple of times a year it pays for itself and then you get the other price benefits as well. If you don't have one near you it can be all done online and most of the things they sell include shipping.
I agree with this. Costco, and nobody comes close. You can figure it out on your own, but time of day and time of the week have an affect on the rental price. I cannot vouch for every place, but I recently rented a weekly rental and Friday night was the cheapest day to rent and night was the cheapest time. I am guessing because people turn their cars on Friday and they want to get them out ASAP? You have to go to the airport to do it though. I do not agree with the airport thing. They are cheaper and have better cars. The local place get the airport's rejects.
Totally agree. I have never found a cheaper price anywhere else. Even AARP rates are more expensive. Also use my Navy Federal Rewards card and they will pay the deductible if there is an accident.
I agree. Costco has the best rates. I will shop the Costco site well in advance of my arrival and reserve the best rate at that time. I then check periodically and always find lower prices or a better car for the same or lower price. You can always cancel your original res with no penalty.
Can’t read all the comments but here’s a tip for you. When looking over the rental with an agent and before you drive off check under the floor mats for dirt and check the seats for pet hair. They will almost always give you a 10% dirty car discount.
A coworker of mine took one of your suggestions and rented a car at a location further away from the airport. They took a cab from the airport to pick up the car. Only problem was that she had an early flight coming home. When she took the car back to the rental place, they weren’t opened yet! She dropped it off at the airport but had to pay a penalty. So if you rent offsight, make sure the rental agency is opened during the hours you plan on picking up and returning the car.
This is a valid comment. I also noticed that off-airport locations have weird opening hours such as 10 AM to 4 PM which would not work with many flights.
It's not Post Covid there yet Mama xD but yeah one can only hope it gets better soon cuz much more and this will REALLY be an issue- family of 4 (plus 2 more to help pay xD) planning a trip next summer will it clear up yet?? one can only hope.
THANK YOU!!!!! Before trying Autoslash, a 3 day rental was $388. Autoslash immediately came back with a rate of $366. In the last 3 weeks I've gotten 5 alerts for a price drop. As of yesterday, we're down to $218. So far we're saving $170! That's crazy. We still have 2 months before our trip. I'm wondering if it will go down even more. Definitely worth it to keep cancelling the previous reservation to get great savings. Thanks again and love your channel!
Speaking as an ex enterprise employee(Houston).... 1. False 2. True 3. True-ish. Airports normally have lower rates due to increased taxes. But you have a better selection. 4. 🤷🏾♂️ 5. Always take the CDW/LDW. Can't control break ins and other damages. 6. ERAC hardly had coupons. You're better off sliding a tip to the agent for an upgrade. 🤷🏾♂️ Also, cleaning fees only really applied to if you smoked in the car. We never expected the customer to clean the car lol
@@Willster7471 at airport locations it does. Most times the agent is going to walk the lot with you and you will choose the car. Example, if you have a reservation for a full car, and you see an premium or or small suv you want, you can discreetly offer a tip and he can show you a nicer vehicle. I did this while I worked at Bush Intercontinental
There is a big caveat on insurance. Many people, myself included, drive personal vehicles that are 10, 15, 20 years old, and carry no collision or comprehensive insurance on them because it makes no sense to based on value of vehicle. I have liability only. So you will definitely want to take the CDW if you're in that situation. Always take full video of vehicle condition when picking up and when dropping off, interior included. Don't forget the roof. And pay attention to the weather. If you see severe storms approaching and you are in tornado alley, find someplace with a covered roof to park under until it passes. Hail is very common in many areas during intense storms. Seeing badly hail damaged cars in parking lots is quite routine in Oklahoma and other states.
Disclaimer. I am a former car rental manager. On several websites I have given my assistance to people in finding the best deal. I have even consulted with the owner of Autoslash when he was first starting. And I have the emails to prove it. Overall, your six tips were 100% spot on. I do have a 7th for you. Yes, you will always save money by prepaying for a rental. And yes, rental agents do make much of their money from add-ons. But there are some add-ons that have value, and there are some ways that rental agents make money that you didn't mention. Let me go through my number seven for you. Car rental agents make money from walk-ups as well. I left the car rental industry in 2007. And since then I have never paid a car rental at the lowest advertised rate utilizing any of the websites. I have beaten it, often significantly. This also works to get a better class of car than you paid for as well. I have this process: I book the lowest refundable rate I can find. I make sure that it's 100% refundable and that I will not have any issues if I no-show. Then when I land, with a printed copy of my rate, I will walk to all the rental companies located on the airport. I will walk up to the agent and say "can you beat this?" 95% of the time I will get an agent that will find me a cheaper rate because that walk up traffic is a commission walking out the door. Now this will not work if you have a reservation and you try to walk up to the same company that you hold a reservation for. So you need to make sure you have one safety reservation is what I call it at a rate that you can live with. Let's say that company is Avis. When you arrive at the airport you check Hertz, national, Alamo, advantage, Fox, budget or any other rental car company to see if they can beat that rate. If they don't, you stick with your safety reservation. If they do, and almost every single time they do at least give you added value for the same price, you can opt to stay or take the better rate. The 5% of the time that I do not get a better rate or get the same rate, it's because they are sold out in the entire airport, which is all too common right now. However in Las Vegas in early May, I was able to secure a rate $15 per day less than my reservation with this same process. There is one circumstance where using the website of the rental company is useful. If the company that you work for or the association that you are a member of has a discount, you need to at least investigate what that discount will get you. For example, if you need to pay for a second driver, many discounts will make that second driver free, include collision damage waiver insurance, include a free tank of gas, or provide other benefits on top of a discount. Your mileage may quite literally vary, but if you pay $15 a day more using a company rate then auto slash can give you, but it includes full insurance, additional drivers, it allows you a free tank of gas, you might very well come out significantly ahead. For example, it's been many years but there was a marketing company that had a negotiated rate with the company that I worked for. LDW first $5,000 was covered by the company rate, additional drivers were free, the rate also allowed the use of a debit card without additional fees, also allowed underage drivers without an additional fee. To top it all off, the rate also allowed them to return the gas at any level with no charge. But they were paying a flat $50 per day unlimited mileage. In some cities, New York for example, $50 per day at that time was fantastic. But in the off season in Hawaii, cars could be had as cheap as $15 per day. But an additional driver, underage driver, insurance would add $75 per day, you can see where the company and anyone using that code who was authorized could significantly save money.
Lol, here's the one I never heard of... this day. The "can You beat this price" schtick will eventually just get You blacklisted, and rental companies share those kind of informations. Please don't do it.
Have you seen weirdness when rental time periods push from 4 to 5 days? I had an issue in hawaii where it became CRAZY more expensive to rent for 5 days vs 4 days because it moved to the weekly instead of daily rate. This applied to every agency! The odd thing is you would think that a weekly rate should be cheaper, not more expensive. In fact, it was even cheaper for me to book 3 days + 2 days as independent trips rather than 5 days!
I've literally saved thousands renting through Hertz because I do a lot of 1 way rentals and unlike enterprise where I used to rent, Hertz doesn't charge a drop off fee!! Wish I could have known 6 years earlier
Still? Hertz has begun using the term unlimited miles as a modified what they feel what a max amount of miles per day. This is far from UNLIMITED. I have stopped using them for this reason
Almost every time I've rented a car, they ask me if I want the insurance (I always get it for the reasons Matt said). I act like I'm ho-ing and hum-ing over the decision and one of two things happens 99% of the time; 1) they offer to upgrade me if I agree to take the insurance or 2) I ask if they would be willing to upgrade me if I take the insurance and they say "yes". Once I was able to get a brand new Camaro for a week when I originally booked a mid sized sedan (Ford Focus). The insurance was $50 and to upgrade to the "sport" class would have cost me over $100. Probably wouldn't work at the airport, but usually works everywhere else.
On item number 5.....I purchased that secondary insurance on my car rental and 10 min after leaving the airport facility in Orlando, Fl.... a windshield crack came up due to a small rock that flew from the vehicle in front of me, cracked slightly , one corner of the front windshield , I returned to the airport and notified the car company in person.....they made me call a 1-800 number, wrote an incident report, they asked me about my personal insurance, I had that supplementary insurance paid online to have an extra coverage and at the end .....that insurance Never paid for the mishap .... I finished paying almost 300.00 dollars in a check and they charged my insurance for the two days that the vehicle was on repair....at the end It was better for me to call one of those windshield repair companies and they come to you for less than 200.00 they replaced the front windshield and end of the story....the entire final charge was around $500.00 and that secondary insurance never took my claim, the phone was ringing, left a message twice and they don’t even returned any of my calls.... so don’t buy it !😡
@@ariannaspaceninja311 just be careful...I tried to be extra cautious with the rental car ...and at the end , they charged my insurance, they made me paid 300.00 and after a research on how much the car windshield cost ($265.00) good luck in the future!
I am a travelling nurse. I rent literally over 300 days a year. THE BEST THING is to get a credit card (Costco for example) that COVERS YOUR RENTAL CAR just for using the card and declining the insurance at the time of the rental. I used to use the Citibank card and it saved me around 2k when someone slammed into the car at a stop light. The damage came in at just about 2k for a bent trunk (it really looked like 300.00 damage but you know how that goes). Also, in some cities, in order to recoup the losses from the lock downs, what was once 9.99/day is now 25.99 a day for protection. I personally save more than 8k per year using this hack. You literally make back your money in less than one week of rental. That is as much or more than the daily rental (just like resort fees at Vegas/sidebar). This can make renting a car unrealistic so, get a credit card that has this protection if you rent cars even a few weeks a year.
I work for enterprise. Car seats: yes bring your own and don’t bother paying for ours. They’re a different brand then the good ones and we can’t help you install them regardless. “Deals”: they’re seasonal. Summer = more business, rates go up. Winter= less business, rates go down. Booking through a 3rd party website to save a few dollars is all well and good but it makes your experience a lot less efficient at the counter. Protections: yes they are optional & per day costs however if you total a car? Good luck going through your insurance or a 3rd party. Well have to collect your deductible, it’ll hurt your premiums and what the insurance companies don’t want you to know is that THEY get commissions every time you get in an accident so they want you to not get protection. What he said about the benefits was true. Airport pickups: yea taxes are a bitch. He’s right so if you can pick up at a local branch as opposed to an airport probably do so. It’s more inconvenient but if you’re that pressed about paying the extra taxes and fees then you kinda gotta choose between price and convenience. Coupons: at least enterprise only has Cosco, I wouldn’t try “stacking coupons” it’ll be a weird convo when we try and tell you we don’t have any besides cosco. Only give cleaning fees if the car is extremely dirty, loose trash is fine, and what he didn’t say about pre paid fuel is that we offer it at a discounted rate as opposed to city price. So ya if your not driving long distances don’t get it but if you are why wouldn’t you? Hope it helped.
It may also useful to keep a receipt of your final fueling stop before returning the car. Once a company charged me a lot of money for refueling a car they claimed had only a quarter of a tank left - which I could prove to be mathematically Impossible because I had done the three-quarter fill-up minutes before giving the car back.
While some of what you said is correct, there are a few errors I must point out. As someone who worked at hertz for over 2 years, it is always best to book directly through the rental companies. Booking through a 3rd party may save you money but if something happens and you are running ahead of schedule or you have to cancel the rental, you will either have to wait until your pickup time or, if you pre-pay, you won't get your money back. I had seen it happen a million times to many people. Regarding the 3rd party coverage, most 3rd party coverage is secondary coverage meaning that they will cover what your primary insurance will not meaning that you will still pay deductible and could raise your rates. Otherwise, you were correct in most things, but AAA will actually waive the fee for a carseat at Hertz.
I will never book a car or hotel through a third party- I've been in line and seen the people ahead of me not accepted by the hotel or car rental company. Not worth trying to save a few bucks only to find there's a snag between the non-rental agency and the rental car company..
Great video. Never ever uner any circumstances should you pre-pay. It doesn't guarantee you will get a vehicle and in today's rental car climate. Waiting up to 5 days for a refund sucks. Especially for those who have only 1 credit card.
It happened to me - if you loose your keys they wanted $250 , they won't just send someone to reset a new keys - they'll tow the car to the nearest airport ( or their nearest car rental location ) you have to pay for your transportation and I had a flat tire, thank God I have AAA because your response for fixing the tire.
When taking the third party “insurance” through a booking site (or most of the time when using a credit card coverage) this is secondary insurance. So they will only pay the claim if your primary insurance (your personal policy or coverage taken from the rental agency at the counter) Denys the claim. So in most cases you still would have to file a claim on your personal policy if something were to happen. I only find these to be useful if you don’t have personal insurance, or you do not have collision on your policy. Not to mention they often have very strict terms and conditions that are hidden, which can often get them out of paying all together. Also most do not cover loss of use, (revenue lost from the vehicle being out of service for repair) .. not to mention you will have to pay for the damages upfront and then contact the third party for reimbursement.
I took a trip north and flew into Chicago Midway. Cheapest rate I found at the airport was Budget...almost 900 bucks for four days on a Rav 4 SUV. Taking a 10 mile Uber trip to an off airport Budget site, I paid 340 bucks total. This happened on a pre Covid trip to Raleigh NC...big savings taking a quick Uber trip.
Hertz incentivize rentals when you pick up a car off-airport and drop it off at an airport. 4 day rent is cheaper than 5 day rent but 7 day rent is almost always the same rate as 5 day rentals before tax. Always check weekly rates if daily rates are expensive. If you are renting last minute, check other car categories because some maybe cheaper even compared to compacts.
Wow! Just used AutoSlash and it actually worked! Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to rent and was getting quoted $560 for 5 days. Ended up saving $200 with Autoslash. Praying that everything goes smoothly at the pickup.
I hesitate to book a car rental through a third party website because I've had issues in the past where, if there's a problem, the car rental company says there's nothing they can do because you booked through another agency and you have to deal with them. A nightmare when you're standing at the counter trying to get your car.
Yes...I want thru it in dec 2020 from avis...I booked a car from priceline for avis..snowstorm forced me to reschedule my flight...avis couldn't do anything because I booked thru priceline...going forward I will always book direct with the rental company...
Love these tips. Just have to reinforce not to prepay for tank of gas as even if you return on empty, the value of the gallon or so that is actually still in the tank would well cover any higher price you'd pay at a gas station near the drop off.
You may have already mentioned this but I always take a picture of the dash board showing the full fuel tank and time and mileage on return. A few pictures of the clean interior, just in case too.
I work at a franchise rental company. That means we own our cars, we pay our own insurance and set the rates in accordance with industry standards. If a vehicle comes back damaged, the renter is charged unless they take out insurance. Our cars are always full before going out so no need to prepay for gas. We do not do discounts, add ons such as car seats or 1 way rentals. Major rental locations may do this but smaller franchises likely do not.
Everyone’s situation is different, but we always take the gas fill option because the prices are almost the same where we go and we are usually stressed for time, so that is one less thing to do. Also the company we use (Enterprise) is really good about giving us little perks, so sometimes we don’t even have a charge at all depending on what the gas was when they gave it. They are very flexible and super nice. It doesn’t help when flying to strange cities, but if you rent a lot from a local office like we do, getting to know the staff can definitely save you money! One time, they even came and dropped off a new car to us when the car we had died on us in a parking lot an hour after we had left. So I strongly advise getting to know people if you can. Shopping around can save money, but so can being a “regular” with hidden discounts, upgrades and all sorts of things just for getting to know the staff.
Greg G I always do the gas fill up option. Airports especially. If you are only going 100 miles to an airport, and the car has a full tank, just ask them to estimate how much fuel you are going to use and charge you for that exact gallon amount. For example, if the car gets 25mpg on the highway, just ask for 4 gallons of “pre-paid fuel”. People seem to think that pre paid fuel is signing you up to buy the entire tank of gas. It’s not! You can decide how much you want!
Enterprise nailed me this past weekend when I used an association code that I wasn’t entitled to. They wanted an ID card or an email. They removed it, and it doubled the price. They used to not check, but now they are checking.
To anyone asking about using your credit card insurance, read the fine print. You will be required to put all repairs on said credit card. The credit card can take anywhere from 3+ months to process your claim. Meanwhile, you are getting charged interest on your repair charges not to mention tying up your credit line and it is affecting your credit score. Also, they generally will not cover loss of use or depreciation. Do your homework to find your best option for insurance/coverage. It will save you money and lots of trouble if anything happens.
When it comes to prepaid fuel, it's best to buy it if you're off airport and returning to an airport. Fuel near off airport is cheaper than it will be when you get to the airport. If you have the car for several days, in 2022, you never know what the gas prices will be like next week. So if you prepaid for the fuel, you got a deal if price shoots up again. Especially during holidays.
Always, always, always... do a pre inspection/walk around the car. Better if you do it with an agent who will give you a pre inspection form . If no agent is available take pictures! Also take a picture of the gas tank and current mileage on the car if it is not full
My problem with #2 is that booking through an outside agency would not grant you any discounts or perks such as a "free" upgrade or loyalty points. Futhermore, if you need to cancel or request a refund, the rental agency will dissolve themselves from any responsibility and now youre stuck dealing with emails and phone calls instead of an actual face to face to solve the financial problem. Sometimes saving the few extra $$ isnt worth it
Enterprise is by for the best with debit card rentals. They don't do credit checks and only ask for a few references. I would still suggest using a credit card as you will get your deposit back immediately.
I work for enterprise in the UK and we do not make commission, or salary is a flat rate regardless of sales. The only thing with third party sites is that there are no guarantees on car type or even availability. Also if your poor pay through them getting a refund or money back will take months to happen if at all.
As someone who worked for Enterprise in an airport. 1) Only some of the counter people make commission. As a customer service agent yes under Alamo and National(both owned by Enterprise) but as an Management Trainee or higher position we do not make commission at all however we do need a certain percentage of tickets to qualify at the end if the month. 2) I recommend renting through the actual website only because I had at least 10ppl a day have some kind of travel issue or problem with the reservation and we could not do much on our end, they had to crawl thru hoops calling the 3rd parties they booked for to get anything fixed, they also don't always tell you or inform of some other fees such as a local security deposits or policies that might require additional documentation that can prevent someone from getting a vehicle depending on the location. 3) At least with Enterprise the prepaid fuel is cheaper than any of the gas stations with a 10mile radius of the airport by at least 15cents as we have someone who daily checks the flutuations of the gas market and adjust our area accordingly. 4)The National emerald club is definitely worth it in certain locations like Atlanta and Las Vegas as you do get a different selection of vehicles higher in the ranks while only paying for the midsized car rate. For example a Camaro SS for the price of a Corolla and the program is free. Also depending on the location and number of available cars Emerald club members were given priority to available vehicles, by some employees, they also get the newest sometimes straight off the truck vehicles with 5 miles, and free upgrades to luxury vehicles
God bless you man! My Mom hit a deer in a foggy day (she is ok) and I have to rent a car so I can drop off my car at a collision place. With this whole Covid my job is laying me off for 2 weeks man and I was worried about the prices all these companies where charging me for 1 week. Thank you again, you are a blessing when I needed someone the most.
Well, being loyal sometimes pay off. Been renting from Alamo for twelve years now, directly through their site..and hasn't had any problems yet. And, man, it sure is nice to just get off a shuttle bus (or what have you) and walk directly to your car without being bothered//
The third party coverage has limits to their coverage usually at 35k. This is fine for a cheap car but if your renting an suv or nicer car it may not have enough coverage if something major happens
The best bet is to book direct stack a Costco coupon and pickup with key in the car. I used to rent 20-30 times a year but now only on vacation. Hate to talk to car rental staff as they upsell you late night so just like to pay upfront and walk to the car
You did not mention credit cards that provide total loss primary insurance (several Chase products) or Amex's Total Loss Premium Protection which is $20-25 flat rate covering cars up to $100k
Thank you so much for tip#5. That helped out so much. I forgot so much about alliance. I’ve used them before. Their really good. It saved me over $200 for my upcoming trip.
Fox car rental also makes you put down anywhere from $500-$1500 deposit when you get there. This could impact your cash flow if you were not expecting this.
Sometimes, third party websites for car rental is not reliable. It will say there's cars available. But when you arrive at the location. Boom. No cars available for you. I highly suggest book with the website of your prefered car rental company, or call the reservations department. PS: I work as a Reservation specialist for Enterprise, Alamo and National.
Hi Matt, I have just seen this and I am amazed at your knowledge so I decided to try Auto Slash and behold I have just saved $200.00 on a 2 week rental from $1077.00 down to $877.00, amazing. But I still think the rental companies are overcharging customers far too much. But a massive thank you for the info.
Tip: get primary car insurance through American Express. You pay 1 flat rate for a rental up to 30 days: around $25. You link it to your card, and when you pay the rental company with your card you are automatically covered.
Capital One, Discover, Amex, Chase, etc, will cover your collision and theft or vandalism free of charge saving you 20-25 dollars a day. Some Citi cards have dropped their insurance coverage.
Good information but in Aruba we use a great local company Tropical that has good rates and GREAT personal service for time share owners with a small fleet of about 80 vehicles.
