American travelers are getting squeezed from every side. Airfare is rising. So are fuel costs. And it's all happening while soaring inflation drains the few spare dollars in our budgets.
More than ever, you need to know the tricks that car rental agencies use to soak customers. Renters pad travelers' bills with a lot of fat, but you can turn any car rental into a cheaper car rental with this handy checklist of under-the-radar expenses to cut.
Rent your car away from the airport.
Added taxes and fees imposed by airport authorities inflate the final damage for rental cars. You probably already knew about the higher convenience charges for airport rentals, but we can put a number on the padding: Skyscanner, the current silver medal holder in our Best Airfare Search Engine ranking (and a company that also books rental cars), reports that "off-site locations can be 10–30% cheaper" than airport locations.
Give the rental company your flight information.
If you are booking at an airport location, at least give your renter your flight information when asked. The company relies on that info so you won't be marked as a no-show if you're delayed. Without those flight details, the company could charge you penalties.
Dare to reserve the smallest vehicle.
Especially in tough economic times, the smallest and most fuel-economical class of vehicles sells out first. When rental car locations run out of the cheapest wheels, customers who reserve a compact car wind up getting upgraded to something larger at no extra cost.
There's always the risk that vehicle inventory will be normal and your original reservation will be honored, though, so don't risk reserving anything that would be inadequate for your route or too small for your luggage.
Make cancelable reservations, then check for lower prices later on.
This method is easy to follow—as long as you double-check that your booking is eligible for cancellation without penalty. It works like this: Make a reservation, then keep an eye on rates. If they go down, cancel or modify your booking for the better price. That way, you've got a reservation no matter what happens.
Rental car agencies try to entice you away from this tactic by offering "book and pay now" discounts. Don't click anything without free cancellation if you want to look for a cheaper last-minute price later.
Use a credit card that includes insurance.
Some credit cards not only give you automatic car rental coverage if you use them to pay for the rental, but they also require you to decline the agency's insurance offer.
"Credit card insurance won't cover damage to property beyond the rental car itself, or any monetary expenses related to injuring others with the car," writes Pauline Frommer. "But most people have personal liability insurance through other sources that provide coverage in these cases."
Call the number on your credit card to see if car rental insurance is a perk you have. If the issuer of your current card says no, look for a card that does have rental insurance.
Skip the other extras, too.
Instead of opting for SiriusXM, bring a few cords and stream music from your phone. Instead of paying for a Wi-Fi hotspot, use the phone coverage you already pay for. Avis charges around $9 a day for roadside assistance, but you can have it for an entire year for $54 (depending on your home location) from AAA.
As for prepaying for gas, Frommer's published a list of reasons why prepaid fuel is almost never the cheapest option for the astute driver.
You may get the stink eye from the rental clerk for declining all those goodies that make the agency extra cash, but, then again, it's your cash.
Exploit your other memberships.
Costco members have access to the warehouse giant's negotiated car rental rates (which aren't always cheaper, but often are). Members of AARP can get up to 35% off at rental partners. Members of AAA can find lower quotes from Hertz as well as the right to one free child seat and the right to waive the extra charge for drivers under the age of 25.
Those are just three of the most common memberships in the U.S., but your other affiliations may also come with benefits.
Ask AutoSlash to search for discounts for you.
There's a free service that will do the legwork of finding benefits for you and get price quotes from the major renters based on the memberships and affiliations you have. That service is AutoSlash, which will also monitor existing reservations for price drops.
Since the company makes its money from commissions, there's no fee to use the service, although the discount magic works best if you give AutoSlash at least a few days' notice. (AutoSlash is not a partner of Frommer's, but our staff has used it with success for personal and business trips for years.)
Try the "Half-Hour Hack."
One money-saving suggestion from AutoSlash that takes advantage of the vagaries of algorithmic pricing is the Half-Hour Hack: "Instead of automatically booking your pickup time to be on the hour—say, 9 a.m. or 1 p.m. or 6 p.m.—ask for a second quote for the half hour before or after your original time—9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m."
Because most other customers are booking for the top of the hour, you can often find discounts of 10% or deeper at the half hour.
Pay your own tolls.
Rental car companies will lend you their transponders or toll stickers at grossly inflated rates. If you can figure out how to pay for e-tolls in your destination on your own, though, you can save money. Thanks to reciprocal agreements between highway authorities, the transponder you use at home might even work where you're going.
Tourists without local transponders have a way of getting soaked by highway honchos when paying tolls retroactively (except in Orlando, where tourists can get the cheaper Visitor Toll Pass). But even the service charges you pay by phone or online aren't as high as what the big renters charge you for the convenience of a transponder.
Stick to the plan.
Some agencies will actually charge you extra for turning in a car earlier than you had originally scheduled. Almost all of them will penalize you for being late. If you need to modify your schedule, make sure you do it officially, with printed proof, through the agency.
This isn't just a matter of money. A few years ago, dozens of rental car customers were arrested for alleged theft after they said they had fully paid for lawful extensions for rental cars. Retain that proof!
Keep it clean.
Rental car companies are becoming infamous for sneaking in extra charges that appear after the vehicle has been returned. Don't give a rental agency the opportunity to claim you returned a vehicle dirty or damaged. Document the car's condition by taking exhaustive photos of every surface—including the dashboard, for a record of mileage—both before you drive off the lot and after you return the car.
Don't delete those images until the final charge has cleared your credit card—and make sure that final charge on your credit card bill matches the printed return receipt you got at the rental period's conclusion.
A few more ideas for cheap car rentals
If none of those ideas work to save you the amount of money you were hoping for, there are still more methods to investigate.
Turo is like Airbnb for cars, hooking up car owners with people who'd like to save a little money renting those vehicles. The service comes with all the risks, unpredictable quality, and surprise cancellations that also plague home rentals, but when Turo works well, it can be a peach.
Additionally, a few car manufacturers (including Nissan and Toyota) dabble in rentals as a way of familiarizing potential customers with the automakers' vehicles. Often, the rental rates will be different from what the traditional rental car market is offering.
Not every dealership participates, though, so this method depends on location.