How To Get A Deal On A Rental Car
I got a hot deal on a rental car that I’m keeping for two weeks. In New Jersey, after taxes, I’m paying roughly $27 a day to have a fire-hot, sought-after Chevy Cobalt. The pussy I pull with this bad boy doesn’t cost any extra.
Even the guy at the rental pick-up place seemed surprised at the deal I got on the car. So, by popular demand (my mom suggested I write a blog post), here is how I got it.
- First check expedia.com or kayak.com and do a search in your local area for deals on car rentals. I went for a compact car because I don’t need anything more than that. Find the cheapest and best deal and take note with which rental agency you’d get it.
- Next, go to this thread over at the FatWallet Travel Deals forum. Locate the “overall top five” portion for your rental agency.
- Enter a few of the listed codes into the appropriate field at Expedia, Kayak, or directly at the dealer’s web site (this will likely be halfway through the checkout process). See which one gets you the best deal.
I rented my car with Hertz, and one of the listed codes ended up giving me 20% off in the New Jersey area.
The other hurdle I ran into was at the actual rental location. I haven’t driven a car for about 10 months, and for that reason, am not insured. Insurance from Hertz cost more than the car itself every day. However, I found out that if you rent your car using an American Express credit card, you get insurance from American Express themselves and it’s free. If you don’t have an American Express credit card, this will still work if you rent the car under someone else’s name and list yourself as a secondary driver, as verified by a charming American Express phone rep. Just find someone nice enough to rent the car on their credit card. A family member is usually a good choice, and what I opted for.
If anyone has any tips on getting bullet holes out of rental cars or if this is covered by my insurance, hit me up on the comments. It was my fault, if that’s relevant at all.