Best deals on car rentals?

[villages07]

Just wondering what tools or techniques people use to find the best deal on car rentals at their vacation destination. It has gotten so the car rental is far more expensive than the airfare to many markets. With patience and re-checking I can generally find an OK deal but there must be a better way.

Someone mentioned a while back about using priceline to 'name your own price'. Does that work well? Any other tips or tricks?

Something about paying $330 for a 5 day rental of a 'mid size' car in a NE market just irks me.

Thanks...

[philnpat]

We use Rentalcarmomma.com for out of town rentals.
Using them we usually end up with a Budget rental for a decent price.

[jnieman]

I use Expedia and make my reservations early as possible. I rented a mid size for our Detroit trip for 4 days for 84.00. I made the reservation 3 months ago. I looked this week and the same place is now charging $384.00 for that same car. Glad I have my reservation!

[bdabob]

I have used www.carhire3000dotcom on dozens of occasions in over a dozen countries (mainly the US) and they beat all prices hands down. They are a broker and use only top of the line companies; no fly-by-nights.
I don't work for them or have any affiliation other than being a satisfied repeat customer.

[jackz]

I use Kayak.com. You can also use them for airfare comparisons and hotel room comparisons.

Kayak will show you the vehicle types you are interested in and their prices and then link you to the reservation page.

Another tip: Even after you have made your car rental reservation check back every week or so by running the data again on Kayak.

Example, we are renting a full size car from Orlando Airport on 8/24 for 9 days. I first made a reservation with Thrifty that I found on Kayak about a month ago for $349.

I recently checked using the same data again and cancelled my original reservation and rebooked with Thrifty for $183., Same car class and time frame. I will continue to check back every week or so to see if it goes down any further.

[kevmo]

I have used HOTWIRE extensively for Hotels and Cars to get best rates and can't remember a bad experience. For example, trip to San Francisco next May found best rate on RentalCars was a compact for $50/day, but got full size for only $29/Day on Hotwire. With Hotwire, you will see the rates, car type, and total with fees, but not the Rental Company until you pay (non-refundable). Good luck!