Travel Hack Series: Rental Cars

As I mentioned a few articles ago, I am going to be unemployed very soon. With my time off I plan on seeing friends and family and one of my first vacations involves renting a car. So, I decided to write a short and sweet article on a few hacks I have discovered when it comes to renting cars through my years of touring.

1. If you can help it avoid renting from an airport at all costs! About a year ago we played Charlotte for a week and due to my housing situation I needed to rent a car. My preference was to rent from the airport, and return it there, as I was flying in and out of CLT. When I looked up quotes from the airport rental agencies it was going to cost me around $300 for the week. I thought this was insane, so I decided to look up rental car places close to the airport. I found a rental car place about a fifteen minute Uber/Lyft away from the airport where I could rent a car for the week for $120 total. I checked on Google Maps and the estimate for my Uber/Lyft was $12 each way. So, just by thinking a bit outside of the box, and being willing to wake up a little earlier to return the car, I was able to save myself $150. 
2. Check if organizations of which you are a member entitle you to discounts. As a union member, I have access to Union Plus and their auto rental discounts have saved me a lot of money through the years. My AAA membership also entitles me to discounts with car rental agencies. Another membership that I personally do not have and would never have thought to check with, but I see often come up in forums as one of the best for rental cars, is a Costco membership.
3. Check peer to peer rental services. I rent my personal vehicle out on Turo and have also rented cars through the website/app. I have been able to save a lot of money, from day trips to weekly rentals, through Turo compared to what rental car agencies were quoting. We played Kansas City a few years ago and I had checked all the typical rental car agencies and was not pleased with the prices offered. I hopped on Turo and found a car available for what I felt was a cheap price only five miles from the airport. You of course have some limitations; not being able to return to a different location, mileage limitations potentially, but still a great option to investigate. If you are interested in trying out Turo I can send you a $25 credit towards your first rental. 
4. If you have a rate locked in under, “Pay Later,” keep checking the rate until your time of rental. This is one trick I have learned with my current rental reservation. I originally reserved my rental about two months out for around $320. I assumed that this would be the best price offered since I was booking so early. I randomly decided to search the rate about a month out and it was $20 cheaper than the rate I had reserved, so I cancelled my reservation and booked at the cheaper rate. Last week I repeated my search and found an even cheaper rate. I am now looking at a $50 savings using the same rental car company and the same dates, just because I was willing to repeat a search when I had free time. The one caveat of course is to make sure there is not a cancellation charge on your current reservation.
5. Sign up for the rental car reward programs. In the rental I mentioned above, because I am a member of the rental car agencies rewards program I am getting a 5% discount on my rental rate. While it’s not a huge savings, it’s worth the minute it takes to log into the website. 
6. Check the discount websites. While as of late I have had more success going through the rental car agencies websites, through the years I have been able to find good deals on sites like Priceline.

Any tips and tricks I have missed? Comment below!

• Image by PIRO4D from Pixabay