Because we were setting our own itinerary and exploring a reasonably large area, we needed a rental car. With three adults (and 5 pieces of luggage) we needed at least a full-sized car.
I was a bit shocked when I checked the rental car prices online. For our 12-day trip, a full-sized car would cost around $1500, with taxes and airport fees. Of course, this wasn't going to "sink" our trip, but the bargain-hunter in me knew there had to be a better deal out there. I checked prices for two or three weeks. The prices weren't getting any higher, so I just decided to wait it out.
Readers, I did get a better deal, and a bigger vehicle, too! Let me tell you how I did it.
My first strategy was to check Hotwire and Priceline. I was able to find something for around $1,000 so I felt that I had a small victory. I noticed that a few hundred dollars were going to airport fees. So, I expanded my Hotwire search to include all locations in the area. I was able to rent a full-sized vehicle from the downtown Hertz location for $498 for the 12-day period. A few days later, the price was almost twice that. But, I confirmed my rate using the Hertz 800 number. They were happy and I was happy.
Only one problem - the downtown Hertz location would be closed on Sunday evening when we were to return the car. I called Hertz again, and the customer representative changed the return location to the Anchorage airport. Would that incur the tax? No. The tax applies to where the car is rented, not returned.
Wow!
So, I had a sweet deal. We stayed in downtown Anchorage our first night in Alaska (took a free airport shuttle to the hotel) and the next morning I walked 5 blocks to the downtown Hertz location. There was one person in front of me, and he wasn't very nice to the clerk. He wasn't mean, just difficult. She was glad to get him out of the office. When he left, the clerk apologized for the delay, and I smiled and assured her everything was okay. Then she offered me a free upgrade to a small SUV. And the price was lowered another $10. So, I rented a Ford SUV for 12 days for about $485, including tax.
My rental car tips for you...
I was a bit shocked when I checked the rental car prices online. For our 12-day trip, a full-sized car would cost around $1500, with taxes and airport fees. Of course, this wasn't going to "sink" our trip, but the bargain-hunter in me knew there had to be a better deal out there. I checked prices for two or three weeks. The prices weren't getting any higher, so I just decided to wait it out.
Readers, I did get a better deal, and a bigger vehicle, too! Let me tell you how I did it.
My first strategy was to check Hotwire and Priceline. I was able to find something for around $1,000 so I felt that I had a small victory. I noticed that a few hundred dollars were going to airport fees. So, I expanded my Hotwire search to include all locations in the area. I was able to rent a full-sized vehicle from the downtown Hertz location for $498 for the 12-day period. A few days later, the price was almost twice that. But, I confirmed my rate using the Hertz 800 number. They were happy and I was happy.
Only one problem - the downtown Hertz location would be closed on Sunday evening when we were to return the car. I called Hertz again, and the customer representative changed the return location to the Anchorage airport. Would that incur the tax? No. The tax applies to where the car is rented, not returned.
Wow!
So, I had a sweet deal. We stayed in downtown Anchorage our first night in Alaska (took a free airport shuttle to the hotel) and the next morning I walked 5 blocks to the downtown Hertz location. There was one person in front of me, and he wasn't very nice to the clerk. He wasn't mean, just difficult. She was glad to get him out of the office. When he left, the clerk apologized for the delay, and I smiled and assured her everything was okay. Then she offered me a free upgrade to a small SUV. And the price was lowered another $10. So, I rented a Ford SUV for 12 days for about $485, including tax.
My rental car tips for you...
- Check Hotwire and Priceline daily to establish baselines.
- Be willing to accept a downtown location. Even if you have to pay cab fare, you'll probably save money.
- If you see the price go down, jump on it!
- See if your rental company will change the return location to the airport with no additional charge.
- Be super-nice, and you might get an upgrade.
