April 2021 Car Rental Thread

[keishashadow]

Does Alamo charge you if you return the car a couple of hours later than planned? I can't edit my current Costco reservation and a new reservation would cost $40 more, but we're leaving later than originally planned on our last day. Basically, I want to drop it off around 3:00 rather than 1:00.

Yes. No matter what time u book the res to start, it doesn’t start ‘ticking’ until u sign the agreement. You might come in paying hourly, under the time period when the daily rate kicks into play

In my experience, if you cross the 24-hour threshold (what time will you pick up the car?) then they charge you some hourly rate until you reach the daily rate and then you are just charged that. But its the same daily rate you have been paying.

I’ve had it bump up to daily at 2hours. Would do dummy res to check to make sure if that still holds

 

[LadybugsMum]

I’ve had it bump up to daily at 2hours. Would do dummy res to check to make sure if that still holds

It's $334 if I do an 11 am pick up with a 1 pm return. It's $347 if I switch to a 3:30 return; so a difference of $13. I'll keep checking prices, but right now my current reservation is for $307 and I think I got that by sheer luck as I haven't seen it that low since that day.

 

[kiki02]

Well they sure aren't coming down. I locked in a long time ago from April 2- April 9th and I have Alamo Intermediate $357.

NOT GETTINg lower- paying $500 or more per week, cheapest lousy car also.

 

[gharter]

Finally prices may be starting to drop.
Redid our Alamo reservation for a midsize with free upgrade for $315 for a week. Still high, but better.

 

[Redarrow5150]

What are your dates? I just checked rates again at Costco today for 4/2-4/9 and they are still very high. I saved a few bucks by taking ME when we arrive and picking up our rental car two days later for the rest of our trip. It saves on two days of rental and no resort parking fees but the convenience of having throughout our trip would be more ideal.

Finally prices may be starting to drop.
Redid our Alamo reservation for a midsize with free upgrade for $315 for a week. Still high, but better.

 

[gharter]

4/17-4/24

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

My rental final went down in price today for the first time in forever. Our dates are the same as yours, @gharter, so it might be worth running prices today. We were able to get our SUV rental with Alamo through Costco (with the free extra driver) down to $379. It's not a huge drop, but it's something.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I keep getting insane numbers for my late March/early April trip and it keeps getting worse. Nothing on Costco less than the 400s. I started playing with options and found that the travel agency with the monthly newsletter had a rental car option on their site-my rental is $152 through them. Why there is a $300 difference, I don't know.

 

[Gentry2004]

I keep getting insane numbers for my late March/early April trip and it keeps getting worse. Nothing on Costco less than the 400s. I started playing with options and found that the travel agency with the monthly newsletter had a rental car option on their site-my rental is $152 through them. Why there is a $300 difference, I don't know.

Yes Costco is insane right now for that week (which is our week too 3/27-4/3) - $500 for a standard car. I'm reserved somewhere in the upper 300's. I'm accustomed to paying no more than $250.

 

[gharter]

Prices, clearly are not dropping like they have in the past.
Hoping they will in the near future, but not counting on it.

 

[dina444444]

Prices, clearly are not dropping like they have in the past.
Hoping they will in the near future, but not counting on it.

When I went in November prices dropped about 2.5 weeks before then shot back up a week before until they were sold out a few days before. However the price was close to $75 more than what I’ve paid in the past even at the low end.

 

[puffkin]

Following. Sitting with a Thrifty at $335 for a mid size SUV. Could get about $10-$15 cheaper with a Standard/Fullsize but we prefer the SUV for that small of a price difference. Dates 4/10-4/17.

 

[friendoffigment]

looked today and alamo prices went up. nothing is coming down. costco seems to have gone up across the board.

 

[Akck]

looked today and alamo prices went up. nothing is coming down. costco seems to have gone up across the board.

It’s getting worrisome that the rate I got last month is the lowest. We just traveled to Houston and the rates went up as we got closer. Vehicles were definitely sparser as there were only about a dozen available and they let us take a minivan instead of the midsized SUV we reserved.

 

[puffkin]

It’s getting worrisome that the rate I got last month is the lowest. We just traveled to Houston and the rates went up as we got closer. Vehicles were definitely sparser as there were only about a dozen available and they let us take a minivan instead of the midsized SUV we reserved.

I think it is just the environment we are in right now with the pandemic. When we went in July/August, I paid almost $400 for a 10 day midsize, I have never in 40+ trips paid over $250 for that long of a trip. In November we had a 4 day full size at $225. We feel more comfortable though in a rental than a ride share right now so that's what we do.

 

[gharter]

looked today and alamo prices went up. nothing is coming down. costco seems to have gone up across the board.

Wow, just checked and Alamo is $60 higher for the week than what I reserved for 2 weeks ago.

 

[leebee]

I just put in a request through autoslash.com and got a MS SUV at Hertz for $299. That's $37 cheaper than the best I could do for a small SUV. This is a "last minute" trip planned for 4/11-4/16. Crazy high rental prices, but I feel better being under $300, at least. I put in a lower-price tracking request, also.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I just put in a request through autoslash.com and got a MS SUV at Hertz for $299. That's $37 cheaper than the best I could do for a small SUV. This is a "last minute" trip planned for 4/11-4/16. Crazy high rental prices, but I feel better being under $300, at least. I put in a lower-price tracking request, also.

I just tried Autoslash and it was more expensive than going through Costco. Fox was the cheapest but I won’t do a shuttle with young kids. My Costco rate from a month back is still the best so far and my hopes of a lower rate are dwindling rapidly.

 

[Scrappygrrl]

This is probably of limited use to some but I got a great rate through UT. Though you have to book something through them (hotel or tickets) to get the rate. I got $205 for the week through Budget (another caveat is I can't use FastBreak sadly). Dates are Mar 27-April 3. Maybe this will help someone.

 

[kmacht]

This is probably of limited use to some but I got a great rate through UT. Though you have to book something through them (hotel or tickets) to get the rate. I got $205 for the week through Budget (another caveat is I can't use FastBreak sadly). Dates are Mar 27-April 3. Maybe this will help someone.

you also need to do it the same time you buy tickets through them. We bought tickets from UT and figured we would add a car later after we checked other sites. Nope, once the tickets are bought you can no longer get the deal. It only works if you also have tickets in your cart.