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Rental Car- WTH? Prices have soared! (1 Viewer)

Joe Mammy

Joe Mammy

Footballguy
Granted it's been a couple year since we've traveled. In the past I would buy tickets to events, book flights, book hotels and then rent a car.

We have tickets to a MNF packers game and 2 days at the Ryder Cup, Apostle Islands and the Dells exploration coming up in Sept. Check.

I booked convenient, reasonable flights to Duluth and return in Appleton, WI. Check

Found great hotels including a package with the Ryder Cup. Check.

The last time I rented a car I upgraded to a BMW in Boston for 5 days- $300 with Alamo. That was 2 years ago. Now I need a vehicle for 8 days, pick up and drop off at major airports. The cheapest deal I can find for a compact is $2800! Kayak led me to Holidaycars.com which offered a Rav4 for $800, ok I can live with that but then they don't confirm and say you have to wait for approval from Enterprise and it could take a few days. I further investigated them and they have absolutely horrible reviews for coming through.

So I cancelled the flights for full refund. 

I'll just buy a new car and drive it to Wiscy! We've been due for a new one for a while anyway. We have a 2010 Honda Crosstour and my 2005 350Z is in mint condition and I'll drive it until it don't drive no more, the resale value is only around $3K and it's worth much more than that to me. The wife has been begging for a 4wd Suburu, she's about to get her wish. I know new car inventory is at all time lows and you may not get a deal  like you're used to but it's better than being ripped off by the rental car industry.

Rental car sticker shock hit me hard. Have to rethink what used to be a given value.

 
Yeah, it sucks. Paying through the nose ourselves this summer.

Low car inventories are the primary reason for outrageous car rentals, too. All these car rental companies had to sell off inventory during the pandemic when business plummeted. Now we consumers are paying through the nose amid high demand and low supply. It will take time for prices to stabilize as the rental car companies rebuild inventory levels.

With high gas prices, it’s a double whammy.

 
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You could always try Turo.com. It's like VRBO or AirBnB for cars.

I haven't tried it, just aware of it, but it may be a better option than renting a car from one of the large rental companies. 

 
Joe Mammy said:
I booked convenient, reasonable flights to Duluth and return in Appleton, WI. Check
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Have you looked into flying into Chicago or Milwaukee?  Appleton hospitality gets stressed from a normal home Packer game.  When you add the Ryder Cup to the mix, that area of the state must be completely booked.  Friends of ours with second homes in the central part of the state are all getting ridiculous rental prices that week.  If you fly into O'Hare, its about a 2 hour drive to Whistling Straits.  Milwaukee is about an hour away.

 
Good luck with the car buying, chip shortages have put the hurt on car inventories. 

This is also why rentals are hard to come by because the rental companies shed cars last year and now can't repurchase to supply their inventory. 

(Plus you're looking at two large events in a small area.)

 
CletiusMaximus said:
Have you looked into flying into Chicago or Milwaukee?  Appleton hospitality gets stressed from a normal home Packer game.  When you add the Ryder Cup to the mix, that area of the state must be completely booked.  Friends of ours with second homes in the central part of the state are all getting ridiculous rental prices that week.  If you fly into O'Hare, its about a 2 hour drive to Whistling Straits.  Milwaukee is about an hour away.
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Thanks but we cancelled the flights, kept our hotel bookings (there were not that many options). And my wife is off to buy her new Suburu Outback. Roadtrip!

 
We ran into the same scenario with our Vegas trip here in July--the car was more than the hotel/flight. We are just planning on taking Ubers and cabs for transportation. 

 
I think I'm paying $800 for a week next week and $700 a week in July.  In both cases, I'm actually grateful to have a reservation since many places are sold out.  Turo is 300 to 400 per day in one of our destinations. 

 
Same scenario for me.  Only thing I can suggest is depending on where you work your place of work might have a code that gets you some level of priority and a discount.  I was pricing a rental car in LA in August, entered this corporate code and it took it down by literally more than half.  This was through Avis but I imagine all the companies are similar.

Good luck.

 
We are going to my FIL condo on FL this August. Was planning on flying and renting a car. The flight would be around 170x3 but the car would be around $700/wk. Now I'm thinking about driving. 

 
belljr said:
Costco is still reasonable prices for now 

*Pending what you get
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I dunno, seems like they basically just pass on the travel agent discount to you, which you can do with sites like kayak and others.  

If you have any corporate discount whatsoever try that first, it's usually just as good as costco.  

For airport pickups with majors it is not bad I will say.

 
culdeus said:
You actually use this?  I'm just afraid I'll get someone's car they used to uber in for 200kmi with rubbed out brakes and a CEL.
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There are reviews for every car.   I've never gotten a bad one.   They probably get taken care of a lot better than the cars in a rental car fleet, since the people that own the cars depend on them for income.   

Plus if you beat the crap out of someone's car, you'll get booted and won't be able to use the service.

 
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-fish- said:
There are reviews for every car.   I've never gotten a bad one.   They probably get taken care of a lot better than the cars in a rental car fleet, since the people that own the cars depend on them for income.   

Plus if you beat the crap out of someone's car, you'll get booted and won't be able to use the service.
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Thanks, yeah I'll probably give it a shot. Quoted 70/day to rent in Napa for 5 days on a corporate rate for a ####ty Mazda crx

 
Buck Bradcanon said:
Same scenario for me.  Only thing I can suggest is depending on where you work your place of work might have a code that gets you some level of priority and a discount.  I was pricing a rental car in LA in August, entered this corporate code and it took it down by literally more than half.  This was through Avis but I imagine all the companies are similar.

Good luck.
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Yep just tried this and the quote for the week went from $735 to $379. Thanks!

 
culdeus said:
Thanks, yeah I'll probably give it a shot. Quoted 70/day to rent in Napa for 5 days on a corporate rate for a ####ty Mazda crx
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Nice thing is depending on where you fly in, a lot of them will pick you up at the airport.   

 
-fish- said:
Rental car prices in Hawaii are completely out of control.   I'm considering purchasing a car with my brother that lives there and renting it out through turo.com.   
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yeah I'm not thrilled.  Have to book 2 weeks on separate islands for my daughter's honeymoon plus me and the mrs are going in August for a week. 

 
-fish- said:
Nice thing is depending on where you fly in, a lot of them will pick you up at the airport.   
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Yes, seems like that costs ~$150 to get that service on both ends or you uber to where the car is both ways for whatever that costs.  

 
culdeus said:
Yes, seems like that costs ~$150 to get that service on both ends or you uber to where the car is both ways for whatever that costs.  
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I've never paid extra for that, but I guess it depends where you are flying and how far the car is from the airport.  I've been using this service since it was called RelayRides, and I've probably rented 20-25 cars.

 
-fish- said:
I've never paid extra for that, but I guess it depends where you are flying and how far the car is from the airport.  I've been using this service since it was called RelayRides, and I've probably rented 20-25 cars.
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https://turo.com/us/en/car-rental/united-states/fremont-ca/bmw/2-series/885595?searchId=Zgs0_HHC

I mean this car, getting to either SFO or SJC is $150.  I don't know how to search this for all-in price with delivery.  

I see very few that don't charge for airport pickup at any of the bay area spots.  

 
culdeus said:
https://turo.com/us/en/car-rental/united-states/fremont-ca/bmw/2-series/885595?searchId=Zgs0_HHC

I mean this car, getting to either SFO or SJC is $150.  I don't know how to search this for all-in price with delivery.  

I see very few that don't charge for airport pickup at any of the bay area spots.  
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That sucks.  Getting picked up at the airport is one of the good things about it.  SFO is a pain, but I'm surprised they're charging that much for SJC.   I'm usually flying into Santa Ana, LA or San Diego.  At this point I usually go through one of the same 2 people in LA.  

 
-fish- said:
That sucks.  Getting picked up at the airport is one of the good things about it.  SFO is a pain, but I'm surprised they're charging that much for SJC.   I'm usually flying into Santa Ana, LA or San Diego.  At this point I usually go through one of the same 2 people in LA.  
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When you say "picked up" this means what?  They take you to their house to drop them off?  

 
culdeus said:
When you say "picked up" this means what?  They take you to their house to drop them off?  
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Yep.   They pick you up at the airport, you run them home and take the car.    Reverse on the way out.   One time I had a guy have his girlfriend follow him, so he just came and gave me the car at the airport.

 
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culdeus said:
You actually use this?  I'm just afraid I'll get someone's car they used to uber in for 200kmi with rubbed out brakes and a CEL.
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I've looked a lot but gocuse3 just hooked me up with a reservation that's 50% cheaper than anything I was seeing on hotwire or any other site.

 
Buck Bradcanon said:
Same scenario for me.  Only thing I can suggest is depending on where you work your place of work might have a code that gets you some level of priority and a discount.  I was pricing a rental car in LA in August, entered this corporate code and it took it down by literally more than half.  This was through Avis but I imagine all the companies are similar.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
I'm traveling for work once again (finally, whew) and booked a very reasonable deal through Hertz for 3 days in Kansas City next month.  I had heard prices were soaring but I was pleasantly surprised to see the rates.  Maybe it's because of our corporate discount.... but then I booked using Expedia or the like for a day in Minneapolis in July and while the prices were a bit higher, it wasn't a killer.  Like 90ish bucks for a full day with taxes and everything.

 
Judge Smails said:
yeah I'm not thrilled.  Have to book 2 weeks on separate islands for my daughter's honeymoon plus me and the mrs are going in August for a week. 
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Spending 10 days in Kauai in July - there are no cars to rent with regular rental car agencies. Had to book through Turo. Got a 4 seater pick up truck. $2700 (though that includes $450 of optional basic insurance as I've read credit card rental car insurance coverage doesn't work for car shares like Turo). And that was one of the cheapest options available. Also not thrilled.

 
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I would assume there is a fair amount of "revenue recoup" pricing going on. These cars have been sitting unrented for a year. Now that people are able to travel again, it would take too long to dig out of their debt offing lower costs.

 
glvsav37 said:
I would assume there is a fair amount of "revenue recoup" pricing going on. These cars have been sitting unrented for a year. Now that people are able to travel again, it would take too long to dig out of their debt offing lower costs.
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No, more like they sold a lot of their cars during the pandemic to make some money knowing people wouldn't be renting cars and now supplies are low.

 
No cars at all for Hertz and Avis for my 10 day Hawaii trip.  Just booked a full size on Alamo through Costco for $1200 total.  That's taxes, fees, etc out the door.  I might try priceline as we get closer as there is no cancellation penalty.  Now looking for my daughter's 2 honeymoon weeks

 
Judge Smails said:
No cars at all for Hertz and Avis for my 10 day Hawaii trip.  Just booked a full size on Alamo through Costco for $1200 total.  That's taxes, fees, etc out the door.  I might try priceline as we get closer as there is no cancellation penalty.  Now looking for my daughter's 2 honeymoon weeks
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Try turo

 
I went to atl last month, went through Hotwire.  Rented a premium pickup for 78/day, 40% discount. Switched to a brand new expedition at the airport.  Same price. There were 100’s of cars in the lot/s :shrug:   

glad my in-laws live in maui  I just drive my BIL’s car  

 
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