Sweet spot for car rental ?

MoneyMon555

Is there a general rule about when is best for booking a week car rental abroad? 

Any tips for getting best price welcomed

Thanks

gm0

Not really.  Season/local event and location dependent.

i keep an eye when booking flights but its generally rubbish

autoeurope and holidayautos - I have used for years depending where I am going to shop the rental providers at the relevant airports. Attempting via topcashback if there is an offer on - but double checking without in case prices shift between the two.

And you can always get cheap (and sometimes nasty) "off airport" car hire.  (Some via those sites)
When young and very frugal I used that a couple of times.  Trading a cheaper hire for some inconvenience on the day.  A pick up and ride to a surburb "lock up" with local Del Boy.  The cars we were given were also laughably bad - but did the job - just.   Some rental locations you get "interesting" cars from Avis or Hertz as well.  Hard life.  I used Budget recently (now part of Avis) and the thing they gave me had damage on every panel before I took it out.  Yet functional.  And they were not fussy checking it in on return.  Shrugged and said - it's just how the bigger vans are.  New small evs coming back were being inspected with forensic detail for a new scratch.  

If there is a decent cancellation policy on it. You can lock in a price at flight booking.  And take a look closer to the time. If not busy there could be last minute deals to be had.  If the difference is enough......twist.  

With the intermediaries - some of their bundled tariff types include some useful elements - fuel policy, extra driver, cdw and can be better than the lowest raw price excluding all extras and then putting drivers and insurance extras and other things back on.  It's a zoo.  You can spend as long on it as you want.  

I haven't found going direct helpful.  But others may chime in. Or loyalty club specials.

bagand96

Book a rate than is free cancellation and keep an eye on prices periodically.  Rinse and repeat.

MoneyMon555

bagand96 said:

Book a rate than is free cancellation and keep an eye on prices periodically.  Rinse and repeat.

Sounds like a plan, thanks

MoneyMon555

gm0 said:

Not really.  Season/local event and location dependent.

i keep an eye when booking flights but its generally rubbish

autoeurope and holidayautos - I have used for years depending where I am going to shop the rental providers at the relevant airports. Attempting via topcashback if there is an offer on - but double checking without in case prices shift between the two.

And you can always get cheap (and sometimes nasty) "off airport" car hire.  (Some via those sites)
When young and very frugal I used that a couple of times.  Trading a cheaper hire for some inconvenience on the day.  A pick up and ride to a surburb "lock up" with local Del Boy.  The cars we were given were also laughably bad - but did the job - just.   Some rental locations you get "interesting" cars from Avis or Hertz as well.  Hard life.  I used Budget recently (now part of Avis) and the thing they gave me had damage on every panel before I took it out.  Yet functional.  And they were not fussy checking it in on return.  Shrugged and said - it's just how the bigger vans are.  New small evs coming back were being inspected with forensic detail for a new scratch.  

If there is a decent cancellation policy on it. You can lock in a price at flight booking.  And take a look closer to the time. If not busy there could be last minute deals to be had.  If the difference is enough......twist.  

With the intermediaries - some of their bundled tariff types include some useful elements - fuel policy, extra driver, cdw and can be better than the lowest raw price excluding all extras and then putting drivers and insurance extras and other things back on.  It's a zoo.  You can spend as long on it as you want.  

I haven't found going direct helpful.  But others may chime in. Or loyalty club specials.

Thanks for info

BFBW

MoneyMon555 said:

Is there a general rule about when is best for booking a week car rental abroad? 

Any tips for getting best price welcomed

Thanks

A good tip is to post the details. Then you might get specific advice and actual experiences.