Rent a car bookers and rent a car comapnies - difference in price

[Maja]

Hello, everybody!

My name is Maja and I am planning to visit USA this summer - to travel from Boston to Chicago and back with few stops in smaller towns. I was thinking of renting a car so this week I tried to find informations about that (never rented a car) and found out that is much cheaper to book a car via rent-a-car booker (like carhire3000.com) than go directly to a rent-a-car company (in my case Thrifty). The price diffrence is really big (cca 400 dolars) which doesnt have sense for me. The price (cca 230 dolars) from carhire3000.com includes:
* Unlimited Kilometres
* Insurance ( - Collision Damage Waiver - Theft Protection - 3rd Party Liability - Supplementary Liability Insurance - Uninsured Motorist Protection )
* Local Taxes
* Airport Surcharge
* Premium location fee
* Homeland Security Fee
I will have to pay a initial thank of fuel when I collect the car but as far I can see this cant be so much.

Am I missing something? I looked on Internet to find an answer but I didnt find anything. Is this price (230 dolars) for renting a car for a week ok? What do you think?

By the way (optional for answering :)) in which towns should I stop and what is worth seeing in bretween Boston-Chicago and on the way back (I will visit New York afterwards)?


Thank you very much for your replays :)

[DonnaR57]

We just checked the price of renting a car, and it was around that price, so I think you're doing okay.

As for what towns between Boston and Chicago to stop at, and what's worth seeing - - get a good USA road map and see if anything appeals to you. Most of us prefer to do a loop trip, not returning along the same route that one used going out. What YOU want to see depends on your interests, to make it YOUR road trip and not mine. Off the top of my head, for instance, Boston itself has a ton of things to see/do. Niagara Falls is between Boston & Chicago. There are some of the Great Lakes along the route. Pennsylvania has a ton to offer.

Once you get a good idea of what YOU'D like to see, we can help you with details, route issues, etc.


Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

It's becoming quite common for brokers and agencies, especially those based overseas like carhire3000, to offer the best deals and rates for rental cars.

I can't tell you exactly why, other than I assume its something like a situation with hotwire and priceline, which are US based companies that offer better deals for selling "empty/unsold" cars, hotels, and flights without disclosing the name of the specific company.

But the important thing to know, really, is that carhire3000 is a company we here about quite frequently and you can be confident in knowing they are a legitimate company who is giving you an honest quote.

[Maja]

Thank you Donna (specially for Niagara falls which I totally forgot) and Michael for fast answers.

@ Donna: This road trip that I am planning will be limited by amount of money that I carry, cca 2000 dolars. My friends and me were plannig to sleep via couchsurfing and visit a few destinations - Boston, Chicago, Amish people, New York. We dont know how much we can afford with that amount of money. Sincerely, I didnt investigate the prices of food, tickets for national parks or anything else accept different ways of transport. I am still thinking about using train or bus. But when I calculate prices for that, it seems that it is cheaper and much more flexible to use rent a car. I dont know... What do you think?

@Michael: Thank you very much for resolving the mystery :) And definitelly giving a comment on carhire3000.com. As I mentioned before, I found out that my potential rent a car provider is Thrifty. I am a little bit concered about that because I noticed lot of bad reviews on internet for Thrifty. Did you have any experience with them? My alternative is to book a car througt economybookings.com - their offer is very similar to that of carhire3000 + they offer 24 hours back up in case something goes wrong which I would like to have. Any experience with them too?

Also, at the end, I would like to once again thank you for helping me with your asnwers and comments. I am very grateful and hope that more people will join the thead :)

[Midwest Michael]

I really haven't ever found any major differences between the major rental car companies. I think I've used Thrifty once, but I can't say for certain. I can tell you that if I was shopping for a rental car and they offered the best price, I would probably use them.

I have not heard of economybookings. That doesn't mean they aren't legit, its just that I don't remember anyone else on this forum saying they've used them.

[Mark Sedenquist]

We've teamed up with two of the market leaders, (Priceline+), for discounted auto rentals and inexpensive motel rates. In addition to offering some of best car rental rates in the country, any bookings you make help pay for the free advice you're receiving from this web site. Click here to look at what RoadTrip America can offer you in terms of car rentals....

Mark

[Maja]

@Michael: Thank you for your advise. I think that I wont hesitate to rent a car via carhire3000 if I decide so :)

@Mark: I checked RoadTrip offers and the prices are cheaper in compare to carhire3000.com but only because they dont include insurance and some other things in the price. In spite of that, thanks for suggestion :)

[Maja]

As many here I have pretty same questions.

Recently, my friend and I got into the fight because she called rental agent, they talked about rates (renting car in Boston, returning it in NY) and he said one price for renting a car (more than 800$) and when I booked car online (the same agency - Alamo) the price was much cheaper (around 500$).

I got the reservation number and this message:

Base Rate - Economy (USD)
(1) Week Rate ($384.74/week) $384.74

Contract I.D. XXXXXXX
Inclusive Rate Items
(7) Collision damage waiver full Included
(7) Extended protection Included
Convention ctr surchg 10.00/rental Included
Parking surcharge .60/rental Included
(7) Veh lic recovery fee 1.75/day Included
State tax (6.250%) $17.76 Included
Guaranteed Base Rate Included
Unlimited Miles Included

Subtotal.......................................... ...$402.50

Taxes, Surcharges and Fees
Drop Fee $99.00
State Tax (6.250%) $6.19

Subtotal.......................................... ...$105.19

Estimated Total......................................$507.69
Estimated Total in EUR...............................€353.32



My friend told me that, no matter I booked online and have reservation number and estimated total, the price will probably be much higher. She trusts more renting a car via phone than online. Also, she wants to rent a car in some other agency.

I dont know what to think. I dont wont to end up paying higher price but also dont wont to miss a chance to have good price.

What do you think?

Moderator Note: Please keep all of your questions about this trip/issue together in the same thread.

[Midwest Michael]

If your friend trusts the phone more than the internet, why don't you take the quote and reservation number you have, and call the company to confirm that your quote is accurate and includes everything.

I suspect what you've found is just fine, but it never hurts to double check and confirm, and that should make your friend more comfortable.

[Mark Sedenquist]

There is no hard and fast rule about how to find the best deal. I spend ~2-3 hours a day looking at wholesale pricing on a range of travel related options. The options for booking travel online are proliferating at an incredible rate these days. I seen on average 1-2 new companies every day offering some piece of the travel booking pie. Car rental reservations are a bit more standard than lodging but there are some incredible deals. It's all about how much time you want to spend searching the Web for the best deals. In general though, you are more likely to find the best rates where a company does not have to provide too much human service. The RTA car rental service does have a human-powered call center. Rates on car rentals can change, and usually do, several times throughout the day. Plus, longer rental terms lead to more savings.

Mark