Are rental cars ALWAYS expensive at RDU? (rentals, prices)

[sneezecake]

At LAX you could often find cars for 20-30 bucks for a midsize - sometimes under 20 bucks from a discount chain.

At RDU I've never been quoted under 40 bucks for a compact even...is this normal?

[NadiaP]

Weve rented from enterprise at RDu at least 3 times in the last couple months and it was usually about $25 a day for a compact

[candlegirl]

Book one ahead online through Expedia or Orbitz, will be cheaper that way.

[ch123]

I found Dollar rent a car to be the cheapest at RDU. Have never paid over $30/day for an full size for a weekend rental. Currently they have a Dodge Caravan available for $177/wk.

[sneezecake]

I am typically a travel guru - using expedia, orbitz, even priceline when necessary, and still the best I've ever gotten in 3-4 tries at RDU is 32 bucks for a midsize through Hotwire (which sent me to I think Dollar).

Maybe LAX is just cheaper than usual, but my fiancee and I shared a car in LA and whenever we needed a second one, we just rented from LAX and paid about 20 bucks a day for a full-size car.

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by ch123

I found Dollar rent a car to be the cheapest at RDU. Have never paid over $30/day for an full size for a weekend rental. Currently they have a Dodge Caravan available for $177/wk.

Wow! That's a good price. How did you find it? I just went to Dollar's website, entered in RDU and a minivan, and I got a quote of $360/wk.

[bvalenzuela]

I would recommend hotwire if your dates are pretty confirmed. The only thing with hotwire is that you can't cancel. But I've used it and have saved 40%. Give it a shot. hotwire.com

[tluv00]

LAX is much larger, has much larger offices and usually "sells out" less frequently leaving more inventory for all of the carriers dropping prices. It also depends on how far out you book your rental as well.

I would suggest that if you know when you are going to be traveling book multiple rentals at one time (volume discount) at the counter and then check pricing anyways online periodically. You can also look into corporate accounts with those companies if you rent enough and sometimes save 15-20% on top of the prices already quoted.

The best times to search for rentals is usually Tues-Thursday about 30-90 days out. Too far out and the rates are usually not "updated" as the companies don't really worry about rentals further out than that. The good thing is that sometimes they mistakingly leave rates low and you can get specialty vehicles, like Mini Vans, for ridiculously cheap and if you book one, then arrive on a holiday you can downgrade, get a ridiculous discount and they are happy to have another mini-van. It sounds like a lot but if you are diligent you can save a BUNCH!!

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by bvalenzuela

I would recommend hotwire if your dates are pretty confirmed. The only thing with hotwire is that you can't cancel. But I've used it and have saved 40%. Give it a shot. hotwire.com

Hmm. I just tried the same search on Hotwire that I did on Dollar's site = minivan for a week from RDU, and it quoted me $350. A whopping $10 savings over Dollar's rate.

[convergent]

I just rented a car at RDU earlier this week and paid $45 for a full size for two days from National. My wife usually finds the deals when I'm going down there and every time I've been its been a different company, so she's shopping around. In one case, we got in at 11:30pm, and waiting until midnight to pick up the car saved us about $75 for the rental... don't remember why. So, she reserved it for midnight pickup, we got there at 11:30pm, and they gave us the car then without the price going back to the higher price. Be creative, and shop around. And by the way, my wife does it by calling them... she wouldn't use Expedia or Travelocity if it was the last way to rent a car on earth. That's what I've used without her, and she gets better prices just calling around.