Best Place to Rent a Car at Christmas Time

[TiredOfyycCold]

We rent at least 6 times a year from the PHX airport. We own a home in the north east corner of Glendale and figuring out how to get to an off-site location during business hours (often 9-5) is pretty challenging depending on when your flight arrives.

I always use Hotwire for my car rentals. Our next trip Nov 23-Nov 27 is booked not using a hotwire hot rate (which requires you to pay in advance - no refunds/changes/cancellations) and it's $14.95/day for a mid-size car from Thrifty - works out to $150 with all taxes/fees in. We don't take out insurance, this is covered by our credit card as well as our AB auto insurance policy.

I managed to get a Hotwire Hot Rate on our Xmas rental - Dec 28 - Jan 6 of $13.95/day for a mid-size car from Alamo - total with taxes/fees is $255.

I think it would be tough to beat these rates at off-site locations even though the airport tax is as much as the car rental itself!

Hotwire rates fluctuate wildly. If it's not a Hot Rate and it seems decent, it's worth booking and checking back to see if the price drops. You can cancel the original reservation and book at the lower price... but remember that you CAN"T do this if it's a Hot Rate where you pay in advance.

One last word of advice... only book from the large, national well-known rental car companies (these are all that Hotwire uses). I have read a ton of horror stories (on a well-known travel forum) about the smaller companies at the airport - I think they might be called Fox and Payless?

Good Luck!