The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
10-28-2001
DRIVING A HARD BARGAIN
By JILL SCHENSUL
Date: 10-28-2001, Sunday
Section: TRAVEL
Edition: All Editions -- Sunday
People are traveling again. You can't stop them, you know. But the
trend, at least right now, is toward closer-to-home trips and car rather
than air travel.
The quest now, in many traveling households, is to find the best
price on a rental car, rather than an airfare.
I've just returned from a test drive along the sinuous highway of
rental car bookings. And let me tell you that it is at least as
thrilling as finding that elusive cheap airfare.
As with any sort of shopping, one must inspect the goods closely.
Especially if the offer is a really good one. In those ads for $99
airfares, when you look at the fine print you see the $99 is one way,
restricted to travel between 2 and 3 p.m. on a Wednesday, and is limited
to one seat per 20 airplanes.
The first misleading information I got was when I looked for a
rental car using Expedia.com. I put in the dates I would need the car --
nine days -- and where I wanted to pick up the car. Expedia returned a
listing of prices. The lowest was for $227 for an economy car, which
seemed pretty good to me, until I looked a little closer. This was the
price for a week. I needed the car for nine days.
The fine print said, "Rate only reflects regular rate plan periods
(i.e., daily, weekly, monthly, as specified herein). Additional days
beyond the regular rate plan period may be charged at a higher rate.
Weekend rates typically begin Thursday and end Monday, exact times
varying by car vendor. Date changes may result in rate changes. Taxes
and insurance may or may not be included, check with vendor." It was
impossible to determine online what the rate was for additional days;
the only information was "not defined." So who knows what the final bill
might have come to?
Travelocity offered a similar first listing -- actually, the weekly
rate, on Budget, was only $193 a week. But at least it showed me, on
the second page, that the extra daily rate is $37.99 a day. Which makes
it more expensive than what I did get. Which came to $269 for nine days,
before taxes.
I also tried Hotwire.com, a very good Web site with a twist on the
name-your-own-price idea Priceline.com first offered. Here, you can be
very specific about what you are willing to purchase in a hotel, flight,
or car rental, and the site will be pretty specific (except for the name
of the company) in what it offers you. You then can decide whether you
want the rates the site offers. Hotwire let me see a bunch of different
cars, including compact and convertible. Hotwire found me a rate of
$30.69 for an economy car, $32.05 compact; $276.21 and $288.45 for nine
days, respectively.
I decided to go to the specific car rental sites individually.
Budget offered a rate of $269.97 for both an economy and compact
car for nine days, taxes not included. I went back and hit the button
for the Internet-only special rate, which was shown to be $24.99 for a
compact or economy car per day, or $119 per week. The actual offer came
out to the same price, although by my calculations a nine-day rental
should have come out to about $169 -- $119 for a week and $50 for two
extra days.
Thrifty's site came back with a quote of $302.
Hertz's site offered a $20-a-day Freedom Rate for a compact car at
participating U.S. and Canada locations. When I put in the code for the
$20 rate, it returned the message "No rate qualifies, please select
another vehicle." I selected another vehicle a couple of times, then
gave up. The rate was $265.99 for a week, plus $53 per extra day; about
$371.
Avis offered a base rate of $362 for the nine-day period. But when
I asked for the special Internet-only rate, the price came down to $238
-- not for a week, but for nine days. I booked it.
So you see, renting a car can be as challenging as bagging any
airline ticket.
There are all sorts of other considerations when renting a car.
Insurance, for instance. Often, the credit card you use to pay for your
rental covers you for whatever your own car insurance doesn't pay for
collision (in lieu of the extra CDW or collision damage waiver the
rental agency offers to sell you). But be careful; some cards don't
cover you if you've got a discounted rental car or one you've paid for
with frequent-flier miles. Additionally, no card covers liability in an
accident with the rental car. Your own auto insurance should cover that.
You'll usually need to secure your rental booking with a credit
card. Some agencies will charge a penalty if you book a car and then
don't show up for it. Best to remember to cancel the reservation if you
have found a better deal or aren't going to need a car at all.
Decisions about what kind of car you will rent are many. Not only do
you have to decide what size car (I say go for the one with the best
fuel economy that will fit the number of people and luggage you have),
but whether you want options such as a navigational system, a
non-smoking car, a standard or a stick shift.
The most daunting decision, however, has got to be how you will pay
for that final tank of gasoline. Do you want to bring it back empty?
Full? Half-full? If you guess wrong, you wind up being punished big time
-- like $3 a gallon for the rental car company to fill 'er up. I for one
seem to always have nightmarish problems trying to fill the tank up
right before I bring it back to the rental agency. If you don't want to
go through that hassle, you can agree to pay for the refill in advance,
which may cut down on the exorbitant prices.
The other choice is where to rent your car. Airport rentals are
without question the most convenient way to go, if you're flying into a
city. But you can be surprised to find out that an airport rental
requires you to take a shuttle to a site far from your terminal. If you
rent at an airport, along with the other sales taxes you will also most
likely pay an airport tax. Even if you rent near an airport, you will
still have to pay the tax. If airports don't factor into your plans
anyway, renting from a downtown or suburban location will cut out that
airport tax.
Fuel prices are down, and the leaves are still up and beautiful.
It's time for a road trip. Buckle up, turn off the cellphone, and have
some fun.
Leisure Editor Jill Schensul's e-mail address is
schensul(at)northjersey.com
Keywords: TRAVEL
Copyright 2001 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
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