I’m happy to say that this week, by pure chance I found the best way ever book Car Rentals, with lower prices that I could have thought possible. Car rental prices annoy the heck out of me, living in NYC the prices are incredibly high, as they are in other major hubs like San Francisco. On top of that I often want to do one way rentals, and they charge a ridiculously large amount of money for that too.
Our next trip is Big Sur, with three nights at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands, for flights I decided that the best way to do this was to fly nonstop JFK-SFO on the oldest, most decrepit plane I could find, drive down to the hotel in Carmel, and then fly out from MRY airport via the most convoluted route possible, the flights will be a bit rougher than ideal, but I’m not mad at you American Airlines!
From a car rental perspective this is killer – I need a premium pick up location (SFO airport) and a one way rental, so we drop it off in MRY before flying home, and even when using some of the cheapest amalgamation sites out there like Priceline the rates were really disgusting, and I don’t think that is too strong a word, check these out:
As I lie in bed figuring out how the heck I can make this work, I run through the options, with prices up to $1143 (budget…) for car rental I debated taking a cab from SFO-MRY, or actually purchasing a race horse as it seemed the better financial option. This is when the ‘Eureka’ moment struck.
Kayak App for iPhone
I just decided to check the prices again from my phone, and for some strange reason, I got a slightly different quote….
All the details are the same, the Ford Focus card from Budget, same pickup, same drop off, but on the Kayak App I am getting a daily rate of $19, which is rather more palatable.
Booking by App loses bonuses
I didn’t pull the trigger immediately, because I knew that by booking via an App on my phone I couldn’t get the shopping portal bonus that comes with booking from the main website, so I thought the next morning I would open up a browser to evreward.com and type in Kayak.com to see what was on offer, ironically, they aren’t participating on anything at this time, so there was nothing to lose booking through the App.
However, since I am sitting in front of the PC now I thought it easier to make the booking online with a real keyboard, and got cracking, entered the dates, a Ford Focus 1 way from SFO-MRY for 3 days, and the result was stupidly high again!
That car from Budget actually came in at a whopping $382 per day! Avis was a little cheaper, but still not ideal.
I thought for a moment that this must be due to supply/demand and that I had missed the chance to book the cheap car by not pulling the trigger immediately, but thought to check out the App price again, and it was showing $19 per day, with $99 total including taxes and fees. I booked the rental from the app, and received the confirmation email below.
So, next time you are struggling to find a good price, don’t forget that there might be an App for that!
Hey Matt – thanks for the tip. I didn’t know about the Kayak app. I’ve also had good luck with the UR portal (no one-ways though!). I booked a mid-size sedan for 8 days in Maui over New Years for $271 total.
Also, you are going to want to take I-880/Hwy 17 through Santa Cruz on your trip to Monterey. It may take a little longer but the drive is more scenic.
Hey Mark,
Thanks very much for the tip about the route, I had heard that there was a ‘good way’ to do this drive, and that helps a lot, we’re very excited for the getaway and that will make it a lot more fun!
Good to hear about the UR portal, I was about to go there next, but these prices were amazing so I jumped on them.
I came to say the same thing. Santa Cruz is a cute little beach town with a boardwalk and a university buried in eucalyptus groves above town.
Also, along the route (or just off the route) is a Saravanaa Bhavan in Sunnyvale, the chain South Indian restaurant that Gary Leff only recently discovered in Chennai. It’s pretty good. We also liked the Afghan place in Monterey; it seemed a better choice than all the over-touristed seafood restaurants.
My father kayaks in Elkhorn Slough just north of Monterey all the time; it’s a good chance to see the megafauna from the Aquarium up close and not in tanks. (I don’t mean to take anything away from the Aquarium, which is excellent and worthwhile.) I’m not sure if they rent kayaks; my father travels with his own.
Thanks Harvson! Much appreciated. We are really going to have a great time, I think, and Kayaking might be in order if Allison is up to it, since it is our official babymoon! The wildlife is a really big draw for us so it is very likely we will do that.
Yes, You have to go to Saravanaa Bhavan! Or at least lie and say that you did, to make us feel better.
I just looked it up and there are two of these in NYC – are they really that good?
No tips from me except that my daughter’s in-laws live in Santa Cruz and I second Harvson’s suggestion of a visit to the campus. It is beautiful and if you happen to be a Grateful Dead fan, there is a great little museum in the library that is well worth a stop!
http://library.ucsc.edu/grateful-dead-archive/about
This post is most timely for me. My son is struggling to buy a used car in CT and has been renting one while he looks, that is, for the weeks when he isn’t on the road. I sent him a link.
Thanks Elaine, looks like there is a lot to do there!
Awesome find with the app! When we were in the area we loved driving around Carmel-By-The-Sea, a gorgeous area with houses we pretended we might buy. Fun times.
Thanks Jen, we’re excited to check out the area and do some day dreaming of our own too!
Did you check carrentals.com? I checked your dates and found the same rates — plus, you can earn through a few portals (Dividend Miles, HHonors, a couple cash-back sites.)
I just checked carrentals.com and the rate was $112 per day, I think the $19 from the App is the winner.
Indeed carrentals.com appears to have gone up… Will be checking the Kayak app for my upcoming rental.
When making travel bookings, definitely check the prices on both phone app and computer. I see a lot of price differences between the two too when I book accommodation on AirBnB, which is a vacation rental site.
Great tip – will check that in future too.
WOW what a find!
1) ALWAYS (unless its prepaid) with a car rental reservation if you see a low price book it. This isn’t airlines. You don’t get charged even if you no-show. Reserve first, analyze/change/cancel later.
2) Subscribe to the newsletter from the agencies. Within 2 weeks of rental they usually have good links to last minute car rental discounts that are way lower.
3) Never knew APP could be different in price than website, great find! After you booked with Kayak, did you look up your reservation directly on the car rental website? It may have the Contract and Discount coupons and you can search the internet to find out why the Contract/Discount codes got you a lower rate. And you could even use them to rebook through a portal if you want.
Hey, I’ve been looking for a full size SUV for 4 days in New Orleans. Most were $580(Alamo)-$800 (hertz). I found a cheaper rate thru SW for $510 (Alamo again). Just saw your post and booked it thru Hertz for $341!
Thanks
Great stuff! Glad to hear that Justin, have good time down there.
Has anyone done this recently? And is the app called Kayak Flights, Hotels & Cars (a freebie) or Kayak Pro (99 cents). Thanks!
Freebie app- doesn’t work for everywhere- but give it a shot. Don’t pay the 99 cents
My goodness, talk about a speedy reply! Especially on moving day! How’s the newest family member doing? No, don’t answer! Go hang out with him!
I installed apps https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hotels.car.rentals.flights.ukasoft Car Rentals Market App. This application is looking for the United States, Canada and Europe, the cheapest rental cars. As we traveled across Europe, right from his phone to find us a suitable cheap car rentals. Apps can compare prices from over 25 major car rental providers such as Ace, Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, SIXT and Thrifty
Hey Matt-
My husband and I found the same glitch- the app gave us way cheaper rates than online so we reserved it at the cheaper rate found through the Kayak app. We are a little nervous since it’s such a big difference that there will be some catch somewhere and we won’t find out until we pick up the car. I’m guessing you’ve been on your trip by now. Did you run into any problems or hidden fees with your rental?
It turned out fine for us- though we did decide to pay a small fee to upgrade to a Prius. The starting/booked price seemed to raise no eyebrows which seemed odd.. But no issues at all.