Comments on: Always Rent Economy Cars and Avoid Airports http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html personal finance blog with anecdotes, advice and commentary. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:47:06 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: pam http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html/comment-page-1#comment-327040 pam Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:23:16 +0000 http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html#comment-327040 matt: your info about enterprise is incorrect. i have never paid for mileage and i have been using them for the last ten years for rental cars. i also get very nice cars and great rates. i recently rented a 2008 impala to go out of state and it cost me 64.55 for four days. that's the total cost. you should check your facts more carefully. matt: your info about enterprise is incorrect. i have never paid for mileage and i have been using them for the last ten years for rental cars. i also get very nice cars and great rates. i recently rented a 2008 impala to go out of state and it cost me 64.55 for four days. that’s the total cost. you should check your facts more carefully.

]]> By: Master Allan http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html/comment-page-1#comment-52526 Master Allan Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:57:06 +0000 http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html#comment-52526 Are you sure about Enterprise car rental? I've rented from them four different times in 2006 in Texas and Colorado and never had a charge for mileage. Exceptions to that rule if you are driving out of an adjacent state but that's a given. You can't rent a car for 3 days, drive all night across the United States, and expect the weekend rate of $69. When flying to a city and need to rent, I check for price quotes from Avis, Enterprise, Budget, and Hertz online. Enterprise in my experience was usually the cheapest but Avis was very close. Are you sure about Enterprise car rental? I’ve rented from them four different times in 2006 in Texas and Colorado and never had a charge for mileage. Exceptions to that rule if you are driving out of an adjacent state but that’s a given. You can’t rent a car for 3 days, drive all night across the United States, and expect the weekend rate of $69.

When flying to a city and need to rent, I check for price quotes from Avis, Enterprise, Budget, and Hertz online. Enterprise in my experience was usually the cheapest but Avis was very close.

]]> By: Otto http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html/comment-page-1#comment-52505 Otto Fri, 22 Dec 2006 22:20:04 +0000 http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html#comment-52505 <blockquote>Unless someone else is paying the bill, don’t rent with Enterprise. Or Hertz or Avis. They charge you for mileage.</blockquote> AVIS never charges me for mileage. This may be because I signed up for their "preferred" club or some other reason. So, I would echo your first point: don't blindly follow rules, but rather compare.

Unless someone else is paying the bill, don’t rent with Enterprise. Or Hertz or Avis. They charge you for mileage.

AVIS never charges me for mileage. This may be because I signed up for their “preferred” club or some other reason. So, I would echo your first point: don’t blindly follow rules, but rather compare.

]]> By: Matt http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html/comment-page-1#comment-52371 Matt Fri, 22 Dec 2006 07:23:25 +0000 http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html#comment-52371 I'd amend the advice a bit: 1. Don't ALWAYS rent an economy car. Instead, ALWAYS check the rates closely, becuase your assumptions are sometimes going to be wrong. Many times when renting a car I've found that Economy is not, in fact, the cheapest option, and a nominally higher caliber of car is actually being offered for a lower price. Budget (my personal favorite supplier of rental cars) often does this. 2. Unless someone else is paying the bill, don't rent with Enterprise. Or Hertz or Avis. They charge you for mileage. With Budget, National, Alamo, and most local agencies, mileage is free. Plus you'll usually get a better base daily rate from one of those second-tier providers than from the Big Three. The one advantage of Enterprise is that I'm told (I haven't confirmed this) that they will sometimes accept payment by check, whereas no other car rental agency will accept customers without credit cards. But this doesn't apply to most people. I’d amend the advice a bit:

1. Don’t ALWAYS rent an economy car. Instead, ALWAYS check the rates closely, becuase your assumptions are sometimes going to be wrong. Many times when renting a car I’ve found that Economy is not, in fact, the cheapest option, and a nominally higher caliber of car is actually being offered for a lower price. Budget (my personal favorite supplier of rental cars) often does this.

2. Unless someone else is paying the bill, don’t rent with Enterprise. Or Hertz or Avis. They charge you for mileage. With Budget, National, Alamo, and most local agencies, mileage is free. Plus you’ll usually get a better base daily rate from one of those second-tier providers than from the Big Three.

The one advantage of Enterprise is that I’m told (I haven’t confirmed this) that they will sometimes accept payment by check, whereas no other car rental agency will accept customers without credit cards. But this doesn’t apply to most people.

]]> By: jim http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html/comment-page-1#comment-52358 jim Fri, 22 Dec 2006 04:45:00 +0000 http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html#comment-52358 Hahaha, yeah, it's like that here in Maryland whenever it snows... people in SUVs think they can go 80 in the slush and snow. They go 80 into the guard rail. Hahaha, yeah, it’s like that here in Maryland whenever it snows… people in SUVs think they can go 80 in the slush and snow. They go 80 into the guard rail.

]]> By: Master Allan http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html/comment-page-1#comment-52341 Master Allan Fri, 22 Dec 2006 02:58:44 +0000 http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/always-rent-economy-cars-and-avoid-airports.html#comment-52341 Good tip to remember. Haha I'm in Denver right now, moved here from Dallas a few months ago. Right you are about not being stranded at D.I.A. It's as messy and shutdown as the news says. There is a good 20 inches of snow on the ground in most places. Because of the wind huge snowdrifts formed too. I can look outside over the parking lot and see cars completely covered bottom to top in snow with maybe an antenna sticking out. Never seen anything like it. Financial advice for the snowy season: On a day like this if you value the investment in your car, STAY HOME. So many idiots out on the road think their 4WD means 4 wheel stop and end up sliding into the back of your vehicle. Good tip to remember.

Haha I’m in Denver right now, moved here from Dallas a few months ago. Right you are about not being stranded at D.I.A. It’s as messy and shutdown as the news says. There is a good 20 inches of snow on the ground in most places. Because of the wind huge snowdrifts formed too. I can look outside over the parking lot and see cars completely covered bottom to top in snow with maybe an antenna sticking out. Never seen anything like it.

Financial advice for the snowy season: On a day like this if you value the investment in your car, STAY HOME. So many idiots out on the road think their 4WD means 4 wheel stop and end up sliding into the back of your vehicle.

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