Episode 7: You Get a Car! You Get a Car! Everybody Gets a (Rental) Car!

Welcome back to the Freeway Philharmonic Podcast: The podcast committed to saving traveling musicians money, while highlighting the perks you can be amassing on your travels! Here are the takeaways from Episode 7, where we discuss all things rental cars!!!! (Cheers, applause)

Rent or Rideshare?

Pros of Renting:

Maximum control over when I will arrive at my audition. Did I mention I’m a control freak?

Sometimes it’s a cost-saving measure. Rideshare is very expensive in certain cities. In a major city, it can easily cost over $60 to ride share from the city to the airport. It can save you money in your choice of accommodation as well, where hotels/AIRBNBs outside the metro area will be significantly cheaper than those near the concert hall. Who wants to stay with 50 of their closest frenemies at the nearest hotel anyway, lol.

Be on the lookout for discounts on gift cards for Uber and Lyft, plus airlines and hotels, at Costco or Sam’s Club too. We’ve purchased the discounted $100 Uber gift cards at Costco for $70 because we know we will use it. I’ll take 30% off any day!

Autoslash

AutoSlash is an aggregator tool that skims the internet for rental company deals and sorts them based on memberships you might already have like AAA, Costco Travel, credit card discounts, and promotional deals the companies send out. They email you a list of rental rates based on what you enter, and it saves you so much time not having to spend hours scouring each website.

Join Rewards Programs

Every rental car company has a rewards program. Sometimes your credit card will offer you higher status right off the bat that comes with better cars, discounts, the ability to grab your car without stopping at the desk, and faster accrual of points. Regardless of if you have that card benefit, the more you rent with one company, the more you will accrue points to redeem for a free rental day and higher status.

Insight into Hertz, Alamo

I rent with Hertz because they are reliable and my Amex Platinum Card gives me a discount and President’s Circle status for faster point accrual and better cars. If you followed our advice and got a AAA Roadside Assistance membership from a few episodes ago, this also gets you a discount on Hertz. If you rent with Hertz, you should sign up for their rewards program Hertz Gold Plus Rewards mainly to save time when you’re picking up your car. Most airports allow you to bypass the Hertz counter and go straight to the lot where there is a board with last names on it. Just locate your name and walk to the assigned area to pick a car of your choosing. Then when you drive to the exit, you just need to hand them the credit card you used to book the trip and you’re good to go! Note that the first time you do this, you have to present your ID and the credit card on file, but after that it’s’ just the credit card!

Alamo is a less expensive alternative that still rates highly. If you sign up for their rewards program, you get 5-10% off base rates when you select the pay-later option. They also have frequent discounts available that may make the deal even better. It’s worth signing up for these programs and their emails to be alerted to discounts if you need a rental car every now and again. Plus, as we said, the more you rent with one company, the more points you accrue for eventual free rental days!

Please check your own personal auto insurance policy before renting a car. My policy allows me to drive other vehicles that are not my own and still maintain coverage. If your policy allows this, you can waive the insurance the rental car company will try to sell you with their cars, which can be a savings of $200 or more. Definitely ask to waive the insurance, as I have been in a rental situation where they “forgot” to mention it and I was tired after a long flight and wasn’t thinking clearly and got stuck with extra insurance I didn’t need. Of course if you don’t have insurance, have a basic plan or don’t have this coverage, definitely purchase the rental car insurance through the rental company. Also, if your auto insurer has an app, download your virtual insurance card so it is with you 24/7.

Sign up for the program’s emails! I get emails all the time for 15% off, 30% off, holiday sales and more. Another thing you may have heard is that it’s wise to book early. However, I’m here to tell you, in the case of rental cars, the site NerdWallet did a study and discovered it actually pays to wait until the last minute before booking a rental car! They tested booking 3 months out versus booking 7 days out, and they found every single rental car company’s rates dropped during that time period. This may be our most helpful tip this episode.

Keep in mind the season and destination you’re booking

Prices really change based on these factors. Sometimes you can even get hit with a “sold out” notice at the busiest times. The best way to go about avoiding this is to book the “Pay Later” feature because then you can easily cancel if the price drops. Sometimes you can also do the “Pay Now” option, but you need to read the fine print about the free cancellation period, if there is one.

Price Tracking

Lauren: Yes, the website we mentioned earlier, AutoSlash, they actually have this price drop feature too, which is awesome. They will track the price of the car and will alert you if it drops so you don’t have to keep checking back! They do this by not showing you “Pay Now” rates it looks like, so that the cancellation is always possible for that better quote. Very handy tool. Just a great website overall.

AAA

We’re huge AAA fans as we all know by now. I use this site to book discounted car rentals. Obviously you need a membership, but as we talked about in our driving episode, this can be a very handy tool for road trips or other discounts. If you rent with Hertz, Dollar or Thrifty, you can save up to 20% off the base rate, you get a free additional driver, free child safety seat, and savings on prepaid fuel. Another exciting thing I didn’t realize that’s helpful for our younger listeners is that there are no underage driver fees for AAA members ages 20 to 24.

Costco

Another place we discussed in an earlier episode is Costco. They offer discounts on rental cars through their site, and similarly have a waiver of the One Additional Driver Fee, you Book Now, Pay at the Counter, No Cancellation Fees, and Executive Members Earn that Annual 2% Reward that includes this. They partner with Enterprise, Alamo, Budget, and Avis, so different companies than AAA. I have heard many people attest to Costco’s great customer service if you need assistance with these rentals, so if you have a membership, make sure to check here! You can also add your loyalty number for the rental car program which is super super rare!! Double dip those rewards, wooo!

Turo

If you’re not feeling the traditional rental car route, there’s also a company called Turo that allows you to essentially borrow other people’s cars. You can save some money this way, or you can rent a specific car you want. You know, for if you wanna do some off-roading in a Jeep Wrangler before your timpani audition. Lol. The best advice for using this service is, only rent from top rated hosts and check their reviews to make sure they don’t have a lot of canceled trips. People can be flaky and you want reliability when it matters this much!

Another car borrowing service I discovered when I was in between owning cars was Avail. It’s along the same lines as Turo, and it comes with Allstate insurance so if you don’t own a car at home you can rent the car and insurance all in one. Since this is like Turo, once again do you research and choose your host wisely.

Uber/Lyft Rentals

Always make sure to book something reliable and cut the stress out of planning these big trips. You can’t discount feeling calm and collected before an audition or orchestra cycle. Another newer option is Lyft and Uber Rent, where you can book rental cars through their apps. It is essentially a third-party booking because you’re still renting a car from the major rental companies, it’s just supposed to streamline the process.

Unless you’re getting a discount from Lyft or Uber for using this service, it’s basically the same thing as renting directly from a car company. The rates appear to be similar on the Uber app as compared to directly with the company, but the Lyft ones can be pricier, so unless again you’re getting a discount through a promotion, I would steer clear of this one.

Expedia/Kayak

Another method people have tried with varied success is the Expedia/Kayak route, where you use these tools to get a low rate but possibly with higher restrictions on cancellations and more hassle if something goes wrong on your trip. While I personally have not rented a car through Expedia, you will follow the same protocol as booking a hotel or flight. If you need to extend your stay, you will have to make a new reservation through Expedia. You can save more money by paying upfront instead of waiting to pay at the rental car company though.

Cash Back Portals

Don’t forget to check CashbackMonitor to see if portals like Rakuten are offering additional percentages off for clicking through them to get your rental. I do this for 2% discounts on Hertz a lot, and all you do is click through Rakuten’s site, book on Hertz’s site like normal, and then once you pay for your rental you see the cash back in your account! We’ll do a quick episode about these portals this year so you can start to see the potential for earning lots of money back throughout your travels.

Be Mindful of Location/Season/Events

Keep in mind that if you are going the traditional rental car route, it is always drastically cheaper to pick up and drop off your car at the same location.

It’s also generally cheaper to rent a car at the airport instead of in town.

You will also likely find rentals to be cheaper in larger metro areas than smaller cities, as more supply is available.

Again, keep in mind what time of year it is. If it’s summer and you’re in a tourist destination, you will be competing with all the tourists. If it’s fall and you’re in a college town, expect that Game Day will drive up prices of literally everything. Also if you’re in the upper midwest or a snowy climate in winter and you’ve never driven in snow before, it may be best to default to Uber or mass transit.

Thanks for listening this week, and we’ll be back soon with our next episode!

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Links for this show:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/best-time-to-rent-car