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For instance I went to the Orbitz site. There I indicated that I
wanted to pick up the vehicle at DFW airport on February 11, a Monday, and
return it on Friday, February 15th. I indicated that both pickup and
drop off would occur at 11:00 am and that the driver was over 25 years
old.
Immediately I received a table comparison of the top 10 car rental
agencies in the U.S. The table indicated whether the rental company had an
"in terminal" or "off airport" pickup site. It also showed the price
for different classes or sizes of vehicles, such as: economy, compact,
midsize, standard and full size.
For an economy car, picked up at the airport (in terminal) the cheapest
auto rental was $22 a day, for a total of $155 for the entire five day
period. The most expensive economy car was for $38 a day, for a total
of $231 for the five day period.
The most expensive class or size of vehicle to rent is the full size
car. At one place the price was $27 and $181. The most expensive was
$42 per day for a total of $251.
What type of car might be considered an economy rental car? Both the
most budget-friendly rental company and the most expensive rental company
used the same vehicle. At either company you would be getting a
Hyundai Accent (or similar) with automatic transmission and air
conditioning.
If you opt for the full-size car, then you will be driving something
like the Ford Taurus, with automatic transmission and A/C should you
decide to rent from the cheapest car rental company. However, if you go
directly to the company website you will see that they offer a Chevy
Malibu for $32 per day. That's a little higher than going thru the Orbitz
site.
For a full-size car with the more expensive car rental company, Orbitz
didn't even provide that information. However, by visiting the
company's website, I was able to determine that the full-size vehicle they
offered was a Chevrolet Malibu for $42 per day, which is actually the same
price quoted by Orbitz.
I returned to the Orbitz site to see what the cheapest auto rental rate
would be if I wanted to rent the car over a weekend. I was stunned to
find that it is actually cheaper to rent a car over the weekend than
it is during the week.
Again the best bargain rental car was offered by was $13 for an economy
car, picked up on Friday and dropped off on Monday. The most
expensive car rental agency quoted $23 per day for the same vehicle class and
days.
As you can see finding the lowest cost auto rental is just a matter of
doing a little homework. By taking the time to visit a couple of travel
sites like Orbitz and others you can easily determine which car rental
agency offers the best rates. Remember I just gave you figures for one
town in the U.S. The prices and types of vehicles available can vary
widely depending on what part of the country you are in.
Learn by getting the cheapest auto rental should not include foregoing the auto rental insurance.
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