Travel Deal of the Day (Nov. 22, 2006)

You are ready to go on a holiday weekend. You have the plane tickets and the hotel. Only one thing left – the car rental. No problem, right? Then you notice that the car rental agency wants $100/day for even the smallest car.

This is a common problem. Especially around holiday time periods or in cities with high demand for cars, car rental rates can be incredibly high. One potential fix for high prices – look for pre-negotiated car rental rates for which you may be eligible.

Most people are used to asking for the AAA discount or some other standard 5% or 10% discount. However, 5% off of some horrendously high rate is just not a good discount. The discounts I am referring to here go beyond just the standard percent off discount. There are many pre-negotiated rates that can be far lower than the standard rates in place during high demand time periods.

The Deal:
Pre-negotiated car rental rates can be an incredible deal during high demand time periods and/or during holiday time periods.

How:
1) Look at every entity, organization or club you are in any way associated with or ever could be associated with…look everywhere. Think about: where you went to school/university, your insurance company, your old fraternity/sorority, your credit union/bank, your employer, your professional association, your travel agency, your airline, your discount warehouse club (Sams/BJs/CostCo)...You will be shocked at some of the reasonable rates that have been pre-negotiated by the organization you had long since forgotten.

2) Call the car rental companies and ask for the “code” associated with that organization. Each car rental company will call the “code” something different. For instance, National calls it a “Contract ID #” whereas Hertz calls it a “CDP #”….you can find the name for the “code” on the website of the car rental company you are interested in using. Or, better yet, do a www.google.com search for the organization and the car rental company name and find the relevant code on the web.

3) Use that car rental company website to book a reservation (to be eligible for the best rates) and try all the codes that may apply. If the standard rates are low, using a percent off discount (along with a coupon, if applicable) may be the best discount. But when standard rates are really high, look for the pre-negotiated rates of these organizations.

The Inside Scoop:
1) Always try to combine your discounted car rental rate with a coupon. Sometimes coupons will be blacked out or unavailable, but often there is at least one coupon which can get you terrific discounts on top of the discount you are eligible for based on the “code” mentioned above. Some common places to find great coupons include the Entertainment Book or your discount warehouse club (Sams/BJs/CostCo).

2) Always, always, always – keep checking your car rental rate up until the day you pick up the car. The rates change constantly. I quite often find the best rates within 48 hours of when I pickup the car.