Secrets to Saving Money on Car Rentals

If you need a car for your next business trip, it pays to shop smart. Extra taxes, surcharges and fees on rental cars can quickly add up, so you’ll need to do a little legwork (online, of course) to get the best deal.

Before you begin, consider your needs. Do you travel on business frequently? Do you typically go to the same cities over and over again? For how many days do you typically need a car? When it comes to car rental, there is often a tradeoff between price and convenience. For instance, you generally pay more to pick up your car at the airport. But for a busy business traveler, that convenience may be worth the extra cost.

As a business traveler, you can take advantage of special business membership programs that most car rental companies offer. These typically provide benefits such as express checkout and return, priority service, special discount rates, roadside assistance and the ability to earn free rentals. Some programs require you to have a certain volume of rentals annually to join; others have no such limitations. Hop on your laptop and visit each of the major rental car companies’ sites (below) to explore your options and decide which membership program is likely to work best for you.

• Alamo Rent a Car
• Avis
• Budget Car Rental
• Dollar Rent A Car
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Hertz Car Rental
• National Car Rental

Many car rental companies also have partnerships with airline, hotel or credit card awards programs. If you already participate in one of these programs, it’s probably smart to choose a rental car company that partners with it. As with any rewards program, you’ll get the most from their business programs by using the same car rental company whenever you travel, so select one or two car rental companies to be your “preferred provider.”

Once you’ve chosen your preferred provider, save money by booking your reservation at least a week early. Many companies offer additional discounts for booking online. When making reservations, be sure to look into the company’s cancellation policy. Is there a fee to cancel your reservation? How far in advance must you cancel to avoid fees?

Once you’ve made the reservation and know you can cancel it without penalty, search general travel Web sites to see if you can find a rate that’s lower by a big enough amount to be worth switching from your preferred provider.

When comparing prices, don’t rely solely on the base rate. You need to know about all the hidden extra fees. Hotwire, Orbitz, SideStep and Travelocity do price comparison searches that show you all fees, taxes and surcharges so you can compare apples to apples.

More tips for cutting costs even further:

Check with your car insurance company and the credit card you are using to rent the vehicle to find out what kind of insurance coverage they offer. In most cases, you can opt out of the costly CDW (collision damage waiver) insurance the rental car company offers.

Try to pick up and drop off the car at the same location. There’s typically a surcharge if you don’t.

Avoid airport rentals. It may be more convenient to pick up at the airport, but you’ll pay an additional fee. Often, you can get a free hotel shuttle from the airport to your hotel, then pick up a car there.

Avoid daily rates. Weekly rental rates are often much cheaper than daily rates. Even if the car sits in the rental lot for half the time, you may save a lot by renting for a week instead of 3 days.