Are you hoping to hit the road? Renting a car is a great way to travel, but if you’re not careful the cost of a car rental can add up—especially if you’re travelling during peak months. Averagae rates tend to spike in the summer, whereas in the winter months they’re far more reasonable. In addition to booking your vehicle well in advance of your trip, here are some tips for saving on your next car rental.
Where to Find Car Rental Coupons
When it comes to car rentals, it’s worth the trouble to take the time to search for discounts online. In fact, coupons for car rentals can snag you a discount of at least 10%, if not more. Try the following sites for discounts on car rentals:
- PromotionalCodes
- CouponWinner
- Groupon
- Coupons
- RentalCarMomma
- RetailMeNot
On most sites, all you have to do is type the name of the rental car company in a search bar. Or, you can try browsing through the website’s directory to find the car rental brand you’re looking for. In addition, you can also try adding the term “coupon code” to the rental car company of your choice and inputting it into a search engine to see what you get.
Do You Qualify For Membership Discounts?
Next, check to see if you already qualify for any discounts on rental cars. You might be surprised. Frequent-flyer programs are a good place to start. In addition, organizations such as AAA and AARP also offer discounts on rental cars for their members. Finally, look into discounts offered by membership stores, such as Costco and BJ’s. Often, these retailers partner with car rental companies to offer discounts.
Combine Car Rental Coupons And Discounts
Most people don’t know that you can save money on your next rental by combining member discounts and promotional codes or coupons. For instance, if you want to rent a full-size car from Avis or Budget over the Memorial Day weekend and pick it up at the Washington airport, you might pay approximately $250 for the whole weekend. But plugging in the discount code for American Airlines frequent flyers and a promotional coupon code found online brings the price down by nearly $90, for a total of $160 for the weekend. So, it pays to use as many discount sources as you can find.
Be Flexible
Finally, you might find it easier to snag a deal if your dates are flexible. In some cases, this might even include booking the car for longer than you need it and dropping it off early. Just like airlines, car rental companies charge more for busier days. By that logic, you’ll end up paying more to return the car during peak hours, whereas booking it for longer and returning it early doesn’t affect the price you pay. Of course, if your dates are flexible, consider booking pick-ups and drop-offs on less-busy days, like Tuesday and Wednesday. Another helpful strategy is avoiding the airport. Booking a pick-up at the airport is generally more expensive.
