Lowest Daily Rate for Car RentalTom asks: What is best number of days to rent a car to get lowest daily rate?
I will be in Denver for 8 to 10 days, but don't need a car every day if it will save me a lot of money. Should I rent for just a week? (Also, coupon book mentioned 10-day rates but no web sites showed this, only weekly and daily rates.) When pricing on web sites for entire stay, they listed weekly rate under $300 but total cost of 10 days over $500! My Response: It can be hard to compare the lowest daily rate when looking at the total length of a rental. You mentioned when you checked, a "weekly rate under $300 but total cost of 10 days over $500!" That would put your weekly rate at $42.86 per day and your 10 day rate at $50 a day.... not much difference in the daily rate, but the total for 10 days sure seems higher ( keeping in mind that all the taxes and fees are spread over 10 days as well). I'm not sure what coupon book mentioned a 10 day rate, so I'm sorry I can't address that issue for you. The general rule of thumb for a lowest daily rate is for weekend rentals. The most you can stretch a weekend rental is 5 days, if you pick up on a Thursday afternoon and return on a Monday late afternoon or evening. I decided to check this rule of thumb. I didn't know your dates, times and location preference, so I made it up... keep this in mind, as pricing and availability are dependant on these factors and can change from minute to minute!! I also decided to use a booking engine (Travelocity) so I could easily compare multiple car rental companies with one search. This is the engine I used to search: Find the Best Car Rental Rates in Top Destinations
(I also recommend checking the individual car rental company websites, after you've narrowed down your search) I checked: (using a compact car for each search) full 10 days -- August 5th - Aug 15th (Denver Airport) 12 noon pick up and return 7 days -- Aug 5th - Aug 12th (Denver Airport) 12 noon pick up and return 5 days (weekday) -- Aug 5th - Aug 10th (Denver Arpt) 12 noon pick up and return 5 days (weekend) -- (thu) Aug 6th - (mon) Aug 10th (Denver Arpt) 12 noon pick up and 6pm return (car rental links open new windows) The best pricing for the full 10 days was through Thrifty The best pricing for 5 days (weekday) was with Payless Car Rental The best Pricing for 5 days (weekend) was through Thrifty
Bottom line... according to my check, your lowest daily rate, and your lowest total rate, is for a 5 day weekend rental (Thursday morning through Monday evening). Hope this helps!
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