Hertz - Anyone used Priceline?

Not sure where the best place is to ask this question, so I thought I would stick it here even though it's not specific to only Hertz! We have a 2 week stay this summer in Kauai. The cheapest that I have been able to get an economy car for is $200/week. I have never used Priceline before and am wondering if this would be a better way to go. I assume that by doing it this way the only caveat is that the rental is not eligible for miles or hotel points. Any other things that I need to be aware of? Thanks in advance for your insight and experiences.

This isn't regarding priceline but you might try some of the AVIS AWD codes mentioned on this thread in the AVIS forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum77/HTML/000061.html

Several are specific to Hawaii (like K860600) and you might be able to get a good deal for your dates. If you are not already an Avis Preferred member it would be worth signing up for it beforehand if you go this route.

Sorry I have no experience with priceline.

Thanks, I was able to get $45 knocked off of the 2 week rental. And I'll keep working it till we leave. I am still curious about anyone who has gone the Priceline way.

Try the Priceline board for help http://www.BiddingForTravel.com

Scroll down to the Car Rental section below Airfares.

MSROHUD

I read on another forum that a guy had a successful July Kauai Priceline bid for an "intermediate car" (I assume that it's mid-size) for $17/day. He got it from Budget that time. If you do use priceline, make sure you reserve with the Credit Card that pays the CDW (Mine is Plat Plus MC). I have always been reluctant to use priceline because I'm not sure how this worked to decline CDW. Best I could do with AVIS is $330 for TWO WEEKS category "C" . E-mail me if you like.

[This message has been edited by Dmarsh3 (edited 04-03-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by msrohud:
.....the only caveat is that the rental is not eligible for miles or hotel points.</font>

True, but seeing as they are a pittance (yes, I'm aware that everything adds up) I don't worry about it anymore. I used to be a very frequent renter w/Hertz, but when the mileage perk kept going down and down, I stopped being concerned over it.

Now that the $ comes from my own pocket I use Priceline quite a bit and the value of the $$ I save is so far above the value of the little miles I get from the car rental.

Here is my recent experience for Hawaii.

Was on two islands, Maui and Oahu. Maui can be a pricy island car rental wise. I had need for a large car and reserved a premium size through Hertz for $45 per day 8 months before I left. Weekly I put in a different Priceline bid and also rechecked other car rental companies. Never was I able to get under (and usually was quoted much higher) than the original $45 per day. After all this was a Spring Break week.

Oahu was a different story. Started w/the $43 per day w/Hertz. Through Priceline about a month before I left for Hawaii, I got a $31 per day luxury from Budget.

My priceline experiences (cars & hotels) have all gone smoothly and w/o a hitch. Gotta love the $$$ I'm saving.

Keep your new existing reservation, but try Priceline. What have you got to lose except those paltry few miles? I would also suggest trying Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity to see what rates they can come up with. And keep trying everyone, it has usually paid off very well for me.

I've used Priceline for rental cars in Oahu (convertible, saved about $50 on a week rental), Dallas (full size, saved about $20 on a weekend rental), and Phoenix (full size, saved about $40 on a four day rental). The Phoenix one was the only one I got Hertz on.

Car rentals are an interesting beast; if you can find the right coupon/association code then you can usually do pretty good. It's just so time consuming to input all the different combinations and get fares back. Priceline is worth a shot if you're not tied to Hertz or any other company, because as explicitly stated you can get any of the majors..

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pitflyer:
Priceline is worth a shot if you're not tied to Hertz or any other company, because as explicitly stated you can get any of the majors..</font>

AND unlimited miles on Premium and Luxury cars.