Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - advice on determining a rental car bid?

I'm looking for some pointers on determining how much to bid for a rental car. I know some sites out there advise people on this, but I also have read this group doesn't think much of Bidding for Travel.

I need a rental car in Orlando for 9 days in early May - relatively off-peak time. The weekly rates seem good, but those last 48 hours are quoted at ridiculous rates. So far I've checked Orbitz, NWA.com, Travelocity and a couple car rental company sites.

I'm thinking of bidding about 80% of the lowest weekly rate + 80% of (((the lowest weekly) / 7) * 2) - i.e. prorating the reasonable weekly rate for the last 2 days instead of basing the bid on the inflated daily rates.

Make sense? How would others determine their bid?

I'm looking for some pointers on determining how much to bid for a rental car. I know some sites out there advise people on this, but I also have read this group doesn't think much of Bidding for Travel.

I need a rental car in Orlando for 9 days in early May - relatively off-peak time. The weekly rates seem good, but those last 48 hours are quoted at ridiculous rates. So far I've checked Orbitz, NWA.com, Travelocity and a couple car rental company sites.

I'm thinking of bidding about 80% of the lowest weekly rate + 80% of (((the lowest weekly) / 7) * 2) - i.e. prorating the reasonable weekly rate for the last 2 days instead of basing the bid on the inflated daily rates.

Make sense? How would others determine their bid?

40-60% of the lowest Orbitz rate (from one of the top 5 companies PL uses).

I look at hotwire and then undercut it by some percentage we determine based on the PCLN and Hotwire "package" prices. ;)

I look at hotwire and then undercut it by biddinging on PCLN at a percentage we determine based on the PCLN and Hotwire "package" prices. And we always look at what Orbitz shows before making any bids or accepting any price.

I've found a lot of help when bidding thru PL or Hotwire with BetterBidding (http://www.betterbidding.com) and BiddingforTravel (http://www.biddingfortravel.com) . They list winning bids and the ID of the hotels.

I'm looking for some pointers on determining how much to bid for a rental car. I know some sites out there advise people on this, but I also have read this group doesn't think much of Bidding for Travel.

I need a rental car in Orlando for 9 days in early May - relatively off-peak time. The weekly rates seem good, but those last 48 hours are quoted at ridiculous rates. So far I've checked Orbitz, NWA.com, Travelocity and a couple car rental company sites.

I'm thinking of bidding about 80% of the lowest weekly rate + 80% of (((the lowest weekly) / 7) * 2) - i.e. prorating the reasonable weekly rate for the last 2 days instead of basing the bid on the inflated daily rates.

Make sense? How would others determine their bid?

Sometimes Ive simply made the res off the companies web-site and then called up and asked how , is it the same rate if I keep it an extra week I dont know if I need to right now, BTW what is the rate if I keep it an extra or 2.

If you check any Rental Contract you'll see they have a provision for extra days, week etc. Sometimes its actually less than what it would have been had you added those extra days to your orginal res. Other times they will say No extensions allowed or a rate that was cheaper if I added it to my res.

Bear in mind Im not talking about a Rental using PL

I've found a lot of help when bidding thru PL or Hotwire with BetterBidding (http://www.betterbidding.com) and BiddingforTravel (http://www.biddingfortravel.com) . They list winning bids and the ID of the hotels.

I think the OP is looking for rental cars, not hotels. BetterBidding does have some information on rental cars, but the data base isn't nearly as extensive as the hotel list.

I usually take about 20% off whatever number hotwire is quoting. I think you should do some research in the Alamo/Avis/Hertz forum, though, as often you can find codes that will get you significant discounts and still allow you the flexiblity to cancel the reservation.

I usually take about 20% off whatever number hotwire is quoting. I think you should do some research in the Alamo/Avis/Hertz forum, though, as often you can find codes that will get you significant discounts and still allow you the flexiblity to cancel the reservation.
The flexibility to cancel turns out to be very important in this case - I bought tickets on Delta :eek: not knowing the pilots will likely strike soon and shut down the airline. Hey, I can't keep up with all the FT forums! ;)

However, due to the nifty National ad displayed in my OP, I joined the Emerald club for free, got a $30 coupon with that and managed a pretty good rate with a lot of flex to it.

Thaks to those who offered PL tips.

I usually take about 20% off whatever number hotwire is quoting. I think you should do some research in the Alamo/Avis/Hertz forum, though, as often you can find codes that will get you significant discounts and still allow you the flexiblity to cancel the reservation.

I agree with this approach as long as you know your plans are completely firm.
Several times I've rented from Priceline only to have the rental car company charge me an outrageous rate for violating any term of the contract.

Keep the car an extra day, that day rate could be four or five times the orginal rate. I once asked the desk agent if I could return the car to the alternate airport. I was told yes. This is a pretty standard thing in cities with two major airports. When I surrendered the car, the company charged me the rack rate ($85/day) for the entire period of the rental. Never mind that some portion of it was already pre-paid, so in essence they were charging well over $100/day.

The agent was pretty smarmy about following T's and C's of the contract and how I wasn't entitled to privileges like normal Alamo customers. This attitude changed once my stop-gap protection kicked in. I have one credit card with a very low credit limit that I use for rental car companies. The card declined the offensive charge and suddenly the agent behind the counter was forced to deal with me. Especially since I offered to bring the car back to the original airport.

In short, the value of priceline and hotwire for rental car companies is pretty slim. It's not like the hotel deals that are out of this world. The only benefit over and above the initial $10/day savinge is being able to pre-pay with a debit card for most of the initial authorization. When there's a in inventory shortage, usally an off-brand rental company (Payless, Fox, Advantage) will have cars for less than the Priceline rate.

Sometimes it seems like, for a 4 or 5 day rental, that the weekly PL figure will be lower. So if I went for a weekly rental is it acceptable to return a rental car early, say after four days?

Sometimes it seems like, for a 4 or 5 day rental, that the weekly PL figure will be lower. So if I went for a weekly rental is it acceptable to return a rental car early, say after four days?

It should be, but there are horror stories. See the Avis forum for a guy who returned one day early and they attempted to charge him $2000, later reduced to $25. Generally these appear to be computer glitches related to the way the companies' computers interface with PL. Usually they are fixable at the counter, but it takes time, and if you have to run to catch a flight it can become a problem.

Sometimes it seems like, for a 4 or 5 day rental, that the weekly PL figure will be lower. So if I went for a weekly rental is it acceptable to return a rental car early, say after four days?Don't plan on it. Renters have been heavily penalized (thousands of dollars) for actions such as returning one day early. While it is very common to return early when you rent direct it is not allowed under Priceline. The charge will automatically be charged when you check in your car based on some crazy math equation. While the penalties are charged by the rental companies they are in response to Priceline denying compensation to the rental car company do to the fact that they "allowed" the renter to change the rental terms which are non-changable. Same thing can happen to an airline if they allow you to change your flight (standby).
Don't even consider Priceline for car rentals except in the most unusual circumstances

IMHO you can rarely find a rate from Priceline for car rentals that you could not beat using coupons etc. with car rental companies directly.

Have a look at the National board and try the Carlson code with the free upgrade for your dates. Most often this is absolutely the beats deal around. I pay about $160/week all included for full size car at the LAX.