Ravenboy2001

Need an SUV for an upcoming golf trip.. Looking on the Skymiles site and found the rental I want for 36k miles.. Small print says that the actual car rental company I choose may charge taxes and other fees.

Knowing how much fees and taxes that ATL tacks on to a typical cash/credit rental (I travel there twice a month), I'm wondering if I am wasting 36k miles since the rental car company may nail me with $30-$50 a day in fees and taxes.

Anyone ever use Skymiles to rent a car, and if so what was the damage on taxes?

Thanks

terryan

Yes, I have used skymiles for car rentals twice now, both in markets where the rates were over $400 for a car for a week. I compared using hotwire, and found the skymiles to be my best deal. It was with Budget once and Thrifty once, and my receipt said "paid in full" and I wasn't charged any fees at all either time.

Ravenboy2001

Oh, the Skymiles is the way to go for this trip... SUV is necessary for all the golf gear and baggage and the hotwire rates are through the roof.. I'll gladly dip into my big bucket of SM's to cover it. Just trying not to get hit with fees and taxes if I can help it.

vxmike

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A trick I discovered last year is that you don't have to use miles for the entire rental car payment. In my case, the rate quoted via the SkyMiles Marketplace was approx. 37,000 miles for one week, or 1,000 miles plus a cash payment of $280. The rate quoted to me by the rental agency directly was more than $490. So for a 1,000 point redemption I saved $210. I was perfectly happy with that arrangement and it went off without a hitch (no fees or taxes due). Even got an upgrade as I have elite status with the rental agency.

Edited to add: if you happen to have miles banked with American also check with them. They use (I believe) the same service provider for the hotel/rental car booking system as Delta, but I have always found their prices to be less. A real world example: I just booked a car for Thanksgiving. Delta wanted 1,000 miles plus $190 for the car; American wanted 1,000 miles plus $122 for the exact same car and rental agency. I have started frequently booking my vacation car rentals this way. Bear in mind there IS a change fee and cancellation fee ($30 and $150, respectively, with AA), but if your plans are set in stone it's a phenomenal way to avoid exorbitant rental prices.

BobH

I've been there, done that and the only problem was I had to stop by the counter, rather than use National's Emerald Aisle -- but I needed one of those ez-pass gizmos anyway, so it didn't cost me that much time.

Not worth getting the gizmo for one or two trips a year.

Bob H

millionsandmillions

I've rented 3 times in Fort Myers using skymiles for the entire rental period, and was never charged any additional $$ for taxes.

Renes Points

I had a less that fun rental in RSW with miles:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/deltap...y-with-points/

But if the price is right, it can be a good deal with Skymiles.

vxmike

My understand is that when renting cars with AA miles that tax is owed directly to the rental company upon check in.

DaddyRabbit

These posts are most helpful. Thanks.

juniorwings

You sir, or ma'am, are awesome. The 1k mile trick saved me about $230 off of the lowest weekly rental price I could find anywhere after spending 3+ hours trying to find a deal, coupon codes, USAA discounts, AAA discounts, etc..

SM Marketplace pulled up the rental (in this case in Hawaii for a Jeep Wrangler) for 1k DSM + $351 cash, and the best rate (using Gold status at Hertz and everything) was for $582 for the week. I was about to settle for a "Ford Fusion or equivalent" due to the rental being out of my budget, but can now roll in a Jeep! Thanks for sharing the info!