I've had several back to back rentals and here's what I've seen from the system.

Rental 1: LAS 1/1 to 1/3 (rental credit issued)
Rental 2: LAS 1/3 to 1/5 (no rental credit issued)
Rental 3: LAS 1/5 to 1/7 (rental credit issued)

So it appears even if you keep renting back to back; that you would receive an automatic credit for every other rental.

Thank's for everyone's insight into this matter. I didn't think the thread would take off as well as it had!

At any rate I'm happy to tell you that to begin with, we have decided to sell 1 of our 2 cars and permanently rent and see how it goes. A family member is coming in from out of town in early March to finish the purchase of the car we are selling. We are going to use the rentals in place of the car that would normally be driven 35,000+ miles a year.

So at this point we will still have auto insurance for one remaining vehicle, and protection from the credit card. We will kind of see how this goes for the time being and decide if we want to sell the second car as well.

I don't get the whole back to back rental credit thing. What are they trying to avoid, renting and returning daily like bed hopping with hotels?

I think I get people's reluctance to share their rates on this site, and that is fine, but maybe you might feel comfortable answering this question? I'm estimating my monthly costs after car payment, insurance, licensing & maintenance at $450 a month. Would you say it is safe to assume I could negotiate a rate lower than that?

With taxes and fees, I would say doubtful - I am getting a very low weekly rate, and using a $30 coupon on top of that, and my all-in (assuming 4 weeks of rental per month, which is honestly rare) would be higher.

Renting from Friday to Friday there are four weeks and two days in March. I used rates using the EA CID which provided a better rate, even over the Unigraphics CID.

One week - w/ $30 off coupon was 134.92 (/7=19.27) per week or 161.54 (23.07) after taxes etc.. The last week of March which is one week and two days (Friday to Friday to Sunday) is 192.76 (21.42) per week or 230.20 (25.58).

So with those rates I am up to 714.82 or 850.74 without the $30 off coupon for the month :(

To get close to $450 I would estimate you would have to be around 85 (12.14) or 103.34 after taxes and 132.87 for the week and two days to be at 442.89 for the month.

My guess is people here might be able to get a $15 a day rate before taxes which puts you at 105 or 126.66 (18.09) for the week after taxes and 162.85 for the last week, you would be around $542.83 for the month of March, assuming you rented everyday.

I was never good at math, so I could be off :)

One thing you might want to look into if you rent long term is signing up for a program like http://www.feecation.com They reimburse you for the extra fees on a rental. For me this is like $30 a week I get back. It is limited to $10 per instance but that means per fee so if there are 3 fees you pay then each will be refunded up to $10 each.

This is how I get my rental rate down and it really helps. It does take 30 days exactly for them to approve your rebate but they do get paid as it says.

So far I have saved alot of money using this service and they also rebate other fees like wifi, hotel resort and parking as well as airline fees.

The rental car facility fee at SFO is $20/day just on its own.

Of course, there are also probably 90 days a year when I wouldn't need to rent a car at home because I would be traveling.

I've never paid any of the fees they list on their site for rental cars other than late return fees (which I have paid perhaps once in ten years). At $16+/mo with a $250/year and $10/incident cap it seems like a real money-looser for rental car purchases. Could almost make sense with the airline fees when traveling on airlines where I don't have elite status except, again in the fine print, $10/incident and $500/year. That's not going to cover much of a checked bag or seat upgrade fee. Have never paid ANY of the example hotel fees. I'd stay away from that service like the plague.

I think that is the point that makes this feasible. Unfortunately for me, I do not have a regular travel schedule. It is extremely random, to the point that I could be asked to travel tomorrow overnight even though I will already be gone for the next week and a half later this week.

Yeah, I didn't get that site. Pay $16 a month to get your fees back, if they won't spell out exactly how they make money, I am not interested LOL

With taxes and fees for four weeks I will be between $450 - $500 with all taxes/fees. For me it is worth it for the reasons previously described.

I average 2400 miles a week with my job. I've done the math and there is no way I could come out on top with a lease, or buying a vehicle. The best thing is when it needs maintenance, or even when I just feel like something different; I can just swap it out at any corporate National location and be on my way.

Holy, National must hate you! ;)

Let me guess, Taxi Service or Delivery Service........ :D

:o I couldn't use the rental for either of those things; I think I'd be violating the rental agreement.

I am a multi state region manager for a large corporation, which causes me to travel so much.