How to use AutoSlash:

1. Request a quote at https://www.autoslash.com/quote. You'll get an email usually within 10-15 minutes with the best rates (it takes a few minutes to scan through thousands of coupons!). The email will have a link to view your quote results. The quote will include the best rates (after discounts and coupons) from each major rental company that AutoSlash was able to find. Choose which one you want to book and you can then complete your reservation.
2. If you've already booked a rental elsewhere (or after you book one through step #1 above), register your reservation at https://www.autoslash.com/track. AutoSlash will periodically check your reservation for lower rates and will email you if and when a lower rate is available.

AutoSlash searches and books two different types of rates:

• "Pay Later" — retail pay-at-counter rates, just like the ones you can book directly at the rental car companies' websites, but with coupons applied to slash the rate
• "Pay Now" — specially-negotiated "Slash Deals" prepaid rates that can often be a significant discount from retail rates

"Pay Later" rates are booked through affiliate travel sites. Currently, the main affiliate is Priceline, but additional partners may be added in the future. The quote from AutoSlash includes direct pre-discounted deep links to these affiliate sites so you can quickly and easily find and book the rate.
"Pay Now" Slash Deals rates are booked directly with AutoSlash.

FlyerTalk Advanced Questions (FAQs):

Is there a fee to use AutoSlash?
No, AutoSlash doesn't charge for its services.

How does AutoSlash stay in business, then?
AutoSlash gets a little bit of affiliate revenue from the booking links in the quotes.

What big evil corporation is behind AutoSlash?
None. AutoSlash is a bootstrapped start-up birthed by FlyerTalkers (and even still employing mostly FlyerTalk members) with an initial goal of automating what many FlyerTalk members were already doing (manually testing dozens or hundreds of coupon and discount codes for each rental) and now aiming to be the best and cheapest place on the Internet to book rental cars. There are no plans to shut down or sell out, but if someone wants to match or beat this offer...

Why do I have to provide my email address?
It takes a few minutes to scan through all of the different coupon and discount codes, so a real-time search system isn't really possible. An email alert will be sent when your quote is ready, usually within about 10-15 minutes.

Why haven't I still haven't gotten my quote after 15 minutes?
During periods of heavy demand, the system may get a little backed up. Quotes are generally processed in order of pick-up date (rates for rentals several months out usually don't fluctuate very often), though there's a bit of logic in the system to try to make sure that people don't wait too long (more than an hour or so) for a quote, even when AutoSlash is featured on national news money-saving segments. Also, if you request a quote that doesn't return any results (like trying to pick up off-airport at 3am or searching for a convertible in Duluth in January—yes, those are real requests), your request goes into a queue for manual review, where a support agent will review things to see if your quote can be adjusted to find a result. That should be processed within a few hours at most (but often much faster). Also, try checking your junk or spam folder. Some ISPs tend to be aggressive about bouncing AutoSlash quote emails; feel free to reach out to AutoSlash support to check on your quote email status if you can't find it.

How can I get support from AutoSlash?
[email protected] is the best way to get in touch. A support agent is usually online Monday-Friday 8am to midnight Eastern time and Saturday/Sunday 10am to 8pm Eastern time. During that time, you'll usually get a reply within five to 30 minutes or so and pretty much never more than an hour or two. Most agents are long-time FlyerTalk members, meaning your response generally comes from the perspective of a frequent traveler (if not an outright travel hacker), not some clueless offshore call-center script-reader. Since it's a small team, not to mention they're FlyerTalkers and often traveling themselves (and working from on-board wifi), phone support isn't currently provided. Messaging (privately) on Facebook works, too, with similar response time to email (it goes to the same support agents). Public Facebook wall posts and tweeting @autoslash on Twitter as well as posting in this thread aren't as fast (the support team doesn't monitor those, so they're not the best channels for individual support). (Original post)

Why should I use AutoSlash instead of just going directly to Priceline?
If you search on Priceline.com's homepage for a rental car rate, you'll just get the same rack rates that you'll find on the rental car companies' own sites (plus a mix of nonrefundable prepaid Express Deals rates). The pay-at-counter rates AutoSlash finds are different (and usually significantly lower) than the rates you'd find looking directly on Priceline due to the coupons and discounts AutoSlash applies.

Why are rates on AutoSlash the same or higher than what I've already found elsewhere?
Could be a couple of reasons. If any time has elapsed since you found the lower rate elsewhere, rates simply may have gone up. Compare rates within a few minutes of each other to make sure both results are fresh. A lower rate you found last week really means nothing if you compare it to a rate you found today. Also, make sure you're searching for the exact same itinerary--even adjusting the pick-up or drop-off time by one minute could affect rates, sometimes drastically, especially with all of the rate management games the rental companies engage in these days. Make sure, too, you're searching the exact same location--a small difference in location can be easily overlooked when searching for off-airport rentals. The easiest solution is to book what you found elsewhere and then submit it for price tracking—that way, it's assured to be an apples-to-apples comparison. If you found or booked the lower rate elsewhere within the last hour and AutoSlash can't beat it, there's probably something wrong somewhere. Reach out to [email protected] for assistance and you're virtually assured to come out with an even lower rate.

Are reservations I book through Priceline refundable?
The Pay Later rates AutoSlash finds are not prepaid and generally don't even require providing a credit card (a few exceptions apply depending on company and location—no-show fees are starting to make some appearances). Be sure to look for rates marked "Pay Later," "Pay At Counter," "Free Cancellation," or similar, or just avoid booking anything that asks you to enter a credit card number, to avoid accidentally booking one of Priceline's prepaid and nonrefundable Express Deals. If you match the rate AutoSlash quotes exactly (i.e. AutoSlash quotes a rate with Alamo of $142.62, and you find a rate with Alamo on Priceline of $142.62), then it should be fully cancelable without a penalty.

Why do I have to prepay now? Why did you change?
Nothing's changed—only a new, extra option! AutoSlash still searches the same pay-at-counter rates it always has, and they're still in your quote (marked as "Pay Later" and bookable via major online travel agencies). In addition, AutoSlash now also offers the option to directly book highly-discounted prepaid rates, which are often lower (they're marked in your quote as "Pay Now" or "Slash Deals"). But prepaying for your rental doesn't mean you're trading flexibility—prepaid Slash Deals rates can be canceled for a full refund up to 48 hours before the scheduled pick-up time.

Are prepaid Slash Deals rates booked directly through AutoSlash refundable?
Slash Deals reservations can be canceled up to 48 hours before pick-up (in the local time zone of the rental office) for a full refund without a penalty. Within 48 hours of pick-up, cancellations are subject to a cancellation fee equal to 1 day's charges. After the pick-up time, reservations are nonrefundable.

I booked a prepaid Slash Deal. What if my flight is canceled or the rental agency won't rent me a car?
The cancellation fees are set by contract between the car rental companies and the booking vendor AutoSlash uses. AutoSlash has a limited ability to request exceptions to the cancellation policy but can't guarantee refunds. AutoSlash recommends you always carry a good travel insurance policy to help minimize issues with prepaid travel arrangements. (Original post)

Can I add my loyalty program to a prepaid Slash Deals reservation?
Unfortunately, there isn't a way to do this (though it's understandably important to most people on FlyerTalk!). However, due to the way National's program works, you can still receive your Emerald Club benefits on prepaid bookings--just book and then use National as normal, including skipping the counter and choosing a car from the Emerald Aisle or Executive Selection as applicable, and the agent at the exit gate will associate the rental to your Emerald Club account using your driver's license number. While not guaranteed, rental credits (including One-Two Free hits) should post normally. To date, no one's posted any experiences attempting this with other rental companies (please post if you try this!).

Are prepaid Slash Deals safe to book? Can I trust AutoSlash?
The booking vendor behind prepaid Slash Deals rates, Connexions Loyalty, is one of the largest vendors in this sector. They power the booking portals for many major financial institutions' rewards portals, including Citi ThankYou Points and (until recently) Chase Ultimate Rewards, both products used by tens of thousands of FlyerTalk members (so hardly a fly-by-night operator). Connexions has robust contracts with the rental car companies for rates and inventory. At no point does AutoSlash ever have access to your credit card information; the travel.autoslash.com subdomain for booking Slash Deals rates is actually hosted by Connexions.

What happened to the grid?
The previous booking platform AutoSlash used was discontinued (it was a division of Travelocity that got bought by Orbitz and eventually folded into Expedia and then sunsetted). AirportRentalCars.com, a subsidiary of Priceline, does have a grid that actually works reasonably well, but their support for coupons and discounts is broken at the moment--hopefully they'll get it fixed at some point. Most other sites out there we've found with grids have half-baked or zero support for coupons and discounts, making them a non-starter.

Known Issues and Workarounds:

Off-airport rate not found: Occasionally, a rate AutoSlash finds in an off-airport quote request won't show up when you click on the Priceline link. This is usually due to Priceline's default search not including the location AutoSlash found. (Priceline dynamically adjusts their search radius based on a number of factors, and they also always search from the geographic center of the city, regardless of ) The current best workaround is to take the Priceline URL and append &radius=25 to the end, which will force Priceline to show all locations within 25 miles of the city center (this can be hundreds of results). You can use the filters on the left sidebar to help narrow down the results and make it easier to find the rate you're looking for. (Original post)

Customizing tracking results: AutoSlash support agents can adjust the reservation parameters (date/time/location/car size/membership affiliations/etc.) as well as filter out specific rental car companies and disable searching for prepaid rates. Reach out to [email protected] or reply to your tracking confirmation or offer email for help with this.

Feature Requests:

• User profiles -- it's coming--slowly, yes, but it's finally on the development timeline
• Mobile-friendly design -- in progress
• App -- not much benefit to one until user profiles are rolled out. Let's get mobile-friendly design perfected first.
• Retain membership/affiliation choices in a cookie -- RESOLVED