Old Jan 6, 2018, 11:23 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: AutoSlash
AutoSlash automatically searches thousands of coupon codes to find the best one that slashes your rental car rate!
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 Januaryyes, 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 trackingthat 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 locationno-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 changedonly 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 flexibilityprepaid 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
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Autoslash (General Discussion)

Old Jul 11, 2022, 12:33 pm
  #1276  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,691
Originally Posted by seawolf
Noticed that Hertz were dropping prices a couple of days prior to rental. So definitely worth monitoring.
When I used to do weekly bookings with them I used to monitor and that was often the case. Back in 2019 though.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 5:37 am
  #1277  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 1,170
Dollar tracking question

Autoslash... just made a dollar reservation. Went to track it through you, and got a dialog box that appeared that said I need to forward the reservation to you as you can't track it from Dollar's website. But before I was able to do that, I got a tracking confirmation from you for the Dollar reservation...

???
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 5:40 am
  #1278  
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,645
Originally Posted by randix
Autoslash... just made a dollar reservation. Went to track it through you, and got a dialog box that appeared that said I need to forward the reservation to you as you can't track it from Dollar's website. But before I was able to do that, I got a tracking confirmation from you for the Dollar reservation...

???
The tracking confirmation is just an automated email to say we received the tracking request and give you a link to cancel or adjust your preferences.

The reason the system requested that you forward your confirnation email to us is that we were having some issues pulling up Dollar reservations for a while but those issues have largely been resolved. Our messaging will be updated shortly. You can safely ignore that message (specifically for Dollar) for now.
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Old Jul 17, 2022, 7:51 am
  #1279  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Air Canada A35K, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 169
Just booked a rental car with Hertz in France through Priceline via a link provided by Autoslash. The booking is not pre-paid (like I'm used to with Priceline) and the confirmation email quotes the price as an "Estimated Total" rather than a guaranteed rate.

I couldn't find the same rate searching directly on Priceline and the rates I did see were prepaid.

Is this a standard wording or should I be concerned that Hertz will increase the price of the booking when I go to pick up the car?
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Old Jul 17, 2022, 10:01 am
  #1280  
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,645
Originally Posted by etgohomeok
Just booked a rental car with Hertz in France through Priceline via a link provided by Autoslash. The booking is not pre-paid (like I'm used to with Priceline) and the confirmation email quotes the price as an "Estimated Total" rather than a guaranteed rate.

I couldn't find the same rate searching directly on Priceline and the rates I did see were prepaid.

Is this a standard wording or should I be concerned that Hertz will increase the price of the booking when I go to pick up the car?
It's standard wording for all rentals. Your rate is guaranteed and includes all taxes and mandatory fees. That's the rate you'll pay at the counter.
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Old Aug 7, 2022, 12:21 pm
  #1281  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 1,170
Autoslash... just saw someone's speculative post over in the Hertz forum, re possible change in reward redemption requirements possibly on 8/9... you know anything?

Hertz redemption values changing
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Old Aug 7, 2022, 12:37 pm
  #1282  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: MSY
Programs: AA Plat Pro, UA Plat, VS Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 2,530
Had a slightly odd experience with an enterprise booking where at the counter they tried to claim it was going to be $100 more than the booking rate ("We're holding you card for the estimated charges of $500 plus a deposit"). I showed them the confirmation in the enterprise app (where it was clearly $399) and they "were able to match" the rate.

I will say service was excellent otherwise. Stay on top of your rates and keep your confirmations handy.
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Old Aug 7, 2022, 2:03 pm
  #1283  
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,645
Originally Posted by randix
Autoslash... just saw someone's speculative post over in the Hertz forum, re possible change in reward redemption requirements possibly on 8/9... you know anything?

Hertz redemption values changing
We don't know anything but Gary Leff from View from the Wing speculated that maybe Hertz is eliminating the option to redeem points for bail?
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Old Aug 7, 2022, 2:35 pm
  #1284  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,842
Originally Posted by AutoSlash
We don't know anything but Gary Leff from View from the Wing speculated that maybe Hertz is eliminating the option to redeem points for bail?
So sad for the people that are involved with that!
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Old Aug 30, 2022, 8:18 pm
  #1285  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SAT
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton and Wyndham Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Delta Plat, United Silver, Hertz PC
Posts: 714
I used your discount on my current rental, thank you very much. It is a Hertz rental in PHL. The discounted rate was using the AMEX Platinum discount. My normal card for all my rentals is DC and that is the primary card on my profile. I am PC with Hertz, but as this rental was for a Premium, I used that car instead. This meant going inside to the counter. There was no issue about the rate, but during check-in, the agent changed my primary card on my profile to a work AMEX and took off my DC as the primary card. Is using the AMEX to pay for the rental required for this rate? Usually I get a car from the PC and just drive out the gate and it always gets charged to my DC regardless of the discount. I ended up putting my DC in the payment thing, so that should be what it is charged to, but I was just wondering if this is standard with this code?

I only knew about the change because I got an email about it and looked up my profile when I got to my destination.
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Old Aug 31, 2022, 1:17 am
  #1286  
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,645
Originally Posted by zdcatc12
I used your discount on my current rental, thank you very much. It is a Hertz rental in PHL. The discounted rate was using the AMEX Platinum discount. My normal card for all my rentals is DC and that is the primary card on my profile. I am PC with Hertz, but as this rental was for a Premium, I used that car instead. This meant going inside to the counter. There was no issue about the rate, but during check-in, the agent changed my primary card on my profile to a work AMEX and took off my DC as the primary card. Is using the AMEX to pay for the rental required for this rate? Usually I get a car from the PC and just drive out the gate and it always gets charged to my DC regardless of the discount. I ended up putting my DC in the payment thing, so that should be what it is charged to, but I was just wondering if this is standard with this code?

I only knew about the change because I got an email about it and looked up my profile when I got to my destination.
Something else must've been going on there. The discount code used on the rental has absolutely nothing to do with the card you use for payment in Hertz's system. We've never seen or heard what you are describing. Maybe some sort of glitch or agent error? It's hard to speculate since it seems so out of the norm.
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Old Aug 31, 2022, 7:50 am
  #1287  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SAT
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton and Wyndham Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Delta Plat, United Silver, Hertz PC
Posts: 714
Originally Posted by AutoSlash
Something else must've been going on there. The discount code used on the rental has absolutely nothing to do with the card you use for payment in Hertz's system. We've never seen or heard what you are describing. Maybe some sort of glitch or agent error? It's hard to speculate since it seems so out of the norm.
OK, thanks. That is what I thought also. I just can't think of any other reason why she would have done that. FWIW, the agent seemed like she knew what she was doing, i.e. moving pretty quick with everything.
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Old Sep 15, 2022, 10:32 am
  #1288  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,290
So this is a new one. Probably more of a Priceline complaint than autoslash, but still.

Made a booking via autoslash -> Priceline -> dollar half a year ago, got a confirmation code and all. Got ANOTHER confirmation email yesterday, saying everying was ready.

Got to the airport today and... Dollar can't find my booking. They can't find my name in the system. They say the confirmation code Priceline shows (starting with a J for "Dollar confirmation ID") is the formatting dollar uses, it should start with 0. I contact Priceline, they say tough luck. Had to make a booking on the spot that cost me 800 USD instead of the 400USD we had a confirmation for. Priceline obviously refuses to reimburse the difference, saying they created a valid booking. But clearly there wasn't a valid one. Frustrating. Now I need to check if my second booking for next week, autoslash -> Priceline -> Avis, actually exists.

EDIT: Nope, that booking also doesn't show up on the Avis website. Is Priceline just garbage?

Last edited by Smiley90; Sep 15, 2022 at 10:46 am
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Old Sep 15, 2022, 10:46 am
  #1289  
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,645
Originally Posted by Smiley90
So this is a new one. Probably more of a Priceline complaint than autoslash, but still.

Made a booking via autoslash -> Priceline -> dollar half a year ago, got a confirmation code and all. Got ANOTHER confirmation email yesterday, saying everying was ready.

Got to the airport today and... Dollar can't find my booking. They can't find my name in the system. They say the confirmation code Priceline shows (starting with a J for "Dollar confirmation ID") is the formatting dollar uses, it should start with 0. I contact Priceline, they say tough luck. Had to make a booking on the spot that cost me 800 USD instead of the 400USD we had a confirmation for. Priceline obviously refuses to reimburse the difference, saying they created a valid booking. But clearly there wasn't a valid one. Frustrating. Now I need to check if my second booking for next week, autoslash -> Priceline -> Avis, actually exists.
First off, please accept our apologies for the problem you experienced with Priceline/Dollar. That is really annoying. We're not sure what happened there and why Dollar could not find your confirmation number in their system.

We can tell you that valid Dollar confirmation numbers transitioned from starting with a J to starting with a K around the end of 2021. The Dollar staff is a bit confused though because bookings made in late 2021 had a number like J94913237C6 whereas the confirmation numbers Dollar is issuing today would look like K2514243917. You can try a test booking on Dollar.com to confirm this. No idea what they mean when they say it should "start with a 0".

As far as your Avis booking goes, you can click here to look your reservation up on Avis' website to confirm that it's active and the price matches what's shown on your Priceline confirmation email. The same is possible for most companies (including Dollar).

If you want to contact us at [email protected], we can try to work something out with you where you can return your current $800 rental and we can try to make you a new reservation for something closer to the $400 you were originally supposed to pay.
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Old Sep 16, 2022, 4:50 am
  #1290  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,290
Originally Posted by AutoSlash
First off, please accept our apologies for the problem you experienced with Priceline/Dollar. That is really annoying. We're not sure what happened there and why Dollar could not find your confirmation number in their system.

We can tell you that valid Dollar confirmation numbers transitioned from starting with a J to starting with a K around the end of 2021. The Dollar staff is a bit confused though because bookings made in late 2021 had a number like J94913237C6 whereas the confirmation numbers Dollar is issuing today would look like K2514243917. You can try a test booking on Dollar.com to confirm this. No idea what they mean when they say it should "start with a 0".

As far as your Avis booking goes, you can click here to look your reservation up on Avis' website to confirm that it's active and the price matches what's shown on your Priceline confirmation email. The same is possible for most companies (including Dollar).

If you want to contact us at [email protected], we can try to work something out with you where you can return your current $800 rental and we can try to make you a new reservation for something closer to the $400 you were originally supposed to pay.
Hi,
I appreciate the Avis link - that one DOES show our booking! I just searched on avis.com which I guess only has NA confirmation numbers and it didn't show.

Unfortunaly won't be able to return the car rental as I'm in the middle of Kruger and can't just leave to switch cars. I very much appreciate the response and offer, though.

They mentioned they recently switched confirmation code types, and presumably my booking was made before the change - but if that means all bookings made pre-change were lost, that can't be true... That'd be ridiculous, no? Is there a way you (I don't know how much insider info autoslash has here) can contact Priceline and figure out what happened? Because they're sure not telling me and just going with "it's confirmed and not our fault that it's not showing on dollar's system"

We didn't really have the choice of not getting a car, as we needed to get through the park gates before they close. So it was either miss out on days of prepaid safari or pay up. 400 dollars extra is a comparatively small price to pay for whay we witnessed in return, but it sure was stressful!

Just... I guess everyone that booked with dollar through Priceline better double check their booking actually exists I guess is the lesson here.
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