USAoz

almost every year, we go to Colorado to ski for 2 to 3 weeks.

We're going next January.

Normally we fly into Vail airport(EGE) which is 1000 time better than Denver & get a Hertz 4wd one way for 24 to 72 hours dropping off at Frisco Colorado. Cost has been around AUD$95 with autoclub discount(about $10 off). Went to Hertz site & for same they now want between AUD$280 & AUD$350, a 185 to 250% increase. Thought this might be a computer issue, so called Hertz & even wrote to Hertz, but no, that's the price now.

Considering now using www.turo.com as can get a bigger 4wd for duration, rather than 2 one ways for same price.

Also looked at which other car companies have depots in the area of Frisco. Enterprise have a depot at Silverthorne, but not EGE, so could fly into DEN & use them, but their prices are insane as well.

Any suggestions ?

jackal

Did you call the local Hertz office in EGE directly?

It's a corporate location, so the prices will probably be the same (franchises often list different rates for direct bookings), but it may be worth a try to speak directly to the people at the rental counter at EGE.

Direct number is +1-970-524-7177.

cblaisd

And absolutely try www.autoslash.com/quote

USAoz

yes thanks. Tried this & it came up with weird numbers & when clicked on them, said nothing available. Surely January 2018 is not too far away ?It's only 7 months ahead.

AutoSlash

Hmm, that's odd. We're processing lots of requests for well into next year.

Send us an email (or PM us here, but email's faster) with your dates and we'll be glad to look into it. Or if you already got an email from us, just reply to that--it's the fastest way for us to look your information up.

USAoz

thanks. email sent

sdsearch

Actually it's so far away that prices may be higher than they will a month or two out. Not that many people book that far out, so rental companies often raise prices that far out because it's too early for competition.

So whatever you do, make sure the reservation you book can be changed '/ cancelled if the price falls (at the rental company you book at now or at another rental company) substantially between now and then. The last thing you want to do is assume that he best price you can find today is the best price you'll be able to find between now and January.

And, since it's in the new year, it's so far ahead that some companies may not have loaded fares yet! (I don't know about car rental companies for sure, but I've definitely seen multiple threads about hotels where half a year out or so this hotel or that hotel had no fares loaded yet beyond December of the current year.)

AutoSlash

Yes, totally agree with sdsearch. Rates will almost certainly drop eventually. Just be patient. Book something and track the rental using the link below. Let the system do the work and continue to look for better deals.

randix

other than being extraordinarily organized, I see little point in ever making a reservation that far in advance.

jackal

Not the case with rental cars. Rental car companies are generally bookable a year in advance (unless the booking platform, like some GDSes or OTAs, have lower thresholds--the old Sabre-based Travelocity system I used to use to check my competitors' rates on would only work up to 330 days out). Rates are generally fixed at some ballpark-ish higher-than-normal figure loosely based on seasonality and some indication of demand, and they'll start to get analyzed and adjusted more as the rental dates get closer--but they are never (or at least rarely) not bookable at all.

Sure, not much of a reason to, but also no reason not to as long as you check rates periodically for drops (or use AutoSlash to track rates). Sometimes it works to your advantage. FTer fti and I used to get in mini-mock-arguments on FT because he would routinely book uber-cheap rates with Enterprise in ANC 11 months out (the argument was between his perspective that it was intentional and my assertion that it was completely unintentional and due to a combination of incompetence and management churn at Enterprise...as someone who has worked in the rental industry, I guess my tendency is to ascribe things to incompetence long before ascribing them to anything else ).

But yes, in probably 90+% of cases, the best rates are not a year out but rather much closer in as the rental companies start to forecast having too many cars on the lot. But as long as there's no fee to cancel, there is that 10% of the time that it might help, so why not book as soon as you know your dates--just as long as you keep checking to make sure they don't drop?

sdsearch

If the OP doesn't care which rental company they rent with or which exact airport (within an area) they fly into (as it seemed from the OPs post 1 above), just the type of car and the rate, can AutoSlash tell them that switching from rental company A to rental company B and airport X to airport Y at this point will lower their rate? Or did it only monitor rate drops at the current rental company at the current airport?

AutoSlash

We monitor rates across all companies at the location booked. We do not check alternate airport locations. You'd have to track a second reservation at the other location (different airport / off-airport / etc.) and we'll check that one as well. Tracking multiple locations is challenging from a logistical perspective. We do check for the vehicle type you booked and higher though.

USAoz

we usually book our Xmas flights 11 months out, as usually that's when they are the cheapest by far. Done this for past decade or so. Booked flights much later this year. When we book flights, we book everything else including cars. We have noticed that for one way hires, some car types either disappear closer to pick up date or price goers through the roof.

USAoz

there are only 2 companies in the vicinity of where we want to drop off, from what we can find. Hertz if picking up at DEN or EGE & dropping off at Frisco Co & Enterprise if picking up at DEN & dropping off at Silverthorne.

AutoSlash

Typically car rental prices fluctuate and often can drop considerably within a few weeks of the pickup date, but if there is an exception to the rule, it's definitely Xmas time. The early bird often gets the worm here and prices usually continue to rise as Xmas nears, so we recommend booking as early as possible for Xmas week rentals and then tracking the rate, just in case prices do drop at some point.