rdg

Obtaining a good deal for a weekend car rental in New York can sometimes be difficult. Most car rental coupons exclude the New York tri-state area. Anyone care to share their successful strategies?

I personally switch between renting from Hertz using my Platinum Amex discount (consistently around $62/day for a mid-size), some Avis discount numbers (as low as $50-55 if pick up at JFK using Preferred Select), wheeling and dealing with the folks at Enterprise right as they�re closing for the weekend (also around $50/day) and (best of all) the generosity of fellow FT�ers with their UA car rental coupons.

Adman

Two others: Depending on where you are going, the Avis locations in Stamford, CT and on Long Island (I'm familiar with Lynbrook, but I think other locations work the same) generally don't have the "New York" rate problem. I've rented cars at both of these locations for as little as $34/day. And the good news is that you can generally return the cars in Manhattan or at the airports, with no additional charges.

Paulo

Stamford has Hertz and Avis both at the train station, which is 50 minutes from Manhattan by train, $7.50 one-way off-peak fare. It's not the most convenient in the world, but if you're headed north for the w/end, not too bad. I think I paid a small fee with Avis to return in Manhattan...haven't used Hertz.

Also, EWR tends to have far better rates than LGA/JFK...you might check that out. You can get there by $1 PATH to Newark Penn Station + $4 bus (I think) or <$10 cab.

I know Avis has numerous suburban NJ locations. All depends (a) where way are you traveling, and (b) what lengths are you willing to go to in order to save $$. Most of the suburban locations do not charge NY-sized rates, but they also have limited availability.

rfrost

Particularly in the summer, when Manhattan weekend rates are astronomical, if I'm heading east, I often pick up at LGA
(where our corporate rate with Hertz is not
blacked out) or at Macarthur airport in Islip, where rates tend to be much lower (tho
they seem to be edging up with the increased WN traffic there). I think there's a Thrifty
very close to the Hicksville LIRR station, but last time I checked, their Sunday hours were quite limited. In the dead of winter,
if you have any kind of decent discount, Avis in Manhattan shouldn't run more than your Hertz Platinum Amex rate , and both of them have deals where you get a free rental day after 5 or 6 paid rentals, so the rate's effectively a bit lower. I used to rent from a Dollar on W. 56 St., which was cheaper than the other majors, and they gave miles, but the cars were almost never there for when you'd reserved them and I got tired of waiting for them to be hauled in from Newark. If you're heading in that direction, EWR rates have been much lower than the Queens airports ever since Alamo started some real price competition there.
Have you been able to use UAL certs in Manhattan? If so, where?

rdg

Thanks for the info. I've used UA certificates at the Avis locations on E54th and E43rd without a problem. Also, Avis seems to give me less trouble picking up at one location and returning at another (handy when flying into the one of the local airports on a Friday night). If the rate increases if I want to return in Manhattan instead of the airport, I'll leave it as an airport-return and then call customer service shortly before I'm returning and have them change it to a Manhattan-return location.

jimquan

Internet fares!

I check the bestfares.com site for I-deals. They also have a section for cars. You have to cross reference the airline promo code when booking the car rental. I have never been asked to show the airline ticket.

Got an excellent deal from national last summer $34 a day weekend!

Also some sites will allow you to book government rates ezsabre (RIP) did.

Good luck, Jim