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Travel -
Getting There
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Written by the frugal nomad
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Thursday, 15 October 2009 14:13 |
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Page 1 of 4
I spent ten years as a road warrior going from one consulting job to another. All in all, I probably signed over a hundred car rental agreements. There’s probably no single industry that has such huge variances in prices for the same essential product or service.
The tab for car rentals vary wildly depending on how you book it, which rental agency you’re dealing with, how long you’re renting it for, whether you’re buying insurance, whether you’re driving it one way or dropping it off where you picked it up, whether you have an AARP or an AAA membership or some kind of coupon or special offer code. And, of course, there’s always the supply and demand factor - which can vary by season or by the day of the week. Even the pick-up and drop-off times might make a huge difference in what you pay. Any kind of special event like a Super Bowl will send rates soaring. On top of that, the city you happen to be travelling to will radically effect your daily rental rates.
So you have to work all the angles to get the best deal possible. If there is one consumer product or service that mandates comparison shopping - it has to be car rentals.
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