Rentals ... 3rd Time’s the Charm?

Car rentals are expensive this year! And that’s if you can even get a car. We’ve seen recent news reports of people renting U-Haul’s at their destinations, just so they have some wheels to get around.

I understand that there are a couple of reasons for cars being worth their weight in gold these days. Of course, there is the “sudden rush to travel” that is causing a degree of scarcity. But also the rental agencies sold off parts of their fleet during the pandemic to stay afloat. Now, they want to build up their fleets, but there is a shortage of cars because there is a shortage of chips and other materials needed to build cars. A vicious circle.

Luckily, we’re in good shape. We acted early in our planning process and managed to snag a couple of rentals while we await the RV & toad to join us ... one for the week in Anchorage and one for the week in Washington State. That doesn’t mean that I liked the prices, however. Nope ... way too high! But with no money exchanging hands, I figured we’d keep trying.

I’m happy to report that the third go around yielded rates that we can live with. In fact, I don’t think we can beat the rate for Anchorage since the most recent search yielded NO available cars for our dates either at the airport or the downtown office.

The rental for our Seattle-Leavenworth getaway is still pricey, but I did manage to drop the price by some $200+. I’ll keep trying, but it is slim-pickings at the moment.

The last price drop for the Seattle rental was thanks to a web-based tool called AutoSlash. Request a quote online ... receive an email with offers ... pick the offer you like ... click the button to book directly with the company providing the quote (in this case Priceline). Easy peasy. I’ll be using this website for sure when looking to book a vehicle rental in the future.Read more