Posts: 2558
From: Idaho-God's Country.
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 02-16-2005 21:04               

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Liz,
Did you check Budget's site? I checked tonight and they have a mid-size at LIH for $170-total. No extra for a second driver. A full size was only $10 more. The Entertainment Book coupons will lower the cost even more.

Phil

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Posts: 41
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 02-17-2005 17:35            

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I was so happy to find this thread. I despise the "additional driver HIDDEN charges" at some of the companies, so I was very interested to learn who does and doesn't charge. Earlier this week, I made a reservation through Travelocity and selected a Budget midsize. I could not find their "additional driver" policy at the time I made the reservation, so I called Travelocity to inquire. They told me it would be an additional $25, even if the other driver was the spouse. I was determined to find a better deal.

After reading here about Costco, I made a reservation through their site with AVIS. I got a midsize for $189.10 incl tax/fees. I just called to check on their "spouse" policy, and they said the spouse can drive for free. The rep says it does vary by location, but that she had never seen AVIS charge when the spouse was the additional driver.

Cheers,
Maria

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Posts: 2011
From: Wrightwood, CA, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 02-18-2005 14:54               

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I was able to get a Priceline reservation for Kaui, although by the time we add second driver charges it will be almost $200 for the week. When I went to Costco they showed the Big Island at Hilo as $276 for a compact, althought Budget says they don't charge for the additional driver. Is Hilo more expensive? I am thinking of just waiting my required 7 days and trying Priceline again. I tried $15, no go. Did get $18 at Lihue.
Liz

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Posts: 2011
From: Wrightwood, CA, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 02-18-2005 19:08               

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I just checked Budget, if we were flying into Kona it would be over $100 less than flying into Hilo. Budget has a $154 rate for compact cars in Hilo, but it is $276 in Hilo.
Liz

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Posts: 114
From: Miami, Ohio, USA
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 02-21-2005 19:27               

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ZCAR,
We have an Alamo reservation for Kauai. Your posts suggests you had problems with them, please elaborate.

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Posts: 596
From: Yorba Linda, CA USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 02-21-2005 20:02               

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amerisense,
We rented Alamo on both Oahu and Kauai last November/early December. Both were compacts, rented via the website. The Oahu car was OK, but had minor dings, Not necesarily clean.
The car on Kauai was simply dirty, inside and out. with appropriate dings. (Hertz at that time, was considerably more dollars).
Both cars were Chevy Cavaliers, and in the 11,000-16,000 mile range. Not a favorite car of mine.but they sufficed.
Line in Lihue was longer than expected, probably 30-40 minutes. Total cost for 7 days was $174.20.
Today, I used Hawaiian Airlines codes and HA VISA for Hertz (Gold) for Kauai (April 24-May 1) and came up quite a bit better. It will be a Mazda 6, Malibu or 'Other'. Hope I get a Mazda 6! Hertz, for us, has always had faster service (Gold) and cleaner, lower milage cars.

[This message has been edited by ZCar (edited 02-21-2005).]

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Posts: 1155
From: ID
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 02-21-2005 21:36               

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Just paid $202 for Alamo 'fullsize' Pontiac Grand Prix 4 dr for the BI for this late March. Price includes $133 + $22.46 for the redeye extra time, + $46.81 for taxes, etc. Mileage unlimited. Their fine print says an extra driver fee will 'likely' be charged, but no info. on the website to say how much. I plan to continue to shop around and will call Alamo re. the extra driver fee.

Edited to add: Zcar, now I'm a little concerned and will probably shop around a bit. I tried several of the codes on rentalcodes. com and in many cases the codes weren't any different than the web prices for non-codes. Thx for your tips.

[This message has been edited by muranojo (edited 02-21-2005).]

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Posts: 596
From: Yorba Linda, CA USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 02-22-2005 09:40               

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amerisense & muranjo,
MAYBE this might be a tip for Alamo in Kauai. When boarding the shuttle bus to the Alamo rental lot (short ride) try to sit up-front. One of you get off as quicly as possible and be among the first to the counter, or at least ahead of the others, and behind those already there. The other person takes care of the luggage.

I watched this happen as my wife and I helped with our luggage. Thst's probanly one reason for it taking 30-40 minutes. The agent said to go out and just pick a car from the 'Compact' area. Being near the last didn't help any. Maybe that's why ours wasn't among the better cars. I suspect turnover is quite brisk in the low cost rentals, as ours was still wet from the wash. Seems like they could 'power-wash' them to at least remove the red dirt collection ... just once in a while.
As far as the Chevy Cavalier, at those prices, it is a basic car. A price leader if at a dealers. Crank windows, automatic, air and radio, plus cruise control. The key tag even says 'special'. Wonder if Chevy builds these just for the rental market?
Having said all this, the car was sufficient for our needs.
Our upcoming rental on Kauai is $149.15 inc. tax for 7 days and is the level above a Ford Focus in the pricing schedule. About extra driver cost, I don't know.

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Posts: 164
From:
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 02-22-2005 10:22               

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If you can join the Emerald Club with National, I think you will find their rates lower (even lower than with using coupons)plus you get an automatic upgrade if you reserve an intermediate. Also, the spouse is free as a second driver. Plus, the cars are newer. If you reserve a compact, it is quite possible to get a free upgrade when you pick it up. This past November we made the horrible mistake of using Alamo in Kauai(cause it was the cheapest I could find). NEVER AGAIN! We returned it a week early because the bad smell of it just would not go away. We chalked it up to "another" bad Alamo experience and so they are now on the list of "no repeats". If you do rent from Alamo, I really urge you to carefully inpsect the car and not just for dings. If it smells bad..don't assume that all it needs is a good airing out. Especially in Kauai, where it is wet, muddy and damp. It gets in the cars and just turns to mold if not take care of. Which apparently Alamo does not. I noticed the smell in all of them that I had to choose from. Lessons learned here.

Again, I would recommend National, using the Emerald Club.

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Posts: 1920
From: San Ramon, CA, USA Owner: Maui Lea at Maui Hill, San Diego Country Estates
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 02-22-2005 11:23               

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quote:

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Originally posted by richkat:
If you can join the Emerald Club with National, I think you will find their rates lower (even lower than with using coupons)plus you get an automatic upgrade if you reserve an intermediate.

Again, I would recommend National, using the Emerald Club.

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Steve uses National for business travel and is an Emerald Club member. I consistently get better rates, both with National and Avis, by using an AARP discount. In fact the AARP discount takes the discount AFTER the base rate given through the Emerald Club.

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Luanne

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Posts: 1671
From: Valparaiso, IN Christmas Mountain Village week 27 and 30
Registered: May 2002

posted 02-24-2005 19:44               

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I just joined the Emerald Club and switched my reservation from Alamo to National in Lihue and saved another $25 for a intermediate. Is it always automatic you get upgraded? It wouldn't let me use an upgrade coupon because it's for 15 days. Also it said it didn't have an Emerald Aisle but does have an Emerald booth. Would I still get to choose my car? The rate is very good ($250 w/ taxes)so an intermediate would be fine. I was surprised I saw elsewhere that National considered Malibu's full size. I drive one and it's considered a mid size everywhere else so I'm wondering if their mid size is really more like a compact.

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Posts: 76
From: Westchester, NY USA. Owner: Marriott's Ocean Pointe
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 02-25-2005 10:03            

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We just got back from Kauai this week. It cost $285 for a Trailblazer from Hertz for a week. I think I used the AAA discount.

We rented a Trailblazer from Alamo on Maui. The first 1 they gave us had ants living in it! I went back and asked for a different one. They gave me a brand new t.blazer with 9 miles on it. No problems.

[This message has been edited by davidr (edited 02-25-2005).]

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Posts: 727
From: Suisun City CA USA
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 02-25-2005 15:22               

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We bid deluxe for the BigIsland in July for $25. Last time we got a nice Cadillac with the works. For 3 or 4 more dollars it seems you can get a great deal on a luxury car at Priceline.We just picked up a rental two days early at National on a Priceline bid which Priceline told us we couldn't but had no problem adding two additional days at the time of pickup and paying the regular rate for two days.Priceline doesn't permit change of dates but we found you can pick up a car early with no problem.

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Posts: 2011
From: Wrightwood, CA, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 02-26-2005 22:04               

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In another thread, which I can't seem to find, it mentioned going to Flyertalk to sign up as an Emerald Club member at National for free. When I went to Flyertalk I couldn't find a link. It was suggested there to go to Mouseavers.com, but when I go there a pop up fills the screen and I can't find the site. Am I just having a bad technology night?
Liz

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Posts: 509
From:
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 02-26-2005 23:15            

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Liz,

Here's the link to sign up for free...
http://www.nationalcar.com/cgi-bin/enrollC.pl/TURNER/7232219

If you go to the national site and sign up for the Emerald club at the bottom you'll see it is $50. However, the link above does not show a price.

Good luck let me know how it turns out. I might join if it is worth it.

Tina

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You can see my timeshare photos here:

http://community.webshots.com/user/ciscogizmo

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Posts: 134
From: Torrance, CA, USA, Owner: Worldmark
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 02-27-2005 15:51               

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quote:

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Originally posted by sunstarved:

AVIS- Possible one time charge of $25.00 per extra driver, need NOT appear when renting car

THRIFTY- Policy unclear

DOLLAR- Policy unclear

Gayle

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Gayle, I have rented from Thrifty before with additional drivers. It's free. Additional drivers must have a driver's license and credit card. This was in California, so I don't know if it differs from state to state.

[This message has been edited by CalifasGirl (edited 02-27-2005).]

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