15 Secret Ways to Get Cheapest Car Rentals

Insider strategies to find the best price on your next rental vehicle.

Fact checked by Elizabeth MacLennanFact checked by Elizabeth MacLennan

Timing can be everything when looking for a rental car; you might find a decent rate, but if you sit and wait for an even lower price, you may miss out on a deal. But there are other secret ways of finding the best price. Use these 15 insider strategies to do a thorough search for the cheapest rental car possible — and maybe even score an upgrade.

Search with membership sites.

While paid memberships are required to access deals through the likes of Costco Travel and AAA, the cost can pay off if you rent cars frequently. If you're already a member, these should be the first place you look for savings. Instead of providing their own rental cars, these companies leverage their size and customer base to negotiate sweeter deals. Costco Travel, for example, consistently offers lower rates than major car rental companies like Budget, Enterprise, Alamo, and Avis, and AAA has deals on Hertz rentals.

Check your airline programs

You might be able to find some nice discounts through frequent flyer programs. However, these sometimes come with stipulations like renting exclusively from airline partners or limiting your pick-up and drop-off to airports. Even if there aren't any discounts, booking through the airline may give you a chance to earn more points. For example, in 2023 Delta announced a new SkyMiles partnership with Hertz, offering four miles for every $1 spent on a Hertz rental car; this is an even sweeter deal for Gold members who earn six miles per $1, and Diamond members who earn eight miles per $1.

Search third-party discount sites.

If the rental car provider doesn't matter to you, check "opaque" sites like Priceline and Hotwire, both of which offer deep discounts but don't reveal the rental agency's name until you've made a nonrefundable booking. You never know where the best deal is going to be, so it's worth it to do a cursory search on third-party discount sites if you want to find the cheapest car rental price possible.

Related: Travel + Leisure Readers' 5 Favorite Rental-car Companies of 2024

Compare with the direct booking rate.

If you are set on a certain car rental company, then before you pay through a third-party site like Expedia, for example, go straight to the rental agency's site and check prices for your dates. You may find that it's much cheaper to book directly and you can then earn points directly with the company's membership program. This way, you'll know you have all your bases covered.

Try a car-sharing alternative.

If you can put your house on Airbnb, why not your car? Peer-to-peer car-sharing companies like Getaround and Turo let you rent cars directly from their owners, who set the price and mileage limits. Once you book, you'll meet your host to pick up the keys and the car, and you're off. This kind of car rental has unique benefits, such as being able to read reviews for the exact car you'll be driving and the chance that you'll be able to pick up the car somewhere near your home. If you're looking for the absolute cheapest car rental company and you live in an area where many people are offering their cars, you can save a lot by booking a peer-to-peer rental. And if the idea of driving someone else's car makes you nervous, you could also check out options on Zipcar, a membership-based platform that lets you book cars instantly.

Check for Transfercars.

With so many people picking up rental cars in one place and dropping them off in another, rental companies often struggle to keep up their inventory in their most popular destinations. For this, it's necessary to hire drivers to get cars to where they're needed most, but it also poses an opportunity for savvy travelers with open schedules. Transfercar is a platform where you can find cars with predesignated destinations for just the cost of insurance and gas. For example, you may find a station wagon that needs to be driven from Las Vegas to San Francisco within three days. That's a nine-hour drive, which you can break to make a stop at Yosemite National Park or go up to Lake Tahoe. If it's the RV life you're more interested in, imoova.com is a similar platform for RVs.

Try the two-minute trick.

If you have patience and two minutes per week, this easy trick recommended by Scott Keyes, the founder of Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights), can help you get a better deal. The first step is to book your car rental as soon as you need it at whatever rate. Then, set a calendar reminder for yourself once per week to check the rate on the same car and see if it's dropped. If it's lower than what you originally paid, you can cancel your first booking and then rebook at the lower rate. Before doing so, make sure your rental provider won't impose a cancellation fee, which they typically won't as long as the cancellation isn't within 24 hours of your booking. The earlier you book, the more chances you'll have to claim a juicy price drop.

Look for coupons.

You may be able to squeeze a few extra dollars out of your deal with a coupon from AutoSlash.com, which searches a database of coupons for the best price. Simply plug in the dates you need your rental car and customize the search based on the travel memberships, credit cards, and frequent flyer programs you have. Then, you'll receive an e-mail with potential discounted rates. You can also see available coupons listed on the site sorted by company if you prefer to shop your options.

Get a manual transmission.

If you're traveling outside of Canada and the U.S., you'll find that manual transmission cars are far more common. That doesn't mean you can't find an automatic in Europe (or anywhere else), but you may have to pay a much higher price due to there being fewer available. If you don't know how to drive a stick shift, taking the time to learn can help you save more down the road.

Avoid insurance potholes.

Your credit card, personal car insurance, or travel insurance may cover your vehicle during your rental. Look it up before you rent, and read the fine print. It could save you $15 to $25 a day on the cost of your car. Don't forget to bring proof of your insurance coverage; increasingly, car rental companies have started to demand this before they hand you the keys. A site like Rental Cover can sell you a stand-alone insurance policy that costs a fraction of what the rental companies charge.

Related: This Simple Rental Car Hack Will Help You Avoid Getting Scammed

Try not to rent at the airport.

Cars rented at the airport are usually more expensive because of added taxes and fees. When you rent a car at an off-airport location, you could save up to 20 percent. If you can use public transport to get to the city center — or take a taxi to an off-airport site without spending more than you would renting at the airport — it's cheaper to rent a car in or around the city itself. The exception is renting a car in a big city like New York, where airport rentals are always cheaper because parking in the city is expensive and scarce. Make sure to compare airport and non-airport rental car prices to get the best deal.

Look out for junk fees.

Junk fees have gotten so out of control that even the White House is working to tackle them. Junk fees might include renting a toll transponder (about $5 a day), a GPS (use your phone instead), or a satellite radio (sometimes as much as $8 per day). Try to bring your own car accessories, like your charger or phone holder if you want to avoid paying for marked-up products at the rental counter. Just make sure to eliminate them from your booking.

Compare rates throughout the week.

On occasion, you may find that it's cheaper to book a car for a whole week rather than just the few days that you'll need it. Click around and compare the difference between returning the car on the day you actually need to leave versus a few days later. If it works out to be cheaper to return the car later, book that period and just bring the car back whenever you need to leave. To pull this off though, you really need to confirm — in writing — that the rental car company won't impose any early return fees.

Book the smallest car possible.

Rental car companies are known for overbooking to counterbalance the number of people who reserve a car and never show up. Although this backfires during times of high demand, you can use this knowledge to your advantage by booking the smallest and cheapest car possible and setting yourself up for an upgrade. Of course, it's still a gamble, so don't book anything that wouldn't be big enough to accommodate your entire party.

Set a designated driver.

If you plan on driving in shifts with your travel companions, you may end up paying fees for each additional driver you add to the reservation. These typically start at $10 per day. If you do only put one driver on the reservation to save on fees, don't let the other person drive or you could face very expensive consequences should you get into an accident or get caught speeding while they're behind the wheel. Sometimes rental car companies offer deals or coupons that waive fees for additional driver fees — depending on your itinerary this could be a big way to save money on your car rental.

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