Priceline for rental car

Have any of you used Priceline for Rental Car? I need assistance, we are planning our trip to Vegas for April, there will now be 8 of us, so yeah we are looking into a mini van, ugh! I know lol! So the cost would be around $600, I was told about Priceline which I've never used. we put a bid in, we are able to save about $300!! for 5 days on the rental.

The companies came up, all here, except for one called Sixt (I may have spelling wrong) we do not have here, what would happen, if it came up with this company? and would I be guaranteed the vehicle I requested, as it says no cancellations? I've been reading stories online that says pricelines class of cars/vehicles aren't what the rentals say they are, I hope someone can give me assistance.

TIA!

 

If you bid on it for 300 and won aren't you now obligated for the rental?

 

I've used Priceline and Hotwire (my favorite) many times in the last few decades. They're about the only places I rent from anymore. My vehicles rented have ranged from midsize to full size to full size SUV (Ford Explorer). We've never had an issue with either reservation service, and only a few issues with a particular rental car company (Yes, Budget, this means you!). The only place anyplace close to as economical as these two would be Costco, and we don't have Costco in our area.

Your question about Sixt - relatively new in the US, started in Europe, I believe. The Las Vegas Franchise has been recently taken over by the company, so there should be no issues. Their only drawback is that you need a 2nd shuttle from the car rental facility to their location, though it is almost directly across the street from the rental center.

Also, remember that you'll need space in the vehicle for luggage. When we rented the explorer, there were 6 of us and 8 suitcases. Getting from the rental center to our hotel was very interesting! Two people ended up with their carry ons in their laps.

 

I have used price line but not for a car. I have used Expedia and both times had the correct car. I am going in Early March and booked a minivan thru Expedia, with Ace for 45 bucks a day.

 

Hogman what I did was, enter the dates, type of Vehicle, it asked for my bid I entered $50, it was accepted, later in the evening I showed my husband, it was no longer avail, so I entered like $52 and was accepted, at that point I just backed out of the site, without entering my personal info. Since I hadn't talked to my DH until he got home, I needed reassurance of WTH I was doing, was correct lol.

To everyone else, thank you so much! It gives me reassurance that we should be okay.

 

I believe what you saw was a message "your bid has a low chance of being accepted", just ignore this. I have rented several times through Priceline's "name your own price" site after receiving this message. Only when you commit to a non refundable purchase will you know if your bid is accepted. I would check out Hotwire and Priceline's "shop and compare" site and use these prices as a guide. If your bid is rejected you can bid again after 24 hours.

Also, are you planning on making 2 trips? 8 folks with luggage in a 7 passenger mini van does not add up.

 

I almost always use Priceline or Hotwire to 'name my own price' on a car. Unlike hotels and flights, to me a car is a car. You can determine where you rent it from so you are guaranteed to rent it from the airport (or very close by as in Sixt). While some companies are more efficient than others, I almost always find more benefit than harm in renting from priceline/hotwire. The money saved can be significant and again, a car is a car.

One other note, with 8 of you, a minivan wouldn't really be big enough as they typically seat 7. You may be better off to rent two cars and have 4 people in each car. You likely can rent two full size cars (or smaller if you prefer) for about the same price as a minivan and everyone would have a seat.

Just a thought. On our trip to Vegas in March, I rented directly from Sixt as they had luxury cars for a ridiculously low amount. I rented a Mercedes for like $235 for the week!

 

It's one trip mid April from New Mexico, I figured 7 passenger would be okay since 3 of the girls are very small built/thin one piece of luggage each, what doesn't add up?

 

I didn't think about this! You're right it would be cheaper! Here's the party myself, my DH, my mom 2 sons 19 and 20, their GF's both 19 and my niece 21. Someone in the other vehicle would have to be over 25 right. We would use our own insurance. Ugh! Decisions you see I don't wanna break the bank before we get there, I'm trying to find least expensive. Our sons recently purchased cars, one a 98 corvette the other 2001 mustang, neither one wants to put miles on their car and I'm not good with them driving to Vegas. You gave me a great idea for renting 2 cars for the same price heck possibly cheaper, the rate without Priceline was a little over $500 with our Emerald Club.

I completely appreciate the feedback! Thank you so much!

 

Yes. Check around. I bet you could get two cars for less than one minivan using priceline or hotwire. You would need to drivers over 25 years old. So, maybe you and your mom?

 

Okay, so I just didn't feel good about bidding with Priceline, as I felt I needed a "for sure" 8 passenger vehicle, my husband didn't feel good about renting 2 cars, which would be about the same price as a larger vehicle. We spent a little extra and went with a Yukon XL or similar, but a guaranteed 8 passenger vehicle.

Thank you for suggestions and help, in the future I won't rule out Priceline, we've never used this site before and thought it to be very helpful.

 

If you didn't book a non-refundable rate, periodically check prices again and cancel and rebook if it drops. Rental prices are sometimes all over the place (though I usually only look at compacts and not the larger cars). I've seen prices drop in half one day and back up the next. Sometimes It pays to rebook and for that reason I never pay in advance for a car rental.

 

I use costco. They are SUPER cheap. I got a Toyota Avalon with leather and sunroof for $115 in october. SUN-WED.

 

rentalcars.com is run by priceline but no bidding and you pay when you get the car. Been using it for years.