Never Pay Full Price For That Rental Car!

Whenever you go to some online store to make a purchase, there is bound to be a little box labeled "Promo Code", or "Discount Code", or "Coupon Code".  Most people probably skip right over them.  For me, the first thing I do is a Google search: "[name of store] promo code".  It doesn't always work out, but the ten seconds it takes to look is always worth it.  (There are even entire websites dedicated to compiling and discussing these codes.)

What's my point?  Well, these codes apply to rental car companies too.  However, unlike the stores I talked about above, you probably do have a code or two for your rental car, and not even know it!  If you are a member of basically any frequent flier program, you probably have a code.  If you are a Costco member, you have a code.  This is a virtually endless list.

So, how does this work out in practice?  Let's say I need a car in Boston for a week, February 5th thru the 12th.

1. First, head to www.orbitz.com and do a search for the location and days you want.  Find the car class you desire, and find which agency offers the best price.  I'd need a full size, and the best price is Budget at $333 for the week.  This will be my baseline, and the price I try to optimize.
2. Next, find a discount code.  For me, I'm a Costco member, and have had good luck with them in the past.  So I go to Costco's website, and find this page.  I choose Budget, and look at what the offers are.  To start, I choose the 20% off + $30 discount code.  This will direct me to a page that displays the codes.  You can manually enter the codes, or simply click the "Click to Book" link.
3. I use the same search as before, Boston from February 5-12, full size.  After the discount, the price is $275, almost $60 in savings.  I now go back and choose a different discount code...this time I choose the 30% off code.  Same search again, and the final price ends up being $262.  I could keep going back and choosing different codes, but I'm confident that $262 is the best price I can get, so I book it.  I saved $71 for about a minute of work.