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A few months back I wrote an article about getting the best deal booking travel online. Whether you need a hotel room, airfare, rental car, or a complete vacation package, following my techniques outlined in that post will ensure that you get a fair price.
Earlier this month I had an opportunity to put my travel booking tactics to good use. My wife and I decided to rent a minivan to drive our family from Maine to Florida for a little fun in the sun!
SAY WHAT?
I know, I know, driving 1500 miles one way isn’t what most people have in mind for a vacation, but after the last two winters we’ve had in Maine we would’ve walked there if we had the time!
Anyway, the interesting part about this story is that we rented the minivan with “unlimited” miles through one of the major car rental companies. The poor little Kia Sedona we borrowed had less than 1000 miles on it when we picked it up from the Portland International Jetport.
By the time we dropped it off 8 days later, it had almost 4500 miles on it. 3500 miles in one week! The more and more I thought about it, the more guilt I felt. Did I take advantage of the company? It would be easy to argue that I did!
Having spent only $450 for the use of the vehicle for the week (excluding taxes and fees), I guarantee the rental company was not banking on us driving so far. The depreciation of the vehicle alone was more than $450 not to mention the “wear and tear”.
I’m sure we are not the first family to pull off a stunt like this, and who knows…maybe it is a viable tactic for families planning future frugal trips. In any case, I just wanted to share my story and hear what others had to say about the subject!
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hope you guys enjoyed the trip Ben! That’s a lot of miles in the van but you can’t feel bad about it… that’s the nature of the beast.
For years I traveled with my job and would pay $100s of dollars each week for a car that I might put 40 miles on… so there’s a balance in their pricing.
It’s almost actuarial in a sense… the avg renter will put Y miles on the car and we’ll make X per mile which when coupled with the residual value of Z when the car achieves a certain mileage total will allow us to make P profit on the car over its rental lifetime.
Some cars will be more profitable than others but on average we”ll make x$.
While you make have skewed the curve for that vehicle at this point in its rental lifecycle, it doesn’t mean you took advantage of them. The next 10 renters will average 80 miles and the average mileage on the car will come back into alignment.
Interesting thought process… but 3500 miles on the van on a family road trip… you paid brother, you paid.
Thanks!
Dave
I know that my dad would rent cars pretty regularly for road trip weekends that we would do 1000+ miles within a few days. He figured it would save all the wear and tear on his vehicle and would pass it on to them. Did we ever feel like we were using the system? No, that is part of what they offer in their services.
We were never lucky enough to pick up a vehicle with only 1000 miles on it, usually they are fairly new at least though and you can get some decent milage with them.
Ha!
I paid alright! LOL, thanks!
You both make great points! Rental companies could change their rental agreements through sites such as Priceline and Orbitz if they felt like they were not getting a positive return (on average)!
Either way, my wife and I both agree the next time were FLYING!
Paying a visit after reading your problogger comment. The website looks great, by the way.
It’s great that you drove. I just checked the prices from Boston to Fla for airfare and it was over $700 with a layover. It wasn’t that long ago I could go for $170 rt. And the New England dreariness goes on…
Alger,
Thanks for stopping by! Tell me about, I cannot wait for spring! It’s almost time to break out the golf clubs! On the other hand wee should be able to get one more good weekend skiing in April before all the snow is gone!
I did the same thing took 10 days and drove from wisconsin to florida and back There was a little disclosure that it was unlimited miles provided I only travel within the surrounding states. If I went further it was something like 150 miles a day and x$ per mile. Needless to say I only spent$400.oo but I was prepared to pay the difference. They only charge me the flat rate. I’m planning to do another road trip because flights are running like $600.00 a ticket plus I still have to rent a car while I’m there. We are renting car again It is still cheaper.
I tried looking for a good coupon but so far nothing. I’m interested in renting a car from Los Angeles or Las Vegas to Dallas, one way. Pickup Date = 11/7/2009 or 11/9/2009, dropoff Date = 11/11/2009. Any good tips? The cheapest I’ve found is $700 or $200 + 0.30/mile which comes to about $600. This is much higher than I’d like, if anyone knows of a good deal I can use, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance.