Priceline or Hotwire

Which of these websites would you use for car rentals in Clearwater? Has anyone had experience with either of them???

Priceline or Hotwire

I recently got a car rental in Tampa for $17. per day by bidding on Priceline. That was way below prices advertised anywhere including Hotwire.

betterbidding.com is a website that offers tips for using Hotwire and Priceline.

Priceline or Hotwire

Thank you for your imput. My only concern is that in the very fine print they state the the price is subject to change. Does that mean they they can charge you more after you have already paid them???

I am not sure what fine print you are reading.

If you bid on Priceline (name your own price) they will charge your credit card soon after the bid is accepted and that is what you will be charged.

If you change your dates after your bid has been accepted, for example you decide to stay an extra day, you will not be guaranteed the same rate. Or, if you decide to upgrade to a bigger or different car, your rate will not be the same.

But, if you pick up and drop off on your reserved dates and take whatever car you bid on your rate will not change.

I looked at my rental agreement and it states that extra days would be charged at $28.76 per day.

Priceline collects the charges and I have never been charged more than the amount listed. Priceline will give you a final, bottom line amount with all taxes and fees included. If your rental goes as planned without changes you will not be charged anything by the rental car company.

My understanding is some of the hotels on the beach charge a resort fee and that amount is extra and collected by the hotel, but other than that you will know what Priceline is charging and there should be no surprises unless you add extras or make changes.

When they say price is subject to change this is due to local or state taxes that can change prior to your rental and will be passed on to you. For Florida rentals I would try www.carrentalsavers.com or www.mousesavers.com and only use Pricline or Hotwire at the last minute as you can not cancel when you name your own price.

I agree that there is risk with using Prceline because you can not cancel. However, when the car rental rates that allowed cancellation were $50. per day and the Priceline rate was $17. per day the risk was worth it to me.

That seems to be what most of us do with airline tickets. I paid $184.00 for my round trip airfare from MKE to TPA, but I could not cancel or make changes to the reservation.

I suppose for $400.00 or so I could have gotten a business class ticket that would have allowed cancellation, but like most leisure travelers I opted for the low air fare.

I did not wait until the last minute to book my Priceline car rental because I did not want the stress of having my arrangements unsettled. I suppose that is a personal choice, but I am just not that big a gambler.

I used Enterprise for my car rental for an upcoming trip. I chose to book early because it is a holiday weekend. I used carrentals.com to find the best price because I wasn%26#39;t having any luck bidding on priceline. I%26#39;m glad I booked early, the rate has doubled! (even Priceline%26#39;s best price is twice what I reserved for!) I have used Priceline several times for hotel rentals, with no complaints. I have used Hotwire for car rental and hotel, also with no problems. Like others have said though, you can%26#39;t make changes after you%26#39;ve booked without a penalty. Good luck!

Thanks for your help everyone. I will try those websites. I did use Hotwire once before for a car rental...didn%26#39;t have a problem. I do not like to wait until the last minure either. I want to have everything all set with my trip ahead of time.

I can%26#39;t speak to priceline (never used it), but I just did a comparison of all of the major car rental sites vs. Travelocity, Orbitz, and Hotwore (among others), and Hotwire won. I got a car for a full week for $24.50 / day (after all taxes, fees, etc etc.). That%26#39;s not the best deal you%26#39;ll ever read about, but it%26#39;s not bad, and is half of what the agencies themselves (such as Alamo) charge.

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