Renting a car in Atlanta, GA. - tips?

[Gus Berges]

I have an upcoming trip whereby I arrive in ATL on May 20 and depart on May 24 and for some odd reason or another, Orbitz is yielding some ridiculous prices. Tried Turo and once you add the fees to have the car available at the international airport and return it there, it's about the same as the rental companies. I can Google map the companies that are at the airport, which usually pay a premium for their spot, but does anyone here have a contact/tip on how to get a rental car for that period of time (max. 400 miles of use) for not an exorbitant amount of money? As it stands now, it's cheaper to fly internationally to ATL than it is to rent a car for 4 days!

[ErVikingo]

rent through HOTWIRE.com I have always gotten great deals

[stevej37]

Good luck!

The longer you wait...the higher the rate.

[WPOZZZ]

Visitors to Hawaii have been renting UHauls. To do that, you would need to get a taxi ride to UHaul.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I don’t get the fear about rental cars. I’ve been renting from National and Hertz and the rates are reasonable. But you’re way better off booking early.

[stomachmonkey]

Lack of travel resulted in reduced demand / revenue so the rental car companies shed inventory to retain some Benjamins.

Bought my kid his first car last year from Hertz, low mile 2019 that I felt like I stole.

Like a lot of things, lack of supply.

They now don't have enough vehicles in their fleets and getting new cars to replenish is also tough.

Going to be a while before we start seeing the end of COVID ripple effect.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I don’t get the fear about rental cars. I’ve been renting from National and Hertz and the rates are reasonable. But you’re way better off booking early.

Try it today.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Try it today.

I’m traveling today. Four weeks straight. And next week. No problem at all, and at most I book one week out.

[Gus Berges]

Gracias ErVikingo! Pronounced "grassy ass" for my non Spanish speaking amigos

As someone who has traveled internationally for more than 20 years and flown >1 million miles, I can say that the earlier you can book, the better. At least that is how it was until 2017 when I left the corporate world

Guess it's part of the ripple effects that Stomachmonkey alludes to. I'd tend to agree with his thought process. There are cars available, but nearly $800 for 4 day rental for a compact car out of ATL just seems absurd.

Luckily for me parental instincts kicked in and my folks will do me the HUGE favor of picking me up and dropping me off at the airport (and the event I need to get to is a 2 hour drive EACH way! ). Will not be renting, but gotta start thinking what I can gift them to make up for this

By far, the best deal I found was on Hotwire as per Juan's suggestion. Grassy ass Juan!

[WPOZZZ]

$800 for 4 days? That was the going rate for one day on Maui!

[VillaRicaGA911]

Not sure what part of town, when/where you need to get around to while you are here (I live just outside of Atlanta) but the mass transit trains are running now. Maybe between them and Uber you can get to where you need and not have to rent. Second thought is take the train out to one of the suburbs and rent a car from an off airport site, might have better availability and lower cost.

[Gus Berges]

I recall paying $800 for two weeks for a luxury SUV in Tampa a couple of years ago. That said, lately, I’ve opted to use Uber instead of renting, but due to the distance needed to travel, it isn’t financially feasible to do so for this trip.

I thank you all for your help. Now to find a place that does COVID tests and gives results in no more than 24 hours near Morganton, Georgia….

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Bought my kid his first car last year from Hertz, low mile 2019 that I felt like I stole.

That's how I felt about driving the car too, when I rented it a year-and-a-half ago.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Noah930

That's how I felt about driving the car too, when I rented it a year-and-a-half ago.

I would never ever ever buy a rental car.

[red-beard]

If you are a member of AAA, the rates they get with Hertz blow away any corporate rate I've ever had.

[nota]

they gouge when they can as much as they can

miami late dec to the 1st of the year f-150 was 500 per day plus fees and tax and ins
same on jan 2 was 25 a day on the web so I waited

[rattlsnak]

Pretty sure he took that trip already..

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

Pretty sure he took that trip already..

Four years looking for a rental car.....I think I saw that movie
Turbo is just a little slow

[Rick Lee]

Been 10 yrs since I used Hotwire. But they would not let me change a reservation at all. I wanted to extend the rental when my business plans changed. Absolutely would not budge. I drove to BWI, walked up to the Hertz counter, told the guy my story, asked him to help me spend more money with Hertz and he said, "Oh, Hotwire? Sorry, can't do it." I took five steps to the left, went to National and they got my money.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Wow, back from the dead! It’s always best to book direct if you can. Sign up for the loyalty programs to bypass the lines at the counter. Pretty simple stuff.