# Car rental rate hikes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 22, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169 "2007-02-22T00:50:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169/1 "2007-02-22T00:50:09Z")

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So, I was wondering, do the costs for renting a car go up or down depending on various factors like airline tickets do? My trip into Texas has hit problems related to getting a ride from Dallas to College Station, so now renting a car sounds attractive, but I want to hold off on committing to that until I find out for sure that I can’t get a ride.

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**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169/2 "2007-02-22T00:53:01Z")

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That’s exactly how they work. You could call three different times and get three different rates. The best way is to book far in advance – once a class of car sells out for a specific time period at a specific rate, the rate gets bumped up.

Of course, you can usually book a car without providing credit card information, so no-showing a reservation won’t cost you anything. (It might piss off the counter agents who have been raising hell trying to get enough cars for that day though.)

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169/3 "2007-02-22T00:54:48Z")

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They make deals all day everyday as well. Prime business days in the area command the highest premium although special events may increase demand and price as well. One price saver is that certain agencies almost never have enough of the lowest model cars on hand so they routinely bump people to something better especially later in the day. You can search [www.expedia.com](http://www.expedia.com) for cars as well.

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**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169/4 "2007-02-22T00:57:22Z")

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[Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=360086) a thread I started on this very topic which may be helpful.

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**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-rental-rate-hikes/393169/5 "2007-02-22T00:57:39Z")

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Just don’t count on getting bumped up. I’ve actually had people get annoyed or disappointed when I say “I’m sorry, but you booked that Aveo for $28 a day, I can’t bump you up into the Lincoln for free.”