How to Compare Car Rental Prices Online

Renting a car when you travel can be an expensive experience. Car rental agencies often have higher rates if you are a walk in customer. Online travel sites make it easy to compare car rental prices among vendors much easier for potential customers. Here are a few ways to use online travel sites to save on the price of renting a car.

Check ebates.com for a rebate on your car rental
Several rewards type programs give you discounts for renting a car, or give you a rebate back on the money spent. If you compare car rental prices through ebates.com and choose one of the available sources you can get from 1% to 3% of the cost deposited to your ebates account. Ebates has choices of major rental companies like Dollar, Budget, and Alamo. They also offer a rebate when booking through travel sites like Expedia.com or Hotwire.com. Expedia and Hotwire make it simple to compare care rental prices by listing possible choices from different vendors on the same search page. Once you compare prices on the car rentals you can use Ebates when you make your reservation.

Save for education by renting your car through Upromise
While ebates.com puts cash in your account which can be transferred to your paypal account every three months, Upromise.com allows you to save for your child's education. Upromise does not have an actual car rental compare price tool on the site but does link to multiple travel sites which do. Going to these travel sites like expedia.com, orbitz.com, hotwire.com and other travel sites through upromise.com will earn you a reward of 1 to 3%. Car rentals booked through Upromise.com with Avis or Budget are rebated at a higher percentages than the travel sites, currently offering 4 to 5%.

Check your airline and hotel for package deals
If you are renting a car in conjunction with a flight, look on the airline website for a place compare car rental prices and book your reservation also. These sites will bring up the possible rental agents at the terminal and close by the airport. The also link in your flight arrival into the car rental reservation so the car rental company can tell if your flight is delayed and hold your vehicle for you. Hotel rewards programs like the Holiday Inn Priority Rewards Club membership offer discounts with car rental companies also. By signing in to the online rewards club site, you can often link directly to a car rental agent, using a coupon provided by the hotel. These coupons may offer you a car size upgrade, a discount for a certain number of days, or unlimited mileage on vehicles which normally charge per mile.

Book a package deal
The travel sites like expedia.com, priceline.com, or orbitz.com offer the option of adding a car rental and hotel onto your airline purchase. You are able to compare the cost of the car rental on these sites and choose which one best meets your needs. Often times there are package vacation deals which lower the cost when the items are reserved together. Just remember to link to these travel sites through one of the rebates/rewards programs to make the most of your dollars.