oodles.com.au and priceline.com

[quokka77]

Looking at getting a car fora week in Hobart in Jan. Tried using a few codes with Hertz and Europcar and they were coming back over 500 dollars for a standard or full size. Netflights gave a similar price.

Checked oodles.com.au and found a price with Thrifty of 350 (high LDW but pretty sure Amex charge will mean I don't have to cough up for the extra).

Then checked kayak and found Avis via priceline offering 280. Anyone have experience with oodles or priceline? Any way of extracting a similar price from one of the companies direct? I have some hertz and europcar status.

 

[Mwenenzi]

https://vroomvroomvroom.com.au is another to test

 

[quokka77]

Thanks for the tip. Thrifty via vvv only slightly more expensive than oodles. Might see if there are some codes on flyertalk I can use to negotiate the price...

 

[Mwenenzi]

Or just wait a month a try again

 

[quokka77]

What sort of price should I be aiming for?

 

[smatho10]

Just be careful.. I was unable to source a car from all the big rentals in Hobart this week for hotel guests due to school holidays... Every year I am unable to get cars pretty much from 26th of December till early February..

My tip is get one locked in now cause one just simply gets to Hobart and gets a cheap car....

 

[quokka77]

Got one reserved through Avis at $300 for a full size for the week (airport pick up and drop off). Thanks for the heads up smatho10.

 

[AdMEL]

Got one reserved through Avis at $300 for a full size for the week (airport pick up and drop off). Thanks for the heads up smatho10.

That's a pretty good price for Tassie, especially in summer holidays! Tassie car rental prices are always significantly higher than the mainland. Might have something to do with pretty much all of the car rental agencies being franchises, not corporate owned.

Though I haven't used them, my understanding is that Oodles just books direct with the car rental companies, so the prices are usually similar, if not identical. Pretty sure Vroom Vroom Vroom is similar. I use Drive Now to look at prices, then book direct. Sometimes they do spit out a lower price than I can obtain booking direct.

 

[quokka77]

Plenty of good codes over at flyertalk for the majors. Many even seem legitimate for general public use. On a recent USA trip I booked my first hire through netflights (didn't know about codes then) and I guess I got a reasonable deal. Second rental I did a bit more research and got a very good deal direct with the agency (hertz in this case). Cheaper than net flights and argos, earned points and was refundable too. Advise anyone looking at cars to do a bit of leg work, very worthwhile.