Renting a car for the weekend.
 

Hello guys, I am planning to rent a vehicle for the weekend. Anyone rent from Avis before? What are the options people generally should select when checking out online? Any precautions I should keep an eye out? I am planning to rent a full size sedan or a suv.

Do you have Costco membership?

It's usually cheaper going through them. Or at least look up on Priceline

Enterprise has the weekend special of $40-$50 over the weekend for a compact car without coverage. You could upgrade to a full size or SUV for a bit more :whistle:

If you have an American Express card they usually get you some extra's or cheaper rates. I'm sure other cc companies might provide some perks as well, you should look into whichever cards you have.

+1

I've rented numerous times during the summer, and it was approx $20-25/day(compact car) depending on which weekend. Most of your major credit card companies have some type of coverage for insurance. I know i opt-ed in for the road-side assistance add-on from icbc and it gives me rental insurance coverage.

I rent lots of vehicles for work trips.

Rental car companies make all their money on added fees.
e.g. full insurance coverage, additional driver, out of province/state, GPS, etc.
I've rented several cars where a $25/day rental turns into close to $70/day.

The biggest one is insurance. Make sure you have a credit card that provides travel insurance (e.g. RBC Avion, Capital One Aspire, etc.) and you won't need to buy their insurance.

Also, watch out if they offer you a different vehicle than what you reserved. I was in Calgary in the middle of winter, arrived late at night, and they tried to offer me a Camaro vert with summer tires. I stuck with the Jetta.

lol. Funny thing is, the airport hotel had several Camaro verts parked...

i use enterprise. like someone posted above, it's cheaper if you do it through costco.

i've tried avis before. worst experience ever. dirty car, empty gas tank (literally stalling as i am going up the hill to the nearest gas station), and poor counter service. :mad:

i used budget last weekend. rented their 2015 sienna for 2 days for 190$ , before insurance coverage. They were nice in dealing with it all but they charged me 60$ for winter tires (30$/day) when i specifically asked them for a vehicle with it and then on the day of rental they tell me it doesnt have it so its why its an extra charge. pretty shitty, nice ppl but would not recommend