Best/cheapest time to book Avis AU

[eddie 73]

a quick note to share recent learning about booking Avis in AU.

I live between SYD and MEL, always book a hire car with Avis, wizard, and don’t seem to always get invoiced lowest price, which apparently is part of their best-price guarantee.

So anyway, was chatting with an Avis staff member at drop off and he said Mon and Tue mornings are always when prices bottom out.

Tested the theory, made lots of real and dummy bookings over about 3 months. Tuesdays, between 7-8pm seems to be the sweet spot. Normally go for class C, difference is abou $10-20 less than Mon morn, and up to $40/day compared with other weekdays/times.

Hope this help others out there.

 

[drron]

But also check with avis.co.uk.certainly cheaper with OS rentals except the UK.
Often cheaper with Aussie rentals as they don't automatically charge you extra for putting your wizard number in the booking.

 

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But also check with avis.co.uk.certainly cheaper with OS rentals except the UK.
Often cheaper with Aussie rentals as they don't automatically charge you extra for putting your wizard number in the booking.

An interesting point raised.

I am new to the world of car rental and are currently looking to book a car for an upcoming trip to the US.
Having compared the AU, US and UK versions of the Avis website for my travel dates, the UK site is providing noticeably cheaper rates (after converting the GBP to AUD), with surprisingly little price difference between small compact size cars and the larger SUV options.

On the AU and US websites, there is much larger price gap between these two car sizes.

I am very close to making my booking through Avis' UK website as the prices are great. Almost too great.
Is there a catch??
Does the UK website not provide the same insurance options as standard like the US and AU versions do? (ie. LDW and Third Party damage)

 

[drron]

Never been a catch for me.Actually better experience if an UK booking.

 

[VPS]

Are you using a VPN to get to the other countries website or just the URL?

 

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Are you using a VPN to get to the other countries website or just the URL?

Just the URL.

 

[ads]

In regards to the original topic, I've come up with a few additional questions:

I'm renting a car in the US in 7 days time, but haven't yet made a booking.
I have been making dummy bookings for the last week or so to get an idea of price fluctuations for my dates and preferred category of vehicle.

For the majority of the past week the rental quotes were showing a cost around of $360AU. Then about 5 days ago the price dropped by $30 to $330AU (this quote may have been on a tuesday evening - just like the OP).

I made the ignorant mistake of not booking at this price and as of today, the booking quote is now at $380AU.
(for some that $50 difference may not seem like much, however I am travelling on a tight budget so would prefer not to pay that 'extra' amount if possible).

1) Do I hold off from making a booking now and roll the dice by checking back every day and making dummy bookings in the hope that the current price drops.
Or is it like airline fares (generally speaking), now that I'm only a week out from my pick-up date, the prices will only increase from here?

2) If I were to make a booking today, but see a cheaper price later in the week, would I be able to 'adjust' my existing booking to receive the cheaper price; or would I need to 'cancel' the existing booking and make a new, separate booking to get the cheaper quote?

3) I've seen a discount code on an international version of the rental car's website.
If I use this discount code from the Australian website, will I be questioned about the price once I get to the rental counter? (ie. get told I am ineligible to use that discount code?)

4) If using that discount code is acceptable, I see that it is resulting in Class D cars (mid size) being quoted cheaper than Class C (intermediate) and Class B (compact).
If I book a Class D vehicle at this cheaper price, can I then request or choose a 'downgrade' to Class C or B vehicle instead at collection without there being an increase to the rental fare?
(I've just signed up as a member of the rental company's membership program)

Thank you.

 

[eddie 73]

Good luck navigating those US roads.

Book, and cancel/rebook if cheaper rate comes up.

Sorry, unsure about your voucher question.

Re; downgrades, don’t think it is possible as demand drives price by car class. Good example from today... i mostly only rent over weekends due to living between MEL/SYD, and normally book class C or D. This weekend is Aus Open and AusDay long weekend. Class C D were 30% higher than F and G. So I got an XR6 for a lot less than i30. Happy with that, my main car is Holden V8... only problem is the extra fuel cost on the guzzler.