Car Rental Reservations - How to Rent a Car

This page contains basic car rental reservations tips. It's easy to reserve a car online; make sure when you're making auto rental bookings to take advantage of all the auto rental discounts that are available so you can get the best car rental rates.

It's always best to make your car rental reservations in advance. When you book in advance you'll have more options on what size and type of vehicles are available to you and you will generally get a better price because car rental pricing is based on availability. While there are some tips on finding last minute car rental specials, making auto rental bookings at the last moment may cost you more!

The more vehicles that are available, the lower the prices will generally be for advanced rental car bookings. Most companies have goals for booking so many vehicles at a certain price. If they want to get vehicles booked in advance they will have lower rates available for those renters that book earlier. As the availibility of rental cars becomes tighter, the cost to rent a car for the remaining vehicles starts to go up.

There are such things as "last minute car rental specials" but they are hard to find; you have to be at the right place at the right time. If you happened to approach a rental counter for a car rental company where 20 people had just cancelled their SUV bookings, you'll get a great price! The company would rather rent them at a lower rate than have them sit in the parking lot!

Advanced auto rental bookings allow the car rental companies to manage their fleet and adjust it accordingly.

When you reserve a car online, in advance, a vehicle is held for the location, dates and times that you have selected, at the price you agreed to at the time of booking.

When looking at how to rent a car, the two easiest ways to make an advance booking are online or over the phone.

Most companies advertise that their lowest rate is online and there are also travel booking sites such as Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline through which you can get great rates. If you take advantage of auto rental discounts, such as car rental discount codes and rental car coupons you can usually match online rates when you call the car rental companies directly.

Many people choose to book all their travel, including car rentals, with their travel agent.

In each of the following links I will discuss the information you will need to make a reservation, along with a few tips.

Making Car Rental Reservations on the Phone

Making Rental Car Bookings Online

Return from Car Rental Reservations to Best Car Rental Tips home