Is this rental car price good enough to pay now?

I'm planning our trip to Alaska for next July and the advice I've seen says to book a rental car early and then watch for better rates and cancel your original reservation if needed.

We'll be renting a car for 4 days for the portion of our trip around Anchorage and Denali, and most companies are showing rates of $300+ after taxes for a compact or larger. I did find a deal at Hertz that comes out to $169 for a week for a compact, but it requires me to pay now and then deal with a $60 fee if I want to cancel. This seems like a great price; do you think I'd be okay to book it now and call it good enough, or is it too risky to be locked into this rate in case something better comes along? I'm thinking it'd be nice to have one less price to monitor, too...

Anytime you can get a rental car for under $200 is a good deal. And this...

I'm thinking it'd be nice to have one less price to monitor, too...

...is the deciding factor for me. Your time has value, and I doubt the few dollars you might spend would be worth it.

Of course, as it's Hertz, be sure to sign up for their Gold Plus Rewards program - it greatly speeds things up when you go to pick up your car.

That’s a good price for summer in interior Alaska. I’ve not heard of the main rental agencies charging in advance. Did you go through a third party?

That’s a good price for summer in interior Alaska. I’ve not heard of the main rental agencies charging in advance. Did you go through a third party?

Not the OP, but I have seen rental agencies offering this kind of deal when booking direct through them.

Sounds like a good deal if it's reputable. Last summer, we paid $380 for a tiny subcompact for 3 days. Of course, it was a one-way with pick up in Seward & drop off in Anchorage.

If you can live with that price, go for it. I have often seen that price (or less) for a week's car rental). But as you said, it would be one less item to monitor (though there are easy ways to monitor car rental prices with little or no effort).

We paid $74.95 for a one day rental.

Based on my experience in Alaska it sounds pretty good to me.

I'm planning our trip to Alaska for next July and the advice I've seen says to book a rental car early and then watch for better rates and cancel your original reservation if needed.

 

We'll be renting a car for 4 days for the portion of our trip around Anchorage and Denali, and most companies are showing rates of $300+ after taxes for a compact or larger. I did find a deal at Hertz that comes out to $169 for a week for a compact, but it requires me to pay now and then deal with a $60 fee if I want to cancel. This seems like a great price; do you think I'd be okay to book it now and call it good enough, or is it too risky to be locked into this rate in case something better comes along? I'm thinking it'd be nice to have one less price to monitor, too...

We will pay more to get a larger car than we really need just to have a trunk that is large enough to lock up our luggage out of sight when leaving the car.

To us it is worth it for the convenience of leaving our suitcases in the car, not having to drag them into the hotel with us each night.

Last week we paid $34 for a one-day rental of a compact from Enterprise in Anchorage. I always book rental cars through Costcotravel.com - I have found their prices can't be beat. I check the Costcotravel.com website as soon as I have planned a trip and reserve a vehicle - no deposit is required. Then I check back often because the prices change all the time. In our case it dropped several times, ending with that great rate about 8 weeks before the trip. After that the price started to climb and by the time we departed on our cruise the price was about $170 for a 1-day rental.

So to answer your question, I would not lock into a rental now and risk paying a $60 cancellation penalty if I found something better in the meantime. July is a long way away!

Last week we paid $34 for a one-day rental of a compact from Enterprise in Anchorage. I always book rental cars through Costcotravel.com - I have found their prices can't be beat. I check the Costcotravel.com website as soon as I have planned a trip and reserve a vehicle - no deposit is required. Then I check back often because the prices change all the time. In our case it dropped several times, ending with that great rate about 8 weeks before the trip. After that the price started to climb and by the time we departed on our cruise the price was about $170 for a 1-day rental.

 

So to answer your question, I would not lock into a rental now and risk paying a $60 cancellation penalty if I found something better in the meantime. July is a long way away!

For those reading this thread, Costco has some great rates, but they are by far not always the best rate in Alaska. It pays to keep checking various sources or to have an alert set up for when the price drops.

Thanks all. The decision was sort of made for me because the deal went away while I was still waffling about it. At least now I have a ballpark idea of what a good price is and can go from there!

Thanks all. The decision was sort of made for me because the deal went away while I was still waffling about it. At least now I have a ballpark idea of what a good price is and can go from there!

Good luck!! In the past, Enterprise has had great deals in Alaska.

I, too, suggest a larger car. Besides more trunk space, you get the benefit of driving in something safer. I can't put a price on safety.

Just got back from Alaska last week. After the cruise, at the downtown Anchorage Avis site, we rented a Subaru Outback for a week for $282.00. (They were running a special for small business owners). Best part, was our Princess cruise bus transport dropped us off at the Egan (sp?) convention center which is only 3 blocks away. By the way, we reserved the car months in advance with no money down.

We rented a car from the downtown Anchorage Avis location. Four days starting Sept 2,2014. The total, including taxes was $111. This was an AARP rate. Not sure if they still do AARP rate at this location. It is worth investigating off-airport rental agencies. Find a hotel with shuttle service and is also close to the car rental site that you can easily walk to. Good luck! Don't know how rental prices compare between July and Sept..