Parents Weekend--rental car info

I know Parents Weekend is more than 4 months away, but for those of you who haven't booked their hotel, do it now. As for rental cars, last year when booking a rental car out of the Denver Airport for parents weekend, rental companies were showing rates of $50.00 and $60.00 (or more) per day for standard cars, which was outrageous. I checked today for rates and found the following: Enterprise standard car (9-1-2011 to 9-6-2011) is $270.95. A standard car on hotwire can be purchased for $32.95 per day ($241.57.) Last year I got a car on hotwire (Hertz) for $23.95 per day ($201.42.) The day I booked via Hotwire was August 29, 2010. Given all this, my advice is book a car now to insure that you have one, but make sure you know the cancelation policy. Then hunt for a bargain in mid to late August.

We were there last weekend, and Enterprise offered us anything on the lot for $20 a day. We said that we would stick with our Ford Focus at $14/day and they put us in a Cadillac DTS for the same price. Sweet upgrade at no extra cost!

I will vouch for the last-minute bargains. Wife and I decided just the other day that it might be beneficial to have a second car at the rental house during Graduation Week, which is usually just as expensive as Parent's Weekend. (She is driving, I am flying with younger son two days later). So I checked for rental cars at DEN and ended up renting a full-size (Camry) for $91 for the week.

Stealth_81

Stealth_81 said:

So I checked for rental cars at DEN and ended up renting a full-size (Camry) for $91 for the week.

Click to expand...

May I ask who you are renting from? I received a weekly rate of $271 for a Camry during Parents weekend from Enterprise.

Aglages,

It is EZ Rental that I got it from. I always book through Orbitz and that it where I got it. I know some will say to stick with the national chains, but we have rented from EZ before, and other than a little longer shuttle ride, there is not a difference at DEN.
For those who haven't rented a car at DEN before, all of the rental lots are off-site. There is a large shuttle terminal area in the Southwest corner of the terminal where you go to wait for a shuttle to your respective car lot. It is a 10-20 minute shuttle ride.

Stealth_81

Thanks Stealth_81! Just went through Orbitz and there doesn't seem to be much of a price break for Sept 1-6....yet. I will take your advice and try again a month or so before hand and again a week or two ahead of time to see if any great deals suddenly become available. In the mean time I have my trusty Enterprise Camry on reserve.