Need a pickup truck for a day or more? You can rent a pickup through a major rental car company or an outfit that specializes in truck rentals—but be sure to use every trick in the book to get the best rate possible. Here’s how to rent a cheap pickup truck.
Where Can I Rent a Pickup Truck?
All the major car rental companies—Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, National, Payless and Thrifty—rent both full-size pickups (Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado or similar) and smaller/midsize pickups (Nissan Frontier or similar). Hertz even offers its so-called American Collection, which includes the Dodge Ram 1500.
Of course, you can also rent trucks of different types from trucking companies like U-Haul and Penske or from home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot.
How to Save on a Pickup Truck Rental
Book early and track your reservation.
You should book your pickup truck as soon as you know that you need one. There are always deals out there, but if you don’t have the time to do hours of research, we can do that for you, for free. When you ask AutoSlash for a quote on a pickup truck, we automatically search publicly available discounts and coupons offered by major rental car companies.
When you ask for a quote, you’ll be prompted to select your desired vehicle type. Be sure to select “pickup truck” from the menu.
Unlike airline tickets, rental reservations can usually be canceled without a penalty. So if prices drop—as they often do—there’s no reason you can’t cancel and rebook at a cheaper rate. The best strategy is to book as early as possible, and then keep checking to see if prices go down.
If it sounds like a time-sucking chore to constantly check for lower rates, AutoSlash offers tracking as a free service. After you book your truck, ask AutoSlash to track your reservation. We’ll let you know if there’s a price drop before your pickup date, so you can cancel and rebook at the lower rate. Simply by tracking your reservation, we can help customers save 30 percent, on average.
Tell us about your memberships.
When you ask us for a quote, we keep track of all your memberships—from AAA to Costco to AARP and beyond—to make sure that you’re not missing out on any other discounts you are entitled to. This is how you can be sure you’re getting the very best rate, and it saves you hours of research time. Many of our customers have benefited from significant discounts for pickup rentals thanks to our process.
Check both on and off airport.
Flying in to your destination? An airport rental might be convenient, but it might also be pricey. Taxes at airport locations can push well past 30 percent, and a short bus or Uber ride to a nearby neighborhood rental location could cut your rate in half. But off-airport rates aren’t always cheaper, so it pays to check both.
Prepare to fork out for rental insurance.
If you own a car and have personal auto insurance, you may typically decline the car rental insurance when you rent a car. But your personal car insurance may not cover a pickup truck rental, so it always pays to check with your insurance provider to find out if there are limitations on your policy. Likewise, your credit card coverage is likely to exclude pickup truck rentals. It’s possible you are already covered, but it is wise to check before arriving at the rental car office.
Say “no thanks” to extras.
One sure way to jack up your price is to add unnecessary extra options. Most rental agents work on commission, and the bulk of profits come from sales of insurance and services you probably don’t need. So think long and hard before ticking the box on a service that can end up costing as much or more than the rental itself.
Belong to AAA? We recommend membership for the discounts alone. Membership will cover everything the rental company’s expensive roadside assistance does. And don’t fall for prepaid fuel options—it’s cheaper and just as easy to bring the car back full.
Your smartphone works as a GPS, so why spend $15 a day for one from the rental car company? Instead of spending $8 a day for satellite radio, play your own music—or download the TuneIn Radio app for access to hundreds of radio stations and podcasts.
The bottom line is that you can politely decline anything the agent recommends or even tries to strong-arm you into.
Play with your dates and times.
Sometimes adjusting your pickup and return times forward and/or backward by just a smidge can lead to savings. Even slight tweaks can affect rates significantly. For example, instead of reserving for your 12:00 am flight arrival, try checking rates for an 11:30 pm and 12:30 am pickup. A slight change to a new calendar day can sometimes drop rates by half, and picking up an hour or two before or after your scheduled arrival time is almost never a problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chase Sapphire car rental insurance available in Ireland
You can add EUR15 per day to your vehicle insurance. You can also access a wide range of optional extras, including breakdown assistance, theft insurance, and personal accident insurance.
Can I rent a vehicle in Italy and have it returned to France?
It may not be possible to rent a car from an Italian company, and drive it across Europe. However, you could use a service such as Europcar, which offers rentals all over Europe. For information about renting cars in Italy or dropping them off, you will need to contact them directly.
Is it possible to rent a car in Portugal, and then drop it off in Spain.
Yes, it is possible. This is known as “car hire”. This service is offered by many online companies.
It is enough to verify that they are licensed by the Portuguese and Spanish authorities.
Contact them on their websites for the best way to get this information. They should have all of the information that you require.
Statistics
- For example, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express earns 3 percent cash back on purchases at U.S. gas stations (terms apply), and the Citi Premier® Card earns three points per dollar at gas stations, too. (afar.com)
- American Airlines, for example, offers AAdvantage members 35% off Budget and Avis — but you need to rent from an airport. (nerdwallet.com)
- For canceled trips two days or shorter, a guest is charged 50% of one day’s trip cost. (insider.com)
- If you’re a member of AAA, you might also be able to snag discounts of 10 percent at Thrifty, and 8 percent at Dollar. (afar.com)
- The perks vary from partner to partner, but you can expect discounts of up to 35 percent on some rentals and the ability to earn anywhere from 50 bonus American AAdvantage miles per day or 500 per rental. (afar.com)
External Links
alamo.com
autoslash.com
kayak.com
avis.com
How To
How do I make sure that pre-existing damage isn’t charged to my rental car?
For example, if you drive a rental vehicle for a few hours before returning it to a rental agency, what happens when you return the vehicle? What happens if your rental car gets scratched? This is a very common issue for those renting cars from different companies. Some agencies charge customers even if they did not cause any damage while driving their rented cars. Ask whether charges will be made for scratches or dents to the vehicle. This is a way to avoid such fees. The following are some ways to make sure that you won’t be charged for pre-existing damages on a rental car:
- Ask for a duplicate of the agreement.
- Please read the entire description.
- Read the fine print carefully;
- Ask for a free cleaning service
- Careful about the car’s condition.
- Make sure you don’t leave any items behind in your car
- When renting a car, always have cash.
- Keep receipts for all payments.
- You must not allow anyone to touch your car without your consent.
- Never accept a gift from the company;
- Reputable rental agencies are recommended.
- Make sure to take the contract with.
- Restore the vehicle to its original condition.
- Provide your contact details to the agent
- Try to avoid using the same company more than once.
- Make sure to note all details about the car: such as mileage, model and engine size. ;
- Photograph the damage.
- Do it yourself.
- Get the car inspected by an independent party
- Never agree not to pay any additional fees
