The short answer
The cheapest way to rent a car is to book early on a pay-later rate you can cancel for free, use a member discount if you have one, pick up away from the airport when it’s easy, decline the counter extras you’re already covered for, and rebook if the price drops before pickup.
None of that is a secret, but most of us only do one or two of those things. The daily rate on the search page is just the start. Airport fees, a damage waiver, prepaid fuel and an extra driver can add more than the car itself. And the price you booked at often isn’t the lowest price you could have had: rental rates move every day, and few people ever look again after they book.
15 tips at a glance
- Book early, on a pay-later rate you can cancel for free.
- Keep checking until pickup and rebook when the price drops.
- Book the new rate before cancelling the old one.
- Check member rates: Costco Travel, AAA, AARP, USAA, Amazon on Avis.
- Use your card’s rental benefits: some include primary damage cover.
- Price an off-airport branch against the airport.
- Try 5 or 7 days instead of 4. Weekly rates can be cheaper.
- Don’t book a week to return early. The rate can be recalculated.
- Book the smallest car that fits, and consider a manager’s special.
- Compare the total with taxes and fees, never the daily rate.
- Avoid the young driver fee with AAA or USAA if you’re under 25.
- Add your spouse for free, where the company or state allows it.
- Skip prepaid fuel and refill near the return.
- Join the loyalty program so you can skip the counter.
- Film the car at pickup and at return.
When should you book a rental car?
Book as soon as your dates are firm, on a rate you can cancel for free, then keep checking. Booking early isn’t about catching the lowest price on day one. It’s about holding a car while you wait for a lower one.
KAYAK’s data suggests about a month ahead tends to be the sweet spot, and that booking six months or more out is often the most expensive. But that’s an average. At busy times (holidays, spring break, island trips, one-way rentals, minivans) the cheap cars can sell out, and waiting can cost a lot more than it saves. Our post on whether rental car prices go down closer to the date shows a minivan that went from $525 to over $1,000 in five days.
Pay later, not Pay Now
Prepaid “Pay Now” rates are a little cheaper, but they cost money to cancel, which takes away your chance to rebook. Pay-later reservations at the big companies usually cancel for free. Here’s what a Pay Now booking costs to cancel:
| Company | Cancel 24+ hours before pickup | Cancel within 24 hours |
|---|---|---|
| Avis, Budget | $50 | $150 |
| Enterprise, National, Alamo | $50 | $100 |
| Hertz | Up to $100 | Up to $200 |
| Costco Travel | Free | Free |
US rates, October 2026. Hertz’s current US Pay Now terms list $100 and $200, while some of its older documents say $50 and $100, so check the fee on your confirmation. A no-show on a prepaid rate usually loses more. Each company’s terms are in our rental car price drop guides.
Should you rebook a rental car if the price drops?
Yes. If your rate cancels for free, a lower price for the same car is money you can simply take: book the new rate, then cancel the old one.
This is the tip most people miss, because it happens after you’ve stopped shopping. Rental companies reprice constantly as cars get reserved and returned, and the same car you booked can get cheaper a week or two later. Nobody tells you. The rental company won’t lower your existing reservation on its own.
- Search the same thing: same company, same pickup and return place, same dates and times, same car class.
- Book the cheaper rate first, as a new reservation. Make sure it’s pay-later too.
- Check the new confirmation, then cancel the old reservation. Cancelling first can leave you with no car if the low price disappears.
- Don’t just edit the old booking. Travelers report that changing a reservation often keeps the old rate. A new booking gets the new price.
It works anywhere you booked a free-cancellation rate, including Costco Travel, which takes no payment until pickup and charges nothing to cancel. One Plot traveler rebooked a one-way minivan from $605 to $525 a week before pickup. The low price lasted about a day.
Let Plot do the checking
Checking every few days for weeks is the part nobody keeps up. Forward your rental confirmation to Plot and Plot Pro watches the price of your car until pickup. When the same car gets cheaper, you get the new price and the exact steps to rebook it.
More on how it works: rental car price monitoring.
Which rental car discounts actually work?
Member rates are the most reliable discount: Costco Travel, AAA, AARP and USAA often beat the public price, and several add perks like a free extra driver that matter as much as the rate.
Costco Travel
Costco Travel searches Alamo, Avis, Budget and Enterprise at member rates. Two things make it a favorite on budget travel forums. Online bookings take no prepayment and cancel for free, so it’s ideal for rebooking. And one additional driver is included at no charge with Alamo, Enterprise, Avis and Budget (in the US and Canada; Alamo and Enterprise extend it to a few European countries), a fee that’s usually $10 to $15 a day. Executive members also get their 2% annual reward on Costco Travel bookings.
AAA
With the AAA code, Hertz takes up to 20% off the base rate, waives the young driver fee for members aged 20 to 24, and adds up to four extra drivers for free if they’re AAA members too. The waivers don’t apply to Hertz’s prepaid deals.
USAA
Booking through USAA waives the young driver fee for members aged 18 to 24 at Avis, Budget and Hertz, and 21 to 24 at Enterprise, plus the extra driver fee for a spouse (NerdWallet has the details). For a young driver, that can be worth more than any discount.
Amazon on Avis
Sign in on Avis.com with your Amazon account and Avis offers up to 30% off the base rate plus 10% back as an Amazon gift card, both on the time and mileage charges. The gift card arrives by email a couple of days after the rental ends. Avis calls it a limited-time offer, so check it’s still running.
Your employer or school, but only if it’s yours
Many companies and universities have discount codes that employees and students may use for personal trips. They can be very good. Don’t use a code you found online for a company you don’t work for: the counter can ask for proof, and if anything goes wrong, coverage tied to that code may not apply to you.
Compare like with like
A discount code changes the price, not the car. When you compare a member rate with the public one, check the car class, the pickup place and whether it’s pay-later. A cheap prepaid rate that costs $100 to cancel isn’t cheaper if you end up rebooking.
Is it cheaper to rent a car off-airport?
Usually. Airport rentals cost about 18% more than the same car from a branch in town, around $86 more for a week, because of airport fees and taxes.
That figure is from NerdWallet’s 2024 comparison of prices at the 15 busiest US airports, with taxes and fees included. Most of the gap is fees the airport location has to pass on: a concession recovery fee of around 10 to 11%, a customer facility charge for the rental car center, and extra local taxes.
Off-airport pays off when:
- The rental is long. The fees grow with the rental, while the ride to town is a one-time cost.
- The branch is easy to reach. A $15 rideshare or a hotel shuttle is fine. Two buses with luggage usually isn’t.
- You arrive during business hours. Neighborhood branches close in the evening and often on Sundays, while airport counters stay open late.
Some Enterprise neighborhood branches will even pick you up nearby during opening hours, though not from the airport. Returning the car to the airport instead of the branch can be convenient, but Enterprise says a same-city return to a different location can carry a drop charge or a different rate. Price it both ways before you book.
Is it cheaper to rent a car for a week than for 3 or 4 days?
Sometimes. Weekly rates usually kick in at about 5 days, so a 5-day or 7-day rental can cost less in total than a 4-day one.
Before you book four days, price five and seven. If the longer rental is cheaper, you can keep the car for those extra days. Pickup and return times matter too: rentals are charged in 24-hour blocks, so picking up at 10 a.m. and returning at 2 p.m. can add a whole extra day.
Don’t book a week and return early
Returning early isn’t a refund. Many companies recalculate the rental at the daily rate for the days you actually kept it, which can cost more than the week. NBC Los Angeles reported on a renter billed hundreds of dollars extra for bringing a car back a day early.
Which car class should you book?
Book the smallest class that fits your people and bags. Economy and compact cars are cheapest, and when they run out you may be moved up a class at no extra cost.
Avis and Budget say they’ll give you a bigger car if the class you reserved isn’t available, and other companies generally do the same. That’s a nice bonus, not something to plan around.
Manager’s specials
Hertz’s Manager’s Special is priced about the same as economy and guarantees an economy car or larger, with at least four seat belts. The branch picks the car, so you might drive off in a midsize or an SUV, or in an economy car. Thrifty’s Wild Card works the same way at the compact price. Neither promises an upgrade, so only book one if the smallest possible car would be fine.
The same rule applies to everything here: compare the total, with taxes and fees, not the daily rate. A cheaper daily rate at a pricier location can easily cost more by the end.
Do you need the rental company’s insurance?
Often not. The counter damage waiver usually costs $15 to $30 a day, and many travelers are already covered by their own auto policy or by the card they pay with.
The damage waiver (CDW or LDW) isn’t insurance. It’s the rental company agreeing not to charge you for damage to its car. Before you pay for it, check two things.
Your credit card
Some cards include primary rental car coverage, which pays before your own insurance, so a claim doesn’t touch your auto policy. According to Your Mileage May Vary’s July 2026 roundup:
| Card | Coverage | Longest rental |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | Primary, up to $60,000 | 31 days |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | Primary, up to $75,000 | 31 days |
| Capital One Venture X | Primary, cars worth up to $75,000 | 15 days at home, 31 abroad |
To use it, pay for the whole rental with that card and decline the damage waiver at the counter. The cover leaves out some vehicles (expensive and exotic cars, large vans, trucks) and some countries, and it covers damage to the rental car, not injuries or damage to others. Read your card’s benefit guide before you rely on it.
Amex cards offer a paid upgrade instead: Premium Car Rental Protection costs a flat $19.95 or $24.95 per rental in most states (not per day) for primary damage cover, after a one-time enrollment.
Your own auto policy
Many US auto policies extend your coverage to a rental car in the US. Call your insurer or check your policy before the trip, and ask about liability, which card benefits don’t cover. The FTC’s guide to renting a car has a good list of questions to ask.
How to avoid young driver and extra driver fees
Drivers under 25 usually pay $19 to $35 a day on top of the rate, and each extra driver about $10 to $15 a day. Both are often avoidable.
Under 25
- AAA members aged 20 to 24 don’t pay it at Hertz when they book with the AAA code.
- USAA members aged 18 to 24 don’t pay it at Avis, Budget and Hertz (21 to 24 at Enterprise) when they book through USAA.
On a week-long rental, that’s often $150 to $200 saved, more than most discount codes.
Extra drivers
- Spouses and domestic partners drive free at Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National and Alamo under company policy. At Hertz, they’re free for Gold Plus Rewards members.
- Costco Travel includes one extra driver at no charge with Alamo, Enterprise, Avis and Budget.
- AAA members can add up to four extra drivers at Hertz, if they’re AAA members too.
- Some states require it. In California, a spouse or domestic partner, close family member or co-worker can be added at no charge (AB 901), though other drivers can be charged. Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin also treat a spouse as an authorized driver.
Every extra driver still needs to be at the counter with a valid license, and you should add them even if it costs money: an unlisted driver usually isn’t covered.
Fuel, tolls and the other counter extras
Skip prepaid fuel unless you’ll truly return the tank empty, and decide about tolls before you get to the counter.
- Prepaid fuel charges you for a full tank, with no refund for what’s left. Fill up yourself instead, at a station a few miles from the return rather than the one next to the airport, and keep the receipt.
- Returning it low without prepaying is the expensive option: refuel charges are often around double the pump price. Check the rate in your contract.
- Toll passes charge a daily fee on top of the tolls, sometimes for every day of the rental. If you have your own transponder that works in the area, or plan to avoid toll roads, decline it. If you’ll use tolls daily, the pass may be the easier option.
- GPS and satellite radio: your phone does both.
- Child seats often cost $10 to $15 a day. On a longer trip, bringing your own (most airlines check them for free) usually wins. AAA members get one free at Hertz.
At pickup and return
Join the company’s free loyalty program before you go, and film the car when you collect it and when you bring it back.
Skip the counter
National’s Emerald Club, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and Avis Preferred are all free to join, and at most large US airports they let you go straight to a car without stopping at the counter. Enterprise Plus does the same at some locations through its app. Fewer counter conversations means fewer chances to be talked into an upgrade or coverage you don’t need. At National, members who book a midsize can pick any car on the Emerald Aisle for the same price.
The one-minute video
Before you drive away, walk around the car filming slowly: each panel, the bumpers, wheels and windshield, then the inside, the mileage and the fuel gauge. Do it again in the return lane. It takes a minute and it’s the best evidence you’ll have if a damage or cleaning charge shows up weeks later. Point out anything big to an agent before you leave.
Then keep your final receipt and check your card statement for a few weeks. Late fuel, toll and damage charges are much easier to dispute while the trip is fresh.
Booked already? Let the price keep falling for you.
Forward your rental confirmation to Plot and Plot Pro watches the price of your car until pickup. When the same car gets cheaper, you get the saving and the steps to rebook it, for Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Costco Travel and more.
Company by company: Costco Travel, Hertz, Enterprise, Avis and Budget.