Rental car in Denver, CO

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dknightd
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Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by dknightd »

I plan to go to Denver, CO in late July, return early August. I'd like to have use of a car while I'm there.
I'll be driving up and down the front range, no big trips. I'll be traveling from the east coast. Takes me 2-4 days each way by car.
I'd rather spend the time there.
I probably need 10-14 days of a rental car. So far I can't find a car cheaper than the flight there and back.
So far it looks like $450 for plane flight, then $750 for car.
I'm tempted to just drive! Thoughts? Thanks
Last edited by dknightd on Wed May 23, 2018 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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open_circuit
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by open_circuit »

dknightd wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 9:41 am I plan to go to Denver, CO in late July, return early August. I'd like to have use of a car while I'm there.
I'll be driving up and down the front range, no big trips. I'll be traveling from the east coast. Takes me 2-4 days way by car.
I'd rather spend the time there.
I probably need 10-14 days of a rental car. So far I can't find a car cheaper than the flight there and back.
So far it looks like $450 for plane flight, then $750 for car.
I'm tempted to just drive! Thoughts? Thanks
Airport car rental rates in Denver have been (subjectively) high for the last couple years. Have you looked at off-airport rental locations to see if they are cheaper? There is a $9 airport bus that can get you pretty far away from the airport, or you can use Uber/Lyft/taxi to get to an off-airport rental counter also.

Airport bus info - http://www3.rtd-denver.com/schedules/ge ... routeId=AB
The AB bus goes up to Boulder. There is also an AA bus, and there is light rail that will get you downtown.
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Watty
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by Watty »

Be sure to get a quote at a non-airport location since they usually add all sorts of fees and taxes to airport car rentals. I have done things like gotten a one day airport rental that dropped off at a non-airport location the next day at the same time I had a weekly rental reserved.

If your dates are flexible be sure to get quotes for weekly rentals that are exactly 7 or 14 days since the weekly rentals are often a lot less.

Also check for rates a couple of weeks earlier or later. Sometimes if there is something big going on at the same time the rates will be a shortage of rental cars and the rates will spike.
adamthesmythe
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by adamthesmythe »

You are probably traveling at dates when cars are in high demand.

You might try fiddling with the exact dates and times, you might find something that makes a big difference.
RudyS
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by RudyS »

Suggest you try autoslash.com . I've used them a lot and always good prices. They take your rental info, discount plans, memberships, and then in a few minutes send an email with priuces for almnost every rental comnpany. YOU pick one, and then use the link to priceline to actually book. You'll get a confirmation from them and the rental company. Works well for me.
squirm
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by squirm »

Try Turo.
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mhc
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by mhc »

My mega-corp employer provides us an Avis discount code for personal rentals. If you are employed, you may look to see if your company provides any rental car perks. I used it last year. It saved me $2000 on a 3 week rental. I'm using it again this summer for a 2 week rental.
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flowerpower
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by flowerpower »

RudyS wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 10:16 am Suggest you try autoslash.com . I've used them a lot and always good prices. They take your rental info, discount plans, memberships, and then in a few minutes send an email with priuces for almnost every rental comnpany. YOU pick one, and then use the link to priceline to actually book. You'll get a confirmation from them and the rental company. Works well for me.

+1 for autoslash.com. I just got a 4 day rental in a major metropolitan area for $150, all taxes included.
WhyNotUs
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by WhyNotUs »

If you are planning to spend the first night in Denver, then you can book a hotel near a train stop and pick up a car nearby the next day.
If you use a major brand you can usually return to the airport without extra charge.
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RudyS
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by RudyS »

flowerpower wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 1:38 pm
RudyS wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 10:16 am Suggest you try autoslash.com . I've used them a lot and always good prices. They take your rental info, discount plans, memberships, and then in a few minutes send an email with priuces for almnost every rental comnpany. YOU pick one, and then use the link to priceline to actually book. You'll get a confirmation from them and the rental company. Works well for me.

+1 for autoslash.com. I just got a 4 day rental in a major metropolitan area for $150, all taxes included.
Update: They are good, but not miracle workers. I too am vacationing in Colorado in July, just went to book a car, and found out how high Denver prices are. Still, autoslash beat a direct price from National by $60 for an 11 day rental.
beserker
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by beserker »

My wife and son had to stay in Denver for two months last year, which added a headache of covering insurance for that long as credit cards had limits. Anyway, for that length of time, airport rental was out of question.

I used Costco car rental. I can cancel anytime. Interestingly, the price got cheaper as it got closer to the rental time, so I got to reserve the new lower price and cancel the older reservation. Check prices on offsite everywhere. The prices can be significantly different than airport. Just take uber or something. I think they broke our two months rental into two thirtyday rental, so that covered the insurance by credit card and I remember the cost being in 600's/month, so you shouldn't pay more than that. And you can return to the airport from offsite to airport, so returning it and getting to the airport was easy.
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dknightd
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by dknightd »

thanks for the tips. looking into them.
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Trism
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by Trism »

You could also consider flying into a smaller city that's within, say ~400 miles, of Denver, and renting a car there.

Rapid City, Casper, Albuquerque are among several options.

Some of these drives would be quite scenic and enjoyable, and rental car rates should be more attractive in smaller cities.

This is splitting the difference between flying and driving to/from home to your destination. I probably wouldn't have suggested this if you hadn't already expressed a willingness to consider driving the entire trip.
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dratkinson
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by dratkinson »

In the early '90s, four of us USAF coworkers attended a multi-day meeting in Colorado Springs. We handled our ground transportation needs by renting from Rent-A-Wreck.

The car was a big old Bonneville and could easily carry a half-dozen folks and all of their baggage. (Don't remember how we got from the airport to the airbase lodging. But since the Colorado Springs airport is co-located with the airbase and is combined military/civilian airport, we probably took a military shuttle bus. Probably took a cab to Rent-A-Wreck.)

The only problem we had with the car was when we picked up our boss the next day. He wanted to know why we didn't rent a newer/better car. Simple answer: we were paying for the rental car, not him.

Recall the car was ~$9/day, split 4 ways, so cheap enough for junior military personnel to rent.

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triyoda
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by triyoda »

Denver is also most expensive rental in my opinion. I have never paid less than $500-$600 for an 8 or 9 day rental in the summertime. Even when booked months in advance, don't know what it is about Denver.
RudyS
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by RudyS »

triyoda wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 9:23 pm Denver is also most expensive rental in my opinion. I have never paid less than $500-$600 for an 8 or 9 day rental in the summertime. Even when booked months in advance, don't know what it is about Denver.
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radiowave
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by radiowave »

If you're travelling along the front range, check out flying into Colorado Springs rather than Denver. That will likely get you lower rental costs, especially if using off field rentals, and you'll have direct access to I25 north and south and state route 24 that gets you due west into the intermountain areas.
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inepteft
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by inepteft »

Just be aware that the offsite rental car locations (within 20 miles) are required to ask renters whether they arrived at DIA and, if so, charge the airport taxes if you flew in the same day as renting.
ladders11
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by ladders11 »

I have rented in Denver. My only advice is don't get a car that's too low to the ground. It is a flat town, however: there's a lot of drainage ditches. It was hard to go slow enough that the car wouldn't bottom out and I was worried I'd damage it.
anonenigma
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by anonenigma »

Try Hotwire.
LifeIsGood
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by LifeIsGood »

If you're a Costco member, get a quote from them. I've gotten some unbelievably low rates with them in the past.
pjhalifax
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by pjhalifax »

This might be a long shot, but you could give Silvercar a look. They rent Audis exclusively so they're pricey, but they often have some decent coupon codes or offers for people new to the service. More so if you have one of the Chase travel cards like the Sapphire Preferred/Reserve. I got 50% off a Silvercar rental through Chase the last time I was in Denver and that made it one of the more reasonable rates for our trip (also in the summer).

Normally we use a Budget offsite location - I think it's on Quebec St. - and that saves us $150-200 or so on a weekly rental, sometimes more than that. Always get a decent car and service there.
Yiewsley
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Re: Rental car in Denver, CO

Post by Yiewsley »

I live near DIA and we recommend guests rent a car at the Enterprise on 6th Ave in Aurora. We have rented a car there when we needed a bigger one to drive to ABQ with my folks. We got ours through Costco. It was not cheap by any means, but it will probably save you a bit.

I don't recommend flying to ABQ and driving up. DIA is usually cheaper than the Springs airport as well.
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