car rental

[PommyPaul]

How much actual price difference will there be between finding a deal online and just strolling upto the rental desk at brisbane airport and renting a car?

Just trying to decide whether its worth prebooking.

[Pinhead]

Wouldn't it just be easier to get the train into Brissie/Gold Coast?

[coachgirl]

hi Paul,
we hired form got2go car rental for a month it worked out at $32 a day includng insurance. We stayed at a b&b for a couple of days in the Padding area of brisbane and they delivered to us. It was convenient but i think you could probably get a good deal directly on arrival too. we were able to drop in back to sunshine coast as well which was great,
hope that helps,
regards,
judith

[PommyPaul]

i'd of thought it'd be a real pain to get to where i'd be staying, go car hunting, food shopping, get to bank etc etc using just public transport.

[PommyPaul]

Thanks, i think you're right, they must be open to a bit of price haggling at the desks especially since there's loads of them all together.

[Pinhead]

One tip I'd give you is to pay for a full tank of petrol when you pick it up. That way when you return it there won't be an extra charge plus they charge you a much higher rate for the petrol that way.

[littlesarah]

Will you feel like haggling when you get off the plane?!

In my experience, you never get as good a deal at the desk as online. If you don't pre-book & the smaller (cheaper) cars are all out, they'll only rent you a bigger one at the class rate. If you pre-book & all the cars in that class are out, you get a free upgrade! Works almost every time, in all countries (or it has for us) - last week in France we got a Class I for the online special price of a class B! When we pre-booked with Hertz in Aus, we paid for a low-spec Getz & got an Avensis with air-con, CD player etc etc - every time!

Good luck

S

[donovan]

Hey PommyPaul

When do you get here? you will have to come over for a beer if your coming to the Gold Coast

Sarah x

[Rbecca]

We've rented when we've arrived in the past. It can be a hassle if you want to compare the prices though as there's often a queue to each desk and let's face it you don't want to be hanging about too much when you arrive after a long flight. Sometimes you can get a great deal online. The last time we rented a car we rented from a place in the city (I think it was Alamo) when we just walked in, but it would be easy to give them a quick call fist I suppose. Of course we had to sort out getting to where we were staying first but they gave us a better rate than at the airport or the couple of online places we had looked at. I know it's much more convenient to just pick up and go at the airport but its another alternative to look at!