I am planning a rent a car for 5 of us who are heading to Vail from DEN in early March for 5 days. My hope is just rent one car that can carry all of us and all of our gear. My search on kayak.com revealed that the price of renting the minivan is around $180 per day during that period which is quite ridiculous. (E-Z rent-a-car is $81/day but the company has really bad online reputation). Hotwire says I can get a minivan for $140 a day, still quite a high price..  I don't recall renting a minivan ever be this pricey...

My questions:

- Has anyone rented from E-Z rent-a-car at Denver airport? What was your experience?
- I found full-sized SUV (Ford Expedition and etc..) is slightly cheaper to rent around $110/day on hotwire. I never rent one. Would it fit all 5 of us plus ski/snowboard gears?
- The other option is to probably rent a mid-sized SUV plus ski racks.  Ski rack is $15 a day to rent and it is not even guaranteed that we will get them. Also, I am not sure what kind of ski racks will we get.. (we actually have 4 snowboards and one pair of skis).

- What are the other approaches to get good pricing on car rental?
 

Many aspects of travel seem more expensive this year.

If you really wanted to play the game you could look for a good price on a full size car and hope you can get some sort of cheap upgrade to minivan or suv upon arrival.  In parallel (assuming free cancellations) you could reserve best price suv and/or minivan and go with that if necessary upon arrival.  You could do aforementioned and also about a week before your trip try a bid on priceline for much cheaper vehicle than your reservations.  If that works, do free cancel on reservations.  There is also the possibility of reserving and picking up a rental vehicle at a location a five or ten miles from the airport, sometimes rates drop 40% or more by doing this, but it's tricky if you don't have a ride or know the city well that you are visiting.

I've never done it, but have you considered one of those deals where you rent someone else's car while they are travelling somewhere else? I don't even know a website to send you to, but I've heard they are becoming more popular. I'd guess there are quite a few minivans sitting in airport parking lots. Just a thought.

 I have gone to Denver for the past 5 years with a crew of 4 to ski for a week. I have made reservations at E-Z but found at DEN the rates seem to drop as the day gets closer. So make multiple reservations. Don’t Priceline I got stuck last year with a higher rate than I found at the last minute. Use a CORP discount rate if you can find one.
 
My question for you is why take skis? With the airline fees it is cheaper to rent on the mountain than bring them. If you must take skis/boards get a ski/board hiker. Fits in your luggage, then on your window. You only have to use it when you need it. I have used one on either side to of the car before. Looks funny but works.

You will need a 4x4. Others will say no but I have always rented one and been happy. Last year I had an AWD Ford Edge from Avis for less than $500 for the week.  Plenty of room could of easily fit 5. Vail is only a 90 min drive from DEN in good weather.

Keep looking! 

EGE; shuttles; and lodging near the bus loop. Problem solved. ;-)

I think it 's not that much more cost effective. Round trip shuttle is easily $150 per person so it's $750 for 5 people. Plus it's not that convenient to travel to nearby cities for cheaper food and cheaper lodging.

JimK wrote:

Many aspects of travel seem more expensive this year.

If you really wanted to play the game you could look for a good price on a full size car and hope you can get some sort of cheap upgrade to minivan or suv upon arrival.  In parallel (assuming free cancellations) you could reserve best price suv and/or minivan and go with that if necessary upon arrival.  You could do aforementioned and also about a week before your trip try a bid on priceline for much cheaper vehicle than your reservations.  If that works, do free cancel on reservations.  There is also the possibility of reserving and picking up a rental vehicle at a location a five or ten miles from the airport, sometimes rates drop 40% or more by doing this, but it's tricky if you don't have a ride or know the city well that you are visiting.

Great advice JimK! I will give it a try!

oldensign wrote:

My question for you is why take skis? With the airline fees it is cheaper to rent on the mountain than bring them. If you must take skis/boards get a ski/board hiker. Fits in your luggage, then on your window. You only have to use it when you need it. I have used one on either side to of the car before. Looks funny but works.

You will need a 4x4. Others will say no but I have always rented one and been happy. Last year I had an AWD Ford Edge from Avis for less than $500 for the week.  Plenty of room could of easily fit 5. Vail is only a 90 min drive from DEN in good weather.

Keep looking! 

If we don't take skis/snowboards, we can probably save $60 for the baggage fees imposed.  We still need big cars to carry rental skis/snowboards and will have to pay for the rental for 4 days we plan to ride plus. Plus people in our group invest quite a bit in getting good gears so we probably want to use our own equipments. I think it will difficult to find "great" rental gears for 4 days at around $60?

I've driven to Vail / Breckenridge before in a minivan a few times including during a moderate snow storm and I thought the road to Snowshoe is scarier!  This time, we might take a mini trip to Steamboats too so we might as well get an SUV.

oldensign wrote:

. I have made reservations at E-Z but found at DEN the rates seem to drop as the day gets closer. So make multiple reservations.  
Keep looking!

 OE is right about keep trying for cheaper reservations.  The rates can fluctuate from week to week, so keep trying sites like kayak, expedia to see if something breaks, then grab it and dump your earlier, higher priced reservation.  Also agree with him about caution with Priceline.  I've used it with success, but once your bid is accepted there is usually no cancellation.

I have rented from ez car before.  in fact I've got an SUV reserved in March for $49 a day.  I booked it back in October.  I've done both EZ , payless, and FOX and have never had an issue.

I always try to rent the cheapest thing needed.  I70 is actually an interstate and if you can't hack it in a FWD minivan then forget it.   CO maintains the roads well.  The only time I have been stuck is when the entire road (I70, US40, whatever) is closed or, more likely, jammed.  Pack bunjee cords in your ski bag and use the dinky roof rails on an SUV or Minivan.  I've had three guys and full gear in a mazda 6 rental.  Get the stupid airline card or fly southwest to avoid baggage fees.  

Fox was mentioned above.  I had a bad experience with them last year in Utah.  Specifically reserved a 4x4.  Guy balked, if I recall, said he didn't have one.  Then insisted on seeing the paperwork.  Showed him that my reservation said '4X4'.  One magically appeared.  

And we needed it too! Got snow and the lights were flashing at the entrance to LCC.

Personally, I won't rent from Fox again.

If it was me, I'd probably rent two cars, and make sure I got something with fold down seats. 

I have great luck through Hotwire and Priceline.

You just don't need 4wd on I70.  It's nothing like Utah, or even WV.

5 guys and gear would be tight in anything but a minivan.  Might fit in a full size SUV, but would be tight.

Reisen wrote:

If it was me, I'd probably rent two cars, and make sure I got something with fold down seats. 

I have great luck through Hotwire and Priceline.

You just don't need 4wd on I70.  It's nothing like Utah, or even WV.

5 guys and gear would be tight in anything but a minivan.  Might fit in a full size SUV, but would be tight.

That is actually a great idea.   A super duty car is often more than twice as much as a regular car, and then you can split up if needed during the week.   winner.

Reisen wrote:

If it was me, I'd probably rent two cars, and make sure I got something with fold down seats. 

I have great luck through Hotwire and Priceline.

You just don't need 4wd on I70.  It's nothing like Utah, or even WV.

5 guys and gear would be tight in anything but a minivan.  Might fit in a full size SUV, but would be tight.

Thought about that.. but then you have to pay $50 for parking at Vail each day! Also, we plan to drive up to Steamboat Springs for one day and drive to the famous outdoor hot springs which require a 4WD..  The last time I went to Vail, I didn't take the 4WD though.. just minivans. Agree with you, the road there is a piece of cake.. A drive to Snowshoe is scarier..

So far I found that costcotravel.com has the cheapest price (even cheaper than hotwire.com). You need your costco membership number. The good thing is this can be cancelled anytime!!  Still this is $690 for just 5 days of rental for a fullsize SUV.  Tax + fee is quite ridiculous at Denver airport.. (Without tax/fee, it's only $527)

My strategy is to keep this and try to bid heavily on priceline when it gets close. Also I set up an alert email from hotwire to alert me when price drops...