How I Saved 100's of dollars on One Car Rental

S eeking a car to rent during my amount of time in Canada to understand more about Banff National Park and Jasper National Park in Alberta; and Yoho National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park in Bc, I narrowed my search right down to Hertz and viewed the rate offered by the facility of Calgary Airport terminal, that was a minimum of $330.00 – but I could secure an interest rate of only $76.62 in Canadian dollars, which ended up being $56.72 in Netherlands currency.

How I Saved Hundreds of Dollars on a single Car Rental

The conclusion from the flight operated by United Airlines from Chicago to Calgary – which was scheduled to be at 10:26 at night – meant that if I stayed at a hotel property near the airport, I truly did not need a vehicle to rent that evening. I would instead rent it early the next morning.

Options of hiring a car at Calgary Airport terminal seemed expensive to me – until I discovered which i could rent a car from Hertz for only $76.60 using general car rental search engines like google; but I could not think it is at the official Internet site of Hertz…

…until I noticed the rate was offered by a location off of the airport itself at Horizon Auto Centre.

Although the Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport was one of the most affordable lodging options close to the airport at that time after i was booking my reservation, the Hampton Inn by Hilton Calgary Airport North was less expensive by just a few Canadian dollars – but it is located north of the airport; and Horizon Auto Centre is located south from the airport.

I like to walk and I walk a great deal; so the 34 minutes walking 2.7 kilometers between your Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport and Horizon Auto Centre was no big deal in my experience. With this conclusion, I booked both the lodging and car rental reservations.

I awoke the following morning and left the area by which I had been staying at 7:30 in the morning to be able to arrive at Horizon Auto Centre slightly past 8:00 – just after that facility opened. The elements was perfect for a walk: not too hot and not freezing, with no breeze. The only complaint I've concerning the walk is the fact that there aren't many sidewalks along the way; but I was able to walk down side to this streets which had little vehicle traffic. I never felt unsafe, because the buildings in the region was comprised mostly of companies and offices.

Upon arrival at Horizon Auto Centre, I opened the doorway and approached the small counter at which there were no other customers, where I had been cheerfully greeted with a tall man behind the counter. He announced to me the economy class car that we ended up being to rent was already upgraded to a different car class: a 2020 Chevrolet Cruze with only 3,141 kilometers clocked on it. The car am new the sunroof was still being sealed in plastic within the cabin.

We chatted for a while. Even though the neighborhood did not seem bad – rather, it had been an industrial section of sorts – he told a tale of how he left the rear door open for just 5 minutes whereby somebody that was at the top of drugs snuck in and stole empty aluminum cans to market, amongst other topics.

I double-checked everything from the car towards the contract: $76.60 in Canadian dollars for any fully-loaded car with unlimited kilometers for that week – including all taxes and fees.

I drove the vehicle back to the hotel, packed my belongings, and checked out soon after for my adventures within the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

One week and a pair of,614 kilometers later, I returned the vehicle with no problems to a different representative behind the counter, with whom I also involved in conversation – including asking me where I was staying for the night, that we told him. We checked the vehicle together and that i signed the receipt. I could not have access to asked for a better experience or service – until I was prepared to walk that 34 minutes back to the hotel.

“Would you like that i can drive you?”

“What?” I replied, stunned.

“I will drive you to your hotel.”

“That is okay – I'm able to walk.”

“No – seriously. It is not an issue.”

He set up a closed sign that he will return in minutes on the door. “One from the other employees ought to be here any minute,” he was quoted saying. “We uses the vehicle you rented.”

I tell him which i overfilled the tank with fuel; and that it should still be full as he returned. He was grateful for that.

Seven minutes later, I had been at the hotel.

What About Rental Car Rates Today?

I just checked car rental rates from Wednesday, June 21, 2020 through Wednesday, June 28, 2020. Listed here are my findings at that time this article was written.

Click on the image for an enlarged view. Source: Hertz.

An economy class car will cost $812.07 for that week if it is rented from the Hertz rental car facility at Calgary International Airport. Although the car could be rented for $585.01 if the rental was paid entirely in advance, I do not count that because…

Click on the image to have an enlarged view. Source: Hertz.

…exactly the same vehicle class rented from Horizon Auto Centre costs $378.78 without having to pay for the rental entirely ahead of time.

That is really a savings of $433.29 – or approximately $327.25 in Netherlands currency – without any discounts or online coupons applied to the reservation.