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This is a two-part story – savings and savings galore!!!
My wife went on a a trip to the Bay Area and had asked me to book a car rental for her. I did what every good husband would do, I went to check car rental pricing with Costco Travel.
She asked me to check on SUV pricing for her. She needed a vehicle for just under 3 days in the Bay Area. The lowest pricing I found was from Budget Rental at $160 (including taxes and fees).
I told her let’s just go ahead and book it. There’s no risk. If we find something better, we can always cancel the reservation.
Meet Autoslash
One of the things I usually do once I book or reserve a car rental is to enter my rental reservations over at Autoslash. In general, Autoslash will track your rate and will notify you when your prices drop. Here’s what you need to provide them with:
- Rental Company
- Confirmation Number
- Pick Up Date
- Rental Price
Submit all of that and you let Autoslash do its magic. I can’t say that Autoslash will promise to always deliver, but I can tell you that Autoslash never failed me. With recent booking, I submitted my Costco reservation at 7:07pm. Within 22 minutes, by 7:29pm, I received an email that Autoslash found a lower rate for me.
What do you do next?
In less than a half hour, I saved another $21.23 (from $160.18 to $139.85). In the grand scheme of things, $21 is about 1/3 to 1/2 a full tank of gas. Or, it could mean a decent lunch or dinner.
When your rates drop, you simply have to make sure you follow and click the orange “Click to see your rates”, and it will take you to your different options in booking this new low rate. If you happen not to take immediate action, it’s very possible that the low rate will no longer be available when you book. Word to the wise, when you see a message from Autoslash and that a lower rate was found, go and book.
I’ve been using Autoslash for over 4 years now, and I’m glad to have this option. I don’t need to monitor the price changes myself. Autoslash had done all the work for me.
Thank you, Autoslash.
Two days later
Update: My wife asked me to book her a minivan for he trip to the Bay Area. I found one via Costco Travel and for under 3 days, it was going to cost $197.75
Naturally, I plugged the rental information in Autoslash (following the steps I noted above). 17 minutes later, Autoslash found something cheaper – $48 cheaper.
Nothing to it. All it took was for me to re-book it at the new price. Lesson-learned, make sure to use Autoslash the next you book a car rental.
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