Americans find cross-country road trips exciting, even romantic, given the country’s vastness, the many scenic routes, and the different roadside attractions.
Car rentals are popular for cross-country road trips. However, splurging money on a rental car will significantly cut your budget and leave you with less money to enjoy your trip.
This post will show you four (4) ways to get car rentals on the cheap to traverse America. We’ll also show you five (5) hacks to get a better car deal.
Read on!
The best option if you are leaving your car in the same location (a loop)
Many times, people rent cars for round trips. You pick up the vehicle at a location, use it for your road trip, and then drive it back to the pickup location for drop-off.
Generally, car rental companies have cars for one-way trips and round trips. So, the services mentioned above are also excellent for round-trip car rentals on the cheap.
However, an even cheaper option for round-trip car rentals is peer-to-peer rental services, and one of the best is Turo.
Turo (the cheapest alternative)
Source: Turo.com
Turo is not a car rental company but a car-sharing marketplace that connects people who need a car rental to people who wish to make some extra money by availing of their vehicles for rentals.
While the Turo community has not spread to cover the whole of the U.S., it reaches many cities in the country. You’ll find a Turo host to rent a car from in many destinations. You can arrange with the Turo host for the pickup location to be your hotel, the airport, or somewhere else close. Thus, Turo is relatively convenient.
There are different vehicle types available on Turo. These include cars, SUVs, minivans, classics, sports cars, convertibles, exotic and luxury cars, vans, and trucks.
Peer-to-peer car rental services are relatively cheaper than their company counterparts. Turo is not an exception.
Prices depend on the particular host and the type of car but generally range between $40 and $400 per day. A week’s rental will be between $280 and $2,800.
Some hosts (vehicle owners) offer unlimited mileage. Such vehicles are listed with a badge, and the field for distance will say “unlimited distance.” For cars that limit you to a certain distance, the charge per extra mile is calculated (the price of the trip/ allowed distance of the trip).
Best if you are leaving your car in another location (one-way)
One-way car rentals allow different pickup and drop-off points. For example, you can pick up the car at a location on the east coast and drop it off at a location on the west coast.
Some of the best car rental services to snag a car for a one-way trip on the cheap include:
- Budget
- Alamo
- Enterprise
Budget
Source: Budget.com
Budget Car Rentals has 1,432 locations across the United States. These locations are scattered all over the 50 states and Washington D.C. They include on-airport and off-airport locations.
Budget Car Rentals even allows dropping off the car in a different location other than the one entered when making the reservation.
This car rental company has different types of vehicles. The lineup includes standard, economic, luxury vehicles, vans, and trucks.
The price of a week-long car rental using Budget varies widely depending on the type of vehicle, your rental location, and the day you pick up the car. However, you should expect to pay between $800 – $5,500.
Budget has a lot of cars that come with unlimited mileage. For the few cars that limit you to a particular mileage, the charge per extra mile may vary by location but is usually $0.25.
Alamo
Source: Alamo.com
Alamo has 247 locations scattered all over the U.S. The service is perfect for renting cars for moving between states.
Vehicle types include cars, SUVs, vans, and trucks. The daily rate also depends on the kind of car and many other factors. However, a week’s car rental from Alamo can cost between $1,000 – $5,000.
If you want unlimited mileage and not to have many worries when traveling long distances, Alamo is perfect as it is the pioneer of unlimited mileage. Most of its cars come with unlimited mileage. However, when cars come with mileage restrictions, the charge is usually $0.25 per mile up to $49.95.
Enterprise
Source: Enterprise.com
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has locations all over the U.S. The only states it does not serve are Delaware, Maine, Montana, Vermont, Wyoming, and Washington D.C. Enterprise is pet-friendly so you can hit the road with your furry family members.
You’ll be able to rent all types of vehicles for your cross-country trip, including cars, SUVs, minivans and vans, trucks, and exotic cars.
The rates also vary greatly, but they should be between $1,000 – $5,200 per week.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has unlimited mileage for most car classes in the U.S. Larger and specialty vehicles are the exemption, and the extra charge is $0.10 – $0.25 per mile over the limit.
Cheapest options if you are under 25 years old
Car rental companies prefer not to rent cars to people 25 years or younger. It’s believed that these persons are more likely to cause accidents when driving. It is why car insurance goes down at 25.
What if you want a car rental for a road trip and you’re 25 years or younger? Thankfully, the car rental services mentioned above (Budget, Alamo, Enterprise, and Turo) rent cars to people under 25 (albeit with an extra fee called the young driver’s fee).
Budget options if you are under 21 years old
Turo is the one service where 18 to 20-year-olds can rent cars everywhere. Budget and Enterprise rent cars to 18 to 20-year-olds, but only in New York and Michigan. Alamo does not rent cars to those under 21.
However, car rentals for those under 21 (when available) come with a higher young driver’s fee. For example, Enterprise’s young driver’s fee for 18 to 20-year-olds in Michigan is $40 per day, but it’s only $19 per day for 21 to 24-year-olds.
5 Hacks to get a better car rental deal
You do not have to overpay when renting a car for your cross-country trip. The following tips will help you cut the cost of your rental and save you money.
Hack #1 – Use car relocation services
When you rent a car and drop it off at a different location, the company has to pay to get the car to its original location. This relocation makes one-way car rentals more expensive than round-trip rentals.
However, if your location is where a car is, and your destination is where the car is to be relocated, then you are doing the company a favor by renting the car. For that reason, car relocation services are very cheap compared to car rental services. Some of these services are TransferCar and AutoDriveAway.
Hack #2 – Use coupon codes
Coupon codes are redeemed for financial discounts. They are popular for helping people get savings when shopping. Thankfully, there are coupons to help you save money when renting a car. These discount codes can save you up to 30% on your car rentals.
Occasionally, you will find coupon codes on the car rental company’s website. If not, a Google search (car rental company name + coupon codes) can help you find these discount codes.
Hack #3 – Rent off-airport
Because of airport surcharges and other unknown reasons, car rentals at airports are often more expensive than at off-airport locations.
So, to save on your car rental, arrange the car pick-up at an off-airport location. After landing, use an airport shuttle or taxi to get you to the off-airport location. Your total cost (airport getaway + off-airport rental) will be significantly lower than the cost of an on-airport rental.
Hack #4 – Fill the tank yourself
You’re expected to return a car rental with a tank full of gas. Most companies will give you the option of pre-paying for fuel. However, you will most definitely overpay if you take the option.
To save on your rental, find the cheapest gas station and fill the tank yourself before dropping off the car.
Note: Gas stations close to airports tend to be more expensive. So move about 10 miles away for cheaper gas.
Hack #5 – Compare prices
It may be old-fashioned to compare prices before making a purchase, but it works well today and will continue to work well.
The different car rental services quote different prices for their cars. Thus, a simple way to get a better deal is to compare the prices of the car rental services and go for the best option. There can often be as much as a 25% difference in the price of similar cars.
Conclusion
A cross-country road trip can be an exciting experience. The long drive will not be an issue if you follow these long-distance tips.
You can make your cross-country road trip even more memorable by saving on your car rental and having enough money to give yourself special treats.
You can rent cheap cars by using rental companies like Budget, Alamo, and Enterprise, or the peer-to-peer rental service Turo. You can get an even better deal if you compare rental prices, use coupon codes, rent off-airport, fill the tank yourself, or use car relocation services.
Important Read: Legal spots to park your car overnight and sleep/ rest while on a cross-country road trip
