FatWallet

Hi guys. This is my first trip to Vegas and we are going to stay there for 6 days and 5 nights. I want to rent a car since we also want to go to the national parks around. So far I found that the prices from Alamo and Payless Car Rental are appealing. After I did some research online, I found that the car rental companies around the airport are actually in the same location and NEITHER of them seems to have good reiviews. So I am a little bit confuesed about which one to go with, Alamo or Payless Car Rental. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!

Yes, they're all in one big rental car complex. You take a common shuttle bus to all of them. The nice part about that is you can make a number of reservations and see what works out best when you arrive.

I'm not a fan of Payless. I really like National. Search here and you can get free Emerald and Executive status with them. Then you can get some very nice vehicles for mid-size prices. And... no waiting in line.

[Edit]
Oh, and look at a 7-day rental. It's often less than a 5 or 6-day, because you can use the week-long coupons. And if you're lucky, you may get credited back a day off the bill when you return after only 6...

Yah, it can really vary. For coupons, I usually start with momsview.com, retialmenot.com or mousesavers.com...

Stick with Alamo over Payless. Alamo and National are the same operation at LAS and interchange their vehicles. Alamo will be much cheaper for economy/compacts than National. You can use kiosk check-in with Alamo and so never are hard-pressed to buy insurance or such. Ever since they built the consolidated rental facility the entire in/out process is just blinding quick and efficient.

If you have an American Express Card use ID 7014295 (15% off) and for a coupon code, use Alamo's Hot Deals code AD3829MRB ($25 off). You do NOT need to present the coupon it was one of their own Internet codes. Join their Quick Silver program which is free and go to the KIOSK in Alamo avoiding any lines and print out your rental agreement. Proceed to the garage and pick up your car.

I did not know what dates you needed the car for but I used 12/16 to 12/22 and got the full size for $78 TOTAL using the above codes. Did this at 10 AM today 12/01/08. There are ID codes for other places if you do not have American Express. Look at the last couple of pages in the Rental car thread and you will see a list of ID codes. Some will take a smaller percentage off but it should still work out better for you.

Good Luck!

dahuzi said:Thanks for the information. But I have a question. I plan to rent a car from Dec 18-25. After using the codes you mentioned, I got a quote of $156.06 for full-size car. But if I changed the date to Dec 17-25, the quote became $79.31! Half the first price but with an additional day of rental. It seems that Dec 18 is a turning point. My question is, can I make a reservation for Dec 17-25 but pick up the car on Dec 18, just to avoid the extra charge? Thanks!

Nope, that wont work unless your specified pick-up is 11:30pm and you came in within reason of that time thereafter such as an hour or two (also if you put a flight # in originally, a late/canceled flight will cover you too). Else you will end up having your rate changed on you automatically as you voided your original rate plan by not picking the vehicle up at its specified time. Your rate plan then gets changed to whatever is offered during that time, which I guarantee isn't going to be a rock bottom price.

I reserved a car for 9 days with alamo about a week ago for the end of jan and got a full size for 181 tax included. i would stick with alamo they do use the same cars as national and much cheaper.