Besides airfare and lodging for our December vacation to Hawai’i, another big expense we have to factor in is car rental. We will be in Hawai’i for two full weeks, and figured a car for the five of us to tool around in would cost at least $1000 but probably more for those two weeks.
Yesterday I was able to reserve an Enterprise premium 5-passenger car through Costco Travel for only $823 (taxes & fees included) for two weeks! (For 59 cents more we could have had a Mustang convertible, but it only seats four, darn it!) The price for the premium car was less than a mid-size or even an economy car from any company, Costco included. I checked around various other travel sites today and prices for the same car for the same time period run from $886 on the AARP Expedia site (Mr. Losing It is a member) to $2631 for a similar car from Thrifty (??) through Orbitz. The least expensive rental price for any size car other than the Expedia price for the premium car was $925 for an economy car. One other added bonus is that the Enterprise counter is actually located inside the terminal versus having to find and ride a shuttle to some sight away from the airport. (P.S. We don’t have to pay for the rental until we pick up the car in Hawai’i. If I find a better deal between now and then, you better believe I will snap it up and cancel this reservation. But from what I saw of rates last year, this is a pretty good deal).
One other score came our way last week – an invitation for a pre-approved Chase Sapphire Visa rewards card. Now, we do not need or want another credit card, but . . . this card has 0% interest for the first twelve months and you will receive a bonus 25,000 rewards points within two months of your first purchase. Those 25,000 points translates into a check for $250. Seriously – a check for $250 back to us just for joining and using the card once (for anything – we read all the fine print). Plus, you can collect a rewards check beginning with 2,000 points (at $10 for every 1000 points), so guess what we will be using to book our airline tickets?
Now all we need to find are some good, low air fares. We are being very patient though, and have an upper limit of what we’ll pay. Hopefully good things will come to those who wait!
I just got the Chase Freedom a couple of months ago and got $300 cash back. It was super nice!
I had been hearing about this card for the past few months, but that you had to get “invited” to get the cash back so we must have done something right! That’s at least $50 off each ticket though, nothing to sneeze at.
I like our Chase car. We usually only use it for gas and occasional shopping online. But we put all the school tuition, airline tickets and all the other big purchases on it. Bonus points are nice too! As long as you pay it off every month, credit cards can be a good thing!
Our last experience with Chase was not a good one, but we went carefully over all the small print before we decided to go ahead and accept the offer. We currently use another rewards card for gasoline, pay if off every month, and will have a nice little bit of reward coming our way before our vacation.
Chase card
Dont cry over the convertible. You would have screamed tourist. And the way it rains most locals laugh when tourist are trying to get the top up. It suddenly starts and rains hard.
Does sound a good deal.
The idea of a convertible was really more for the girls. I never thought about it screaming “tourist” though. Yikes. I did think it was cool that we could have had one for only 59 cents more.
Be aware that you will most likely be charged $100 fee when you return your rental car. It’s some sort of tax (lots of tourist taxes in Hawaii), has been the norm for everyone I know who has rented a car, and is not included in the rental quotes usually. Not a very nice surprise that they hit you with at the end of your stay!
Thanks for this tip! Will add it to the growing list of expenses. I’m glad though it will only be added to $823 versus $1100 or something like that.