Happy Day!! Car rental prices seem to be going down.

When I rebooked for my Scotland trip, the new rate for a larger vehicle was £782 less. My rental is through Enterprise. It paid to check.

I'm definitely going to wait to book. I was looking at prices for next May (2023) in Scotland for 17 days, and the lowest I've found is around £961 at Arnold Clark. Hopefully that's because it's so far out, so I'll just keep checking.

EDIT: Just found one for $859 at Sixt (but that's paying in advance with a cancellation fee). I'll keep checking...

Mardee, it is rather early to look at booking for your trip. When you think the time is good, some (most?) companies would allow free cancellations on your rental. So you can cancel and rebook if prices drop.

Sixt is one of the companies that pop up on AutoEurope. I'd check there

Oooh, off to check right now!

Edit: No, for my 7 day rental in Poland it’s now $60 more than my cost. ($336, which doesn’t seem bad).

Mardee - I paid the extra £5 to Arnold Clarke for potential cancellation or changes. It was worth it to me. So it wouldn’t be free cancellation, but £5 isn’t bad.

Prices are just bizarre - I checked the price for 14 days with p/u and d/o at Glasgow airport on AutoEurope and it was over $2,000!!! Then I switched it to Edinburgh airport and got a price for $750 (with Hertz via AE). Arnold Clark (which seems more consistent) dropped to £730 for 14 days (I reduced it from 17). I'm going to stay away for awhile or I will drive myself crazy. You all are right - I think I'm way too early.

TexasTravelmom, thanks - that's a good idea, although when I book with AutoEurope, the policy is cancellable without penalty, too. But as I said, I'm holding off for now. Your Poland trip is coming up soon, isn't it?

Both airfares and car rental prices are falling for September as demand both in Europe and the U.S. has precipitously plunged.

I usually book my cars, hotels, etc... many months in advance (and always, if possible, fully refundable and don't pay in advance unless 100% necessary to get a great deal) ... I'll check for cheaper rates all the way up to the day of departure and rebook/cancel (always in that order) if I find a better deal ... glad I saw this thread, reminded me I need to check the reservations.

Thanks for the heads up! I just rebooked my rental for Italy next month and got a "Mini Elite" automatic for $66 a day through Hertz.

That is like half what it was before! At least

And I've just rebooked again. I am at about $200 less than my original rate.

In Iceland they are not dropping;(

I just booked a car for October and it is the same rate we paid in February. The van and car that we have booked for July/August have not dropped in price either.

Mardee--Maybe this will make you feel better. Last summer in Iceland we paid $3000 for 12 days for our car. I just paid and didn't look back since it was a necessity of a road trip.

For those thinking about rebooking, ensure you look at the price/currency you’ll be charged in rather than the estimated U.S. dollar amount since it is affected by the daily currency exchange rate.

On a happy note, I rebooked the reservation I had rebooked on the 16th, and it was £200 less, so right now the rental is £982 less than the original reservation.

No price drop on my next rental at Reno in a week ... but did make a reservation through Avis for 18 days in Netherlands/Belgium ... economy automatic for €870 (get 1700 km / 1050 miles included, gotta watch the odometer) ... will monitor that for the next 7 months hoping the price will drop.

The U.S. website for AutoEurope charges in USD and the renter gets a voucher for the rental. The cost to the renter unaffected by the exchange rate.

Just a heads up to check prices again before your trip. I just re-booked my car with Hertz for next month - and my rental for Italy total went from $362 to $185.

That's what I'm talking about!