renting a car in Holland

You can find the best deals by either: - using a consolidator such as AutoEurope - accessing the British versions of Hertz, Avis etc Renting in person is always more expensive! I'd use Autoeurope (they rent from Hertz) because often they throw in deductible waivers in the package and/or are able to secure a diesel vehicle (gas here is hovering around US$ 9.20/gallon, but cars are usually fuel efficient).

If you are staying in Amsterdam, you will not need a car. There are rental agencies all over the city including convenient Centraal Station when you are ready to leave the city. Definitely make arrangements before flying over for better prices.

As someone said it is usually cheaper to rent before you leave the USA. With that said every time we have tried to rent a car for the Netherlands it has been very expensive......very expensive. If you are going to Amsterdam first and getting a car to drive around the Netherlands we actually call the Avis on Nausaukade right in Amsterdam .It is right off the Leidseplein.We call from the US. We have always gotten a great deal from them...oddly better than from here.

Don't have a car while in Amsterdam!!! Not only will you not be able to find parking but also driving there is anywhere in between crazy and impossible (with all the millions of cyclists around you and the tiny streets etc.). The rest of the NL is very easy to drive but mind their most rigid speed limits, parking rules (which are described in Dutch only) etc.
In my experience you always find the best deals online and a couple of weeks prior to your desired pick-up date.

Don't forget it was the Dutch who invented the Gatso Speed Camera and its little brothers the Gatso bus lane camera and the Gatso red light camera. They got plenty of experience with them before they exported them and they are all over. The speed limit is the speed limit in the Netherlands. I've driven many times into Amsterdam but I'm nuts. And I've always known where the car is going (never yet into a canal but close once) and its never there very long, and I now never drive inside the canal ring.

For Amsterdam it's utterly useless to use a rental car there. The cost of parking is too high. You pay in the centre of Amsterdam a fee of 5 euro a hour and that from early in the morning to midnight. Also the parking spaces are limited by the anti-car policy of the city. However if you are looking for a rental car to discover the rest of the Netherlands you should go to for example a Hertz, Sixt etc. company.
There is also a real Dutch rental company called SternRent and by a survey their cars are rated the cleanest and the newest. Their prices are similar. Hopefully this information is useful for your next trip!

It's best to rent a car right before driving out of Amsterdam. In the city about the only thing you can do with a car is pay to park it. Most countries also charge airport pickup taxes that you avoid by renting downtown. Price it both ways to check.