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A12 BUSINESS
Thursday 18 augusT 2022

Tips to take the sting out of 50% higher

car rental prices

PROGRAMS: Benefits vary
based on your level of elite
status, though some levels
can include free upgrades
and waived fees.
You might even get au-
tomatic status through a
credit card. Yet even the
entry-level, free-to-join tiers
can include perks like prior-
ity lines.
RESERVE NOW AND PAY AT
THE COUNTER: Many rental
car companies give you
the option to pay at the
Plexiglass stands between patrons and staff at the car rental
counter at Love Field airport Friday, May 28, 2021, in Dallas. counter. Paying upon pick-
Associated Press up has two major benefits
versus paying upfront: First,
By SALLY FRENCH of Nerd- cording to an analysis of should you need to cancel
Wallet Bureau of Labor Statistics your trip, you remove the
When making your travel data from the U.S. Travel headache of trying to get
budget, don’t assume that Association. a refund since you won’t
lodging and airfare will Prices have slightly dipped have put down any money
be your biggest expense. from the July 2021 record, anyway. Second, if rates
Now, more than ever, rent- but they are still far above drop, you can always can-
al cars are shaping up to pre-pandemic pricing. cel and rebook at a lower
be one of the biggest and HOW TO FIND AFFORDABLE rate.
stubbornly high aspects RENTAL CARS HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON
of people’s vacation bud- NerdWallet conducted ROAD TRIPS
gets. an analysis of 360 rental Throw in high gas prices,
While airfare and lodging car reservations to better and road trips might be
prices are certainly near all- understand the cheapest one of the most expensive
time highs, rental cars are ways to rent. Some of the ways to travel these days.
among the biggest price findings may help you save Here are some ways to cut
increases of all travel ex- on your next rental car. back on costs.
penses. When comparing Among the rental car com- USE APPS TO FIND CHEAP
prices for July 2022 versus panies in the analysis, Enter- GAS: Apps like GasBud-
July 2019 (the last normal prise is usually the cheap- dy track local gas prices
summer pre-pandemic), est, while National is most and can help you find
hotel prices are up 7% , ac- expensive. The analysis also the cheapest gas stations
cording to the latest set of found that last-minute rent- along your route.
Consumer Price Index data als are typically cheaper CONSIDER AN ELECTRIC
released in August 2022. than those booked months VEHICLE: With an electric
Airfares are up 16%. But in advance. And you’ll al- car, you’ll avoid paying for
rental cars are up a whop- most always save by book- gas entirely. While you may
ping 48%. ing at an off-site rental car still have to pay to charge
WHEN DID RENTAL CAR location versus at the air- it, some hotels offer free
PRICES GET SO HIGH? port. That knowledge can electric vehicle charging
Like most travel costs, rental help you better understand as a guest benefit.
car prices sharply dropped the cheapest places to PLAN A BUDGET-FRIENDLY
in April and May 2020 as book, but sometimes book- ROUTE: If you’re open-mind-
people began calling off ing from a specific location ed to location, consider
vacations to stay at home. or company might be non- driving through states with
But things began to turn negotiable with the nature lower gas prices. During the
around at the beginning of your trip. These other last week of July, the three
of 2021 when prices began tricks can still help you save: states with the lowest gas
increasing every month, USE TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS: prices were Georgia, South
building up to a record Some travel credit cards Carolina and Texas, ac-
high set in July 2021. offer rental car insurance cording to AAA data.
Road trips were especially as part of their benefits, WHY TRIP PLANNING
hot that summer (thus high though it may exclude cer- SHOULD START WITH RENTAL
demand), but other factors tain types of expensive cars CAR PRICES

including a global semi- or rentals in some coun- Before you get too caught
conductor shortage and tries. When it is applicable up in the excitement of a
tourism industry labor short- though, it can save you road trip, make sure you
ages contributed to low money on the extra insur- can afford it. With prices
supply. In fact, leisure and ance you might have oth- so much higher than they
hospitality sector employ- erwise signed up for at the were two years ago, you
ment remains 7.8% below counter. don’t want to get caught
pre-pandemic levels, ac- JOIN RENTAL CAR LOYALTY off guard. q