I have a family emergency, that I have to go out of town for a few days. I will be driving from Lockport, Illinois to Lexington, Kentucky. Due to my car being on the older side, I feel that renting a car, would be the best option. I have no idea where to go, to get a rent a car, to get the best deal, and the best price. I know there is Enterprise (because of advertisements), but, I have a feeling there is a better deal out there. Can anybody steer me in the right direction? Money is very tight for me right now, so, getting the most for my money is important. Suggestions are welcome. Thank you so much.
I would look for price quotes on-line. For last minute travel you can probably get a good deal.
Get some car rental quotes via websites: orbitz.com, expedia.com, travelocity.com, etc.
I have rented cars using www.orbitz.com in the past and things went very well. That website will give you the rates from all the national car rental places (Hertz, Avis, National, Enterprise, etc.)
My husband signed up for emails and coupons from Enterprise, and he has gotten great prices sometimes. (check their home page for a link to sign up.) You can also search online for "coupons" or "deals" and the name of the rental company and find deals.
For example: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/enterprise.com
http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/budget.htm
The other tip is, airport locations are sometimes cheaper to pick up/drop off than neighborhood locations. So check different locations too.
When you reserve online, experiment putting in different dates in the reservation calculator. For example, sometimes it's actually cheaper to keep the car an extra day (like to get a weekly deal instead of 5 days at a per-day rate.)
Also, if you want a slightly larger car, in my experience you are better off reserving something smaller and then asking for an upgrade at the store. Especially a neighborhood store, where they probably don't have an economy car. (of course, you may not get the car if it's busy, so keep that in mind.)