I recently used Priceline to book a mini van rental in Lake Tahoe see trip report here. I usually like to book directly with my favorite rental car companies but, this time it was impossible to find a good rate with any of the rental car companies directly. So, I ventured to Priceline.com and Named My Own Price on a mini van and saved about 60% vs. what I could have booked an SUV for direct through a rental car company.

Priceline Name Your Own Price

We had really wanted an SUV but, those were super expensive even on Priceline, about $90/day more than the mini van so, we settled for the mini van. But, when we arrived in Lake Tahoe the agent asked us if we wanted to upgrade to the SUV and offered us an upgrade for only $22/day for a brand new Chevy Tahoe! We were surprised how much we were able to save especially compared to quotes from direct rental car companies.  The best price we had found for a SUV direct was close to $600 before taxes. We ended up paying about $250 for an SUV including taxes, fees, carseat fees when we booked Name Your Own Price through Priceline.com and got the upgrade from a mini van to a SUV at the check-in desk.

Bottom Line

Even though we didn’t get points for our rental it was worth it to save so much money on Priceline.com. You might want to consider it the next time rates are high during busy travel season.