Price difference for car rental in Washington

Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out for your help because I’m a bit lost trying to rent a car in Washington, DC. I’ve already rented twice out West with ALAMO—no issues, brand-new SUVs… This time, I need to rent an SUV for 12 days in Washington and return it at Newark Airport in NYC. I never would’ve thought there’d be such a price difference between the East and West Coasts!!! 12 days out East costs almost the same as 26 days out West! With Alamo out West, full insurance where you return the vehicle no matter its condition is called CDW. Here, it’s not clear at all. I’ve never rented from another company. If I stick with the two "big rental companies," here are my options:

ALAMO DULLES AIRPORT: 1,250 € with additional protection included (96 €) AVIS AIRPORT: 831 € with additional protection included (96 €) Or AVIS downtown WASHINGTON, 700m from my hotel, where I’d save on the taxi to the airport! Same price: 831 €. Has anyone ever picked up a vehicle downtown? Given the small indoor parking lot, I’m guessing the selection is limited. Is there a difference between AVIS and ALAMO? Because between 830 € and 1,250 €??????????? I’m not too familiar with other rental companies. I’ve rented brand-new cars in Europe from BUDGET for 70 € a week with no issues, but this is on the other side of the world!!!! Thanks so much for your feedback! Have a great day

I always rent from the "Majors" (Avis, Hertz) and I’ve never had any issues. Insurance is included with high liability coverage and usually a zero-dollar deductible—or it’s covered by my Visa Premier insurance (check your contract, as they sometimes don’t cover SUVs or 4x4s). At Avis, your spouse is a free additional driver. Budget is Avis’s low-cost option, by the way—they use the same offices and parking lots. That said, I’ve read a lot of negative reviews about extra charges for the smallest scratches (sometimes already there but not noticed/reported), which can really inflate the bill. If you go with them, be extra careful during the vehicle inspection.

For this summer in the western USA, I rented from Avis using the discount code **J046300**, which gave me a nice discount. Check if it’s still valid. Also compare prices across the different European sites of these rental companies—there can be big price differences. This year, though, I found the best rates on the French site. Note that in about forty rentals in the US, I’ve never been asked to justify the discount code I used. However, I only use codes I’m actually eligible for, as I worry that in case of a serious accident, the rental company might try to shift responsibility if the code wasn’t legitimate.

I think Dull is pretty far from DC’s center—depending on where you’re coming from and where you’re headed next, it might be a big detour, right?

Hi there, and thanks for your reply!

Actually, we booked a round-trip flight to NYC for 3 weeks. I really struggled to fill out the road trip because after 2x26 days from Texas to California, it’s tough to find canyons or other landscapes on the East Coast that leave you speechless!!! I don’t like big cities.

Back in 2011, we didn’t like San Francisco, and in L.A., we didn’t even go into the city (Santa Monica, Universal...). Though, to be fair, that was the final stop after more than 3 weeks of canyons! Maybe the 16°C weather finished us off!! Alcatraz was amazing!!!!! Being in the crowd was overwhelming!!!!!

In 2019, Houston and Dallas were the same. I’m talking about the downtown areas, obviously. But with all the rave reviews about NYC and a direct flight of "only" 8 hours, we had to go! Plus, a friend preferred NYC over VEGAS!!! So we went for it!

Originally, it was supposed to be Yellowstone, but that’ll be for another time. For this road trip, it was NYC and WASHINGTON—non-negotiable.

So, we took Amtrak to D.C., and from there, we picked up a rental car to head up to Philadelphia, the Hudson Valley, Boston, then back to NYC along the coast. By the time I sent this message, there were no more cars available at the AVIS agency right next to the hotel. Prices change all the time—

There are big differences even in the West... This year I booked a large SUV with Alamo for 1,440 € for 25 days from Los Angeles. The same SUV from San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas was 4,500 € for the same duration.