First of all, you have to decide on the car you are going to rent. Try to do it even before you call the rental service. This way you will eliminate the unnecessary hassle when renting your car. Remember that different companies tend to classify their cars differently, which means if one service offers you a “luxury” car the other could regard the same car as a “mid-class” ride. Think about which car do you need, preferably the exact model and manufacturer.

It is recommended to consider all of the possible options and choose between all available offers, You should contact the rental service either by yourself or through your travel agent to learn all the details. Sometimes you can run into a special offer or a promotion deal that will meet your exact needs. If time is not a primary factor for you, consider waiting a bit to learn all the advantages of the deal.

Some rental companies will offer you to pay extra $9 to $13 a day for a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW). The name of the option could sound confusing, but in reality it means that buying this options it's the rental service who will pay for any damages to the car if any occur while you're driving it. If you don't take this option, all the damage to the rented car lies upon you. So paying an extra 13$ on top of your rent seems like a very good idea.

The rates depend strongly on the state you rent the car in. For example, Denver is considered as the most expensive state to rent a car in, despite the 18% decline in rates the last year. In general, expect the highest rates in popular tourist destinations, where not only car rent but also accommodation and other prices can be quite up if compared to other areas. And despite the gas prices going up, people still choose to drive large vehicles like SUVs and minivans, choosing convenience over price. You can expect the highest rental prices in cities such as Boston, Orlando, Los Angeles, Washington and New Orleans, While Dallas is one of the least expensive cities to rent a car with almost twice as lower prices as in other metropolitan areas.

The overall tendency for the prices time-wise is that the prices reach their minimum in February and the maximum during the summer travel season. Currently, large domestic car manufacturers like Ford and GM have decided to cut their preferential discounts to car rental companies, which seem to affect their market share over imported vehicles. This means that domestic cars won't be as available as previously. Still, many large car rental services offer a wide variety of car makes and models both from domestic and foreign manufacturers, so choosing the one that will be adequate to your wallet won't be a problem.

If you're traveling on behalf of your company make sure you are covered by your corporate insurance first. Some credit cards will give you automatic coverage when renting a car from a certain service, so make sure to check these options first.