Budget Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

The Best Ranking Car Rental Companies In The U.S. Are…

There’s a lot of stress that comes with traveling. You have to get through the security checkpoint and then hang out in an airport or airport lounge that’s way too crowded and may be going through a huge renovation. Unless you have first class or business class, you’re jammed into a plane. Hotels have also made for less happy experiences, especially if you’re into the points & miles thing, by changing the rules about stays, or, well, I can just say #Bonvoyed and most people reading this will understand what I mean.

However one aspect of travel has continued to increasingly make for relatively high satisfaction levels – that of car rental companies.

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‘Tis The Season For Cheap One-Way Car Rentals – Prices Start As Low As $9.99/Day!

Just like clockwork, every autumn, migrations to Florida and Arizona happen. Except it’s not snowbirds, or even real birds, that are migrating.

It’s rental cars.

While it’s cold in much of the rest of the country, it stays toasty warm in Florida and Arizona, so, of course, a lot of people flock to those states during the winter months. Lots of those tourists will want to rent cars, so instead of bringing them here by the truckload, the car rental companies make it financially lucrative for customers to drive their cars from up north to select cities in the Sunshine State and the Grand Canyon State.

And the time of the year that they do this is now.

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Why Is Flying So Expensive, & Then How Are Budget Airlines So Cheap?

I suppose if you’re into the points & miles game, flights can be expensive, but if you’re paying with cash then they can be REALLY expensive. Were they always this much? Well, yes. And sometimes no. Depending. It’s complicated.

And if you think about it, it’s just bizarre that a major airline, like Delta, American and United can charge $300 or $400 for a one-way flight across the country, while an airline like Frontier can have sales and heck, I could potentially fly to California from here in Orlando for $64 (or even $59 if I was a member of their Discount Den).

So why are the “big guys” so expensive and how do the budget airlines manage to stay so cheap? Again, it’s complicated. But these might explain it:

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There Are Online Classes To Learn About Traveling On A Budget & You Can Pay What You Want For Them

Lots of people always want to know how to learn the “secrets” of cheap travel. In fact, that’s how Joe and I started Your Mileage May Vary – our friends saw how we saved money and traveled well by using points and miles, and lots of them said Joe should run classes to teach what he knows. Well, he really didn’t have time for that, so I suggested he start a blog. And here we are. 😉

Joe does have his Basics Of How To Get Started Earning Points & Miles Balances post and that gives a nice, overall idea of how to get started. But there’s still so much more you can learn. A lot of our posts have a lot of that info, and lots of other bloggers on Boarding Area have some great “teaching” posts, too. But I found a place online that has 9 different online courses to help you learn about all different aspects of travel and right now, you can pay whatever you want to get access to them.

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Late Returning Your Rental Car? It Could Cost You An Extra Day’s Rental Charge

When you rent a car, I bet you don’t give much thought into the times you say you’ll pick up and drop off the vehicle. Most people enter in the time their flight is due to arrive and then maybe give themselves an hour, or two, before your flight is due to leave. But what if your flight home is delayed and you know you’re going to be stuck at the airport? You might decide to just show up a bit later. What if you change your arriving flight at the last minute to get on an earlier plane? Those decisions could cost you an entire day worth of rental car charges, if you’re not careful.

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