AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Renting a car can be a stressful and expensive part of traveling. In this guide, we'll show you how to utilize the powerful search capabilities of AutoSlash to simplify the process and save you a lot of money along the way. And this comes from personal experience. I've rented with AutoSlash numerous times, and it's my #1 go-to choice for booking car rentals.
Here's how it can help you save money on your next rental.
What Is AutoSlash?
AutoSlash is a free, online service that uses a database of discount codes, coupons, and promotions to generate the best prices for any rental car criteria. Just enter your search criteria, your current memberships, and coupon qualifications, then AutoSlash takes care of the rest. Best of all, after making a reservation, you can add your reservation to AutoSlash and it will track rates to see if the price drops.
Using AutoSlash is completely free. The details of the request are up to you, and you can choose to include or not include various credit cards or memberships in the search criteria. Plus, it's not just for airport rentals: You can use AutoSlash for a rental from any location of a major car rental company.
Let's walk you through how to request a quote and complete an AutoSlash reservation. Then, we'll share some tips for getting the most out of this service.
Booking a Rental Car With AutoSlash
You need a rental car. Now what? Start by heading to AutoSlash.com. It takes just a few minutes to request a quote and book. And future searches can be even faster. If you allow cookies on your computer, AutoSlash will remember your search preferences for the next time you request a quote.
Request a Quote
On the AutoSlash home screen, start with your pick-up and drop-off location. From there, click through each screen and provide all the typical information: location, rental dates, vehicle type, etc. You'll arrive at this screen:
This screen is one of the brilliant differences between AutoSlash and other rental car search engines. Here, you're prompted to select all of the credit card types you have. Some credit cards offer discount codes, and AutoSlash will automatically use those as it searches for the cheapest rates.
The next screen asks you to indicate loyalty programs in which you're a member. The more memberships you have, the more coupon codes AutoSlash can utilize in conjunction with your search, which means better chances of saving money.
All of these memberships can offer discounts on car rentals — even the ones that are free to join. Before AutoSlash came along, the only way to take advantage of these program discounts was by searching one at a time.
Finally, you'll provide your name and email to complete your request. AutoSlash will analyze your information to find the cheapest rental prices and then email you with customized quotes. In my experience, it takes approximately five minutes to receive this email.
Choose Your Preferred Price
Your email will include a link that takes you back to Autoslash.com to view rental quotes. AutoSlash provides a variety of prices with different rental agencies and vehicle options. Look through them to see how they compare.
This is also a great time to look for your preferred rental agency. Do you have rental car elite status? Also, evaluate the rating AutoSlash assigns each of the car rental companies. And if you'll be in a hurry, check AutoSlash's details about where the rental agency is located (on-site vs. shuttle needed).
It's important to note that you won't always know which membership discount AutoSlash used to generate any individual quote. For this reason, it's not a good idea to request a quote with a membership you don't actually have. When picking up your car, employees may request proof of your membership before handing over the keys.
Complete Your Reservation
After deciding on your preferred price, you may have four options to complete your booking:
- Pay later with Priceline
- Pay later with AutoSlash
- Pay now with Priceline
- Pay now with AutoSlash
Priceline is the only booking service that accepts all discount codes and allows renters to book the flexible “Pay Later” rates at major rental agencies. This is why it's the only other option AutoSlash presents for booking the rates it finds.
Pay close attention to the booking option you choose. I'll discuss this more later, but we recommend always opting for the more flexible “Pay Later” rates. That way, if plans change, you won't get hit with a bill for a rental car you didn't use.
After selecting your rate, you're prompted for your name, driver's license details, and contact information. If you have a rental car membership number, make sure to expand that field and add it before booking. Otherwise, it can be a pain to add to your reservation later.
Also, you'll see options for a Collision/Damage Protection policy. Assuming you pay for your rental with a credit card that offers primary CDW (collision/damage waiver) coverage for rental cars, decline this coverage. And remember that you'll want to avoid Citi cards for car rentals.
Depending on your chosen rental agency, there may be additional options. Here you can make special requests, add your applicable loyalty number, and provide your flight details. After filling everything out, click the “Reserve My Rental Car” button, then you're done.
Use AutoSlash to Track Price Drops
Now that you've made a reservation, let's show you how to get notifications if the price goes down. This is one of the brilliant differences between AutoSlash and other rental car search engines. AutoSlash tracks your price if you fill out the “Track a Rental” form.
By now, you'll have an email confirmation from your rental company. To track the same criteria for price drops, you'll need the confirmation number, final price, and pick-up date from that email. Provide the requested information as you move through the tracking form, and you'll receive a confirmation on the final page.
Now, just sit back and wait. Depending on how far in advance you've made your reservation (earlier is better), it's likely that AutoSlash will find a lower rate available between now and your pick-up date. If it does, you'll get an email like this:
Re-Booking a Cheaper Price through AutoSlash
Rebooking the new rate works like the original booking process. Just be sure to go back afterward and cancel your previous reservation. As AutoSlash points out, this is “to ensure you get the correct rate and avoid any applicable cancellation or no-show fees.” This is why it's so important to book flexible “Pay Later” rates.
Once you've made the new reservation and canceled the old one, set another price tracking request on AutoSlash's homepage for the new price. Rinse and repeat.
What if AutoSlash doesn't send you an email with lower rates? Pat yourself on the back because you've managed to snag the best rental car deal for your dates.
Search Available Coupons
AutoSlash also has a third handy feature: You can search through their coupon catalog. This search page lets you filter for specific agencies, dates, and pick-up locations.
Personally, I think it's a lot faster to let AutoSlash do all the searching on my behalf with normal rate requests. However, I see how this feature could be useful for others.
AutoSlash Pro Tips
Play around with your pick-up and drop-off locations.
The idea here is simple: Neighborhood rental agencies tend to be cheaper than airport agencies. If arriving at an airport, you could save a lot of money if you are willing to take a short ride to a neighborhood rental location.
Most of my cheapest car rentals were one-way reservations from neighborhood locations. Some rates were hundreds of dollars cheaper than renting from the airport. Compare the prices and see if it's worth it for you, and remember to include the cost of getting from the airport to the rental location.
Only book the more flexible “Pay Later” rates.
This is worth repeating. Pay Later rates don't involve a down payment, and they don't have any forgettable cancellation policy. Plus, they let you take full advantage of AutoSlash's price tracking. It's a no-brainer. Even if you can save a little bit of money by locking yourself into a “Pay Now” rate, it won't be worth the hassle if your plans change.
Request pick-up and drop-off times that fall squarely on 24-hour marks.
Rental car prices are generally calculated based on daily, weekly, or monthly rates. That means that even if you need a rental car for only a few hours, you'll most likely pay for a full day.
Play with the pick-up and drop-off times
If your plans are flexible, move the rental times a bit. I once changed my pick-up and drop-off slightly, moving away from a request on full 24-hour periods. In response, I received a significantly cheaper quote. Ditto for pushing back my pick-up time by 90 minutes. It may be worth a few minutes to submit multiple requests and see if changing the pick-up and drop-off times saves you money.
It's okay to pick up a rental car a little late, and it's okay to drop off a rental car a little early.
Avoid the opposite. That's where you can run into fees! But do be aware of rental car company policies for dropping off a car outside of business hours. Most places have a key drop, but I ran into a major issue once because the rental company didn't accept early drop-off.
Add your rental agency loyalty numbers when booking.
For all “Pay Later” rates, you can add your membership numbers at the time of booking. This makes it easy to reserve the best price as well as take advantage of any loyalty status benefits. Don't have any status? Getting rental car status might be easier (and cheaper) than you thought.
Personally, I've only had seamless experiences with agencies honoring status and awarding points with AutoSlash bookings. If you've experienced something different, please let us know in the comments so we can provide updates in the article.
Book weekly or monthly rates to save even more.
Rental agencies routinely offer steep discounts on weekly and monthly rentals. If your schedule allows it, try requesting a rate for seven days instead of six. The price difference might surprise you.
Only book with rental agencies that have solid ratings.
Rental agencies with poor AutoSlash ratings have a history of customer service issues. I've experienced most of the common issues firsthand. Trust me, they're not worth the savings. Stick to booking with the best agencies. You'll be glad you did.
A great use of AutoSlash is finding deeply discounted mid-size cars with National. This lets you use National Executive Status granted for free to those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Bypass the counter entirely, choose whichever car you'd prefer at the Executive Emerald Aisle, and drive away!
I also do the same with Hertz, taking advantage of the Five Star and Presidents Circle status that I have received as a Delta Medallion member.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, AutoSlash is an invaluable resource for road warriors and occasional travelers alike. We hope that you can use this guide to AutoSlash and its services to take the guesswork out of the rental car experience and save lots of money.
Have you had good experiences with AutoSlash? Do you have any other tips you think we missed? Let us know in the comments.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
What does “special car” mean for Dollar and Thrifty?
I don’t have first-hand experience with Dollar / Thrifty “special car”, but I believe this refers to a discount in exchange for letting the location pick the type of car you get. Essentially, you pay for a compact, but you might get a full-size car or minivan instead. I just got a “mystery car” with Avis, and ended up with a nice Toyota Corola.
Thank you for this post! This is the first time I hear from this rental car.
Thanks for the article, found it useful!
Thanks. With the mainstream discount sites so close in prices, this is a great way to try to get a better rate!
Great information on this! Sorry if this was covered and I missed it but wondering if car insurance which is integrated into a credit card is still honoured through the use of AutoSlash? I have the American Express Platinum and decline insurance through the car rental company all the time and am hoping this would still apply. Does anyone know offhand?
Thank you!!
Using Autoslash would have no effect on your insurance. You don’t pay Autoslash. You pay the rental car company directly. Think of Autoslash as a search engine for rental deals.
what is the success that people have had using this as compared to the other available websites that claim to provide a similar service
love autoslash!
The ProTips alone are worth remembering even if one doesn’t use AutoSlash.
Autoslash has saved me lots of money over the years. But I have found that I am better off if I do some additional searching on my own. For example, for an upcoming reservation, I was able to find a mid-size SUV for almost the same price as intermediate car by doing my own searching along with using Autoslash. Also, in the past I have found that Autoslash does not search for better prices all the time. So, I have found better deals on my own in some circumstances.
Very useful suggestions for using AutoSlash. Thanks.
Till now I have always been hesitant but now I would try to use it.
gonna try it out! this is a great site!
I used to use RentalCarMomma to research car rental coupons/prices, but haven’t been happy with that site in recent months. Definitely going to be using AutoSlash for future rentals
AutoSlash is great. It stacks with my other rewards programs saving money both on the front end (lower price) and the back end (rewards)
I just moved my minivan rental I previously made with Alamo ($335.00) and moved it with AutoSlash to a rental with Hertz ($279.00) for a $56.00 savings. I also saved myself $9.95 a day for a child’s booster seat because my Hertz Rental also included a free booster seat with the rental. I’m sold.
Takes a bit of work to save some money.
AutoSlash is a super useful tool for saving on rental car bookings. Love stacking with enterprise/costco also
I’d never heard of this site – definitely something I’ll have to checkout!
Thank you for your detailed and insightful guide. As I have passed my test not that long ago I find looking for a car rental in is a tricky process.
This information is helpful.
Thank you for the information about autoslash, I have been looking for something like this.
Thanks. This sounds good although I haven’t tried this before. Thanks in advance.
I always use Autoslash but I haven’t heard of this service before, thanks for this.
I tried to check it out, but it will not accept my email. It says my email is not a deliverable email address. I would look elsewhere.
What domain is your email? A lot of points enthusiast sites swear by it so maybe create a gmail or something.
As always, this is quite an extensive writeup! Thanks for this.
never tried it, but thanks for the clear and precise step by step, will deff. try for next rental
I haven’t heard of this service before, but is certainly something I am going to look into further.
Autoslash is a great option for car rentals. Nice article for beginners.
I’ve never heard of this site, but I’ll be sure to check it out! Thanks.
AutoSlash has saved me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the years! Thanks!
This is new to me but anything that saves a few bucks is worth looking into
I always check AutoSlash for better rates. It is another helpful tool. Sometimes it is beneficial, occasionally not.
You provided a great and detailed explanation of how to use it. Thank you!
Thanks for the information!
Good tool. Has to re-check few times to make sure the rate is still the lowest closer to the travel dates, sometimes it finds even cheaper price.
I have heard about Autoslash previously, but this explanation of the process will enable me to jump on this immediately! Thank you!
I’ve never heard of this website before, but it sounds promising, especially that it tracks prices.
I never heard of this service before but this is why I read this blog!
There should be more articles on car rental deals on this site.
And maybe a guide over all the benefits and rewards of the major companies too.
I agree! Cars are a undercovered aspect of booking a trip.
I tried using Autoslash once but I couldn’t get comfortable with the idea. Rental cars are one thing for me that I prefer to book through one of the normal online travel agencies. But for people who do take advantage of this booking process, it seems that they could save quite a bit.
Why?
Once you’re booked, autoslash doesn’t sit in the middle in any way, particularly for all Pay Later bookings: you make the booking itself through Priceline, then you can even look it up directly on the car rental company’s site with the confirmation number provided. It doesn’t get any more “normal” than that!
I’ve never heard of this service. Always good to have more arrows in the quiver. Thanks for the heads up.
I was not familiar with AutoSlash. Very interesting information!
Wow!! Sounds incredible and this is a totally new option for me!! Is it international???
Thanks so much!!!!!
This looks like a really nice application!!! I haven’t used it, but I definitely will be checking it out for my next trip!
This appears to be a very valuable tool that I’ll be bookmarking in my web browser. Thank you for bringing sites like this to the attention of us newbies and less experienced travelers!
This will make searching the best price for rental cars so easy and convenient
I always use Autoslash, with my Costco discount I always save money!
AutoSlash is invaluable. Saves me money (usually significantly) about 95% of the time. No-brainer.
I don’t rent a ton of cars, but I have used AutoSlash and found it effective for finding lower rates, even in that limited sample size. It’s definitely worth the minimal effort to set up price-drop alerts.
Beware booking TOO many extra days (for a weekly rate), some contracts ding you for returning early.
I have used Autoslash but BE CAREFUL
Examples:
Asked Autoslash to try to better a Costco rental price from CLE to Downtown Cleveland.
They changed the return location to a Cleveland suburb. I did not catch it until pick up.
Had to pay “walk up” price at airport as had canceled Costco booking.
Sort of reminds me of the “creative geography” used by Hotwire and Priceline in stating neighborhoods of their hotels.
Asked for a seven day van rental in downtown San Francisco, got a great price but Enterprise changed that location’s hours and it was no longer open on the Sunday I was to pick up car. Got no help from Autoslash. Had it been booked directly with Enterprise via the Costco portal they would have transferred the rental to a location that was open on Sunday.
In States where second driver charges are allowed – Costco rate always includes 2nd driver even if not related or employed by same company .
I have never had AutoSlash change a location on me – – you just need to be specific with your request.
Thanks, Jon. I haven’t had any problems with them, but that doesn’t mean the service is perfect, of course. I tend to review everything too much to begin with, but all this is worth noting.
Thank you! This is the first time I hear from AutoSlash…