Car rentals: double on Tuesday and Wednesday?

[Monkeyleg]

I need to rent a car next month on a Tuesday and Wednesday. I've rented cars several times recently, once on a Thursday and Friday, and once on a Friday and Saturday. Both times the car was $56 for the two days.

This time the car rental companies want more than double for Tuesday and Wednesday. Just to be sure, I changed the days to Thursday and Friday, and the rates went back down to $56 for the two days.

Why so much more for Tuesday and Wednesday?

[Triphammer]

Unless the midweek is a holiday (following/preceding) I've never seen it higher than weekends.  Maybe they don't have your vehicle selection and they're upgrading at a cost to you.

[Fly320s]

Generally, business travelers are out and about on Tues and Wed. That might mean higher rates on those days.

[vaskidmark]

Generally, business travelers are out and about on Tues and Wed. That might mean higher rates on those days.

Oh, sure.  Drag out that supply and demand stuff.  And I'll bet you are going to claim that it is also the reason that weekend rates are less than mid-week rates.

Depending on where you will be with the rental, you might actually come out cheaper renting for the week.  And if all you need is reliable transportation rather than the need to impress with the newest/shiniest, there is http://www.rentawreck.com/index.html and the like.  Locally they rent for $13/day regardless if you are being reimbursed by insurance or just trying to avoid having a carfull of kids mess up your ride to/from the amusement park/beach.  (Moderate dirt they seem willing to deal with.  Mud/grease/smelly dog hair not so much.  Their contract does spell out costs of cleaning up "unreasonable" mess.)

stay safe.

[Monkeyleg]

Turns out those are airport rates. I checked rates on some small rental lots nearby and they were lower.

The car rental places here really gouge people when they can. Don't know if that's the norm. I once tried to rent a car at the airport after my beater was left in the shop and I had no way home. There had just been a major (8" is major for here) snow storm, and the car rental places were charging $80 a day for cars that usually rented for $35.

I need rentals to drive to Atlanta. I don't want to take my Mustang as I don't want to leave it in crowded hotel parking lots. Besides, the extra gas for that guzzler would make up for the difference in rental car prices.