Tips for Renting a Car Online

More than 30 million U.S. households, lured by lower prices offered on the Web, are expected to buy their travel online in 2004. Consider these tips to help make your online car rental experience as pleasant and predictable as possible.

• Read the fine print. Understand the site’s requirements, fees, and cancellation policies before you book a car. “Opaque” sites keep the identity of the rental car provider under wraps until after you make the non-refundable reservation. “Transparent” sites tell you right up front what the product and the price is before you make your purchase but don’t always list the lowest price on the first page of providers.

• Compare prices. Before bidding or booking, check rates at opaque sites, transparent sites, and rental-car company sites. With rate knowledge in your back pocket, you’ll know what’s a good deal and what’s not.

• Gauge your bid. Don’t bid too low, which can require you to invest more time and work to reach an acceptable bid, or too high, which could mean spending more than you need to.

• Type carefully. Double-check the dates, locations, and vehicle type you input. Make a mistake, and you could end up paying for a rental car in Portland, Ore. when you wanted one in Portland, Maine.