Getting a good deal on a car rental can be a tough and confusing endeavor. Do you book directly with car rental companies? Is it better to book with 3rd party online travel agencies like Expedia, Orbitz, etc? Maybe booking with Costco is best? Luckily, there’s a free online tool called AutoSlash which will find the best car rental deal for you. What’s cool and unique about AutoSlash is that it not only considers coupons and discount codes from all the major rental companies, but it also checks potential association memberships and credit card discounts.

AutoSlash provides three main services:

Tracking an existing reservation to find a cheaper rate
Quotes for a new car rental
A listing of available car rental coupons

Tracking an Existing Reservation

After making a refundable car rental reservation, go to AutoSlash and fill out the form to track a rental for price drops. It’s so easy and took me less than two minutes to submit the form.

The first step is to choose the car rental company you reserved from and input the confirmation number.

Next, input the car rental pick-up date.

Then enter the total price of the reservation you wish to track.

On the next screen, enter the name on the reservation.

Then check the boxes next to any memberships that you have, frequent flyer and rental programs you belong to and credit cards that you carry.

Note: Only select memberships you actually have and credit cards you actually carry. Although car rental companies will rarely ask for proof, it’s their right to do so. Even if you’re asked to prove you own a particular type of credit card, you can still pay with any card you wish.

Finally, AutoSlash asks for your email so that it can contact you.

After submitting the form, AutoSlash shows you a summary of the information and gives you an opportunity to edit it, as needed.

After submitting the form, you’ll receive an email confirming that AutoSlash is now tracking your request.

In my case, AutoSlash emailed me with a better rate in about 10 minutes!

I clicked on the link in the email and arrived on a page showing the discounted rates available to me.

Note: Some of the options listed may not allow free cancellation, so make sure to carefully read the terms before booking. Also, rental prices change frequently, so book as quickly as you can to receive the quoted rate.

If you decide to book a lower-priced option via AutoSlash, make sure to do the following:

Cancel your original, unneeded reservation
Cancel your current AutoSlash tracker
Create a new AutoSlash tracker to track the new rental for potential price drops

Until you cancel your current tracker, AutoSlash will continue to send quotes when lower prices are found.

Below are a few examples of my car rental reservations where AutoSlash saved me money:

	Original Price	AutoSlash Price	Difference	Percent Change
Rapid City in one month	$335	$221	$114	34% drop
Tucson in six months	$253	$118	$135	53% drop
Maui in ten months	$381	$310	$71	18% drop

Get a Quote on a New Car Rental

AutoSlash not only can help track existing reservations, but it’s a great place to start if you’re looking to make a brand new reservation. To begin, go to AutoSlash and fill out the form to get a quote for a new rental.

The first step is to choose from where you want to pick up the rental car.

Then, you select whether you’ll return the car to the same location or somewhere different.

Next, input the pick-up and drop-off dates and times.

Then select the vehicle type from a drop-down list. If you want to see the lowest price results for all vehicle types, select “Least expensive option”.

Next, check the boxes next to any memberships that you have, frequent flyer and rental programs you belong to and credit cards that you carry. As noted above, you may be asked to prove membership or show a specific credit card, but you can still pay however you like.

Finally, AutoSlash asks for your name and email so that it can contact you.

After submitting the form, AutoSlash shows you a summary of the information you entered and gives you an opportunity to edit it, as needed.

Within 30 minutes, AutoSlash will send you a quote via email.

When you click on the link in the email, it takes you to an online page with a list of options.

Using Coupons

If you prefer to book directly with a car rental company, AutoSlash can still help you save money with coupons. These coupons can be applied when booking directly with the car rental company.

By adjusting the inputs, you can choose to see coupons by specific car rental companies and you can sort the results by pick-up date, drop-off date, pick-up location and car rental company.

Bottom Line

Most people have no loyalty to specific car rental companies so getting the best deal is the only goal. In my experience, AutoSlash has always found a better deal than I could’ve on my own. The tool is free, takes only a few minutes to use and saves you money. What’s not to like about that?