It's springtime once again, and time to be thinking about taking vacations and trips. Along with airline and hotel reservations, you'll need to be thinking about procuring a rental car. There are a lot of place that you can find a great car, but prices go up in the spring and summer months. If you shop around online, you can usually find reduced rates and discounts on rental cars. One of the things to remember when renting a car, is that you should never pay full price on a rental - there is always some kind of discount or coupon code out there that you can use. I've compiled a list of the best places to rent cars from, and some of the discounts and coupon websites for car rentals that I've found online.

Hertz Rent-a-Car is always running specials, and they offer a military discount. If you are looking to rent a Ford product, Hertz is your best bet. For those of you who care about the environment, Hertz has a "Green Collection" of environmentally-friendly vehicles. Addtionally, $1 from each rental from the Green Collection goes to benefit the National Park Foundation. Hertz has a very user-friendly website, located at www.hertz.com, where you can make reservations, and enroll in their #1 Club, which makes renting your vehicle faster and easier. Right now they are offering 50% off weekend rates. I rent a vehicle from Hertz once or twice a month, and they are definitely my favorite car rental company. The location in my city knows me by name.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, located on the web at www.enterprise.com. Enterprise is always running some kind of special, so you can get a great deal on a vehicle. Right now, you can get a 50% off a weekend rental, if you book your reservation online at www.enterprise.com. Enterprise has thousands of locations, including branches at major airports and in local neighborhoods, to help you with all your car rental needs.

Budget Rental Car is another great rental company. If you visit www.rentalcarmomma.com, you can receive a coupon code that will get you a free day on a weekend rental, or $25 off a 5-day rental at Budget. You can also visit Budget's website at www.budget.com, to save $50 on certain rentals.

Alamo is a great company for anyone to rent from, especially if you are a Dave Ramsey follower. Alamo doesn't require a credit card to rent a vehicle, so this is a great choice for those travelers who only use cash or debit cards. Alamo's website is located at www.Alamo.com, and they are currently offering a 10% for customers who prepay their rental charges online.

Avis has locations all over the US, and in several other countries. They also have wonderful customer service. If you visit www.avis.com, you can get a free weekend day, or $30 off a weekly rental, and you can enroll in Avis' Preferred Service, which allows for faster reservations, and other amenities.

Thrifty Car Rental is a very economically priced rental company, and they do not require credit cards for their rentals. Thrifty also mainly rents Chrysler products, for those customers who prefer a certain brand of vehicle. Thrifty's website is located at www.thrifty.com. If you make your reservations online with Thrifty, you can take advantage of great discounts on their regular rates.

Sometimes it's better to use discount websites to make your vehicle reservation - you can get better prices than going directly through the rental company itself. Some great sites for car reservations are www.rentalcarmomma.com, www.orbitz.com, www.travelocity.com and www.carrentals.com. Have fun traveling!

Learn more about this author, Maggie O'Leary.
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