AutoSlash vs. GetCheapRentals: What’s the Best Way to Get a Cheaper Rental Car?

If you are trying to get the lowest possible price on a rental car, you have probably come across AutoSlash.

AutoSlash has been around for years and has built a strong reputation around one simple idea: rental car prices change all the time, so you should keep checking even after you book.

And that idea is absolutely correct.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when renting a car is treating the booking like an airline ticket. They find a price, make the reservation, and stop looking.

Rental cars don’t really work like that.

A car that costs $500 today might cost $380 two weeks from now. A few days later, it could be back at $550. If your original reservation comes with free cancellation, those price movements create an opportunity: keep your existing booking and switch only if something better comes along.

That is essentially what AutoSlash does.

It is also one of the main reasons we built GetCheapRentals.com.

The two services, however, don’t approach the problem in exactly the same way. And if your only objective is to get the cheapest good rental possible, you probably shouldn’t be choosing between them in the first place.

You should understand what each one does well and use that to your advantage.

Why Rental Car Prices Change So Much

Rental car pricing is surprisingly inefficient.

The same car, from the same rental company, at the same airport, for exactly the same dates can be available at several different prices at the same time.

The price can depend on which broker you use, whether you book directly, which discount is applied, whether you have a membership rate, how much inventory the rental company has left, how close you are to pickup, or whether a broker happens to be running a promotion.

This is why you can check Hertz directly and see one price, then find the same Hertz rental cheaper through a broker — and possibly find another broker selling it cheaper still.

There often isn’t one universal market price for a rental car.

There are many different prices floating around at the same time.

What AutoSlash Does Well

AutoSlash is particularly good at finding discounts.

Rental companies, especially in the United States, have an enormous number of promotional rates, corporate codes, membership discounts and coupons. AAA, AARP, Costco, USAA and various credit-card programs can all potentially affect the price.

Trying to find and test all of these manually would be painful. AutoSlash does much of that work automatically.

Its other major strength is tracking an existing booking.

Imagine you already have a Toyota Corolla booked with Hertz at Miami Airport for seven days at $487.

You submit the booking to AutoSlash and keep the reservation.

Three weeks later, a similar rental becomes available for $421. AutoSlash alerts you. If your original booking can be cancelled without penalty, you book the new offer and cancel the old one.

You have saved $66 without changing your trip.

It is a simple idea, and it works.

But Cheaper Doesn’t Always Mean Better

This is where rental-car shopping becomes more complicated.

Suppose your existing $487 reservation includes airport pickup, unlimited mileage, a $300 security deposit and free cancellation.

Then you find another Toyota Corolla for $419.

At first glance, that’s an easy $68 saving.

But the new rental requires a shuttle from the airport, has limited mileage, requires a $1,500 deposit and comes with a much higher insurance excess.

Is it still a better deal?

Maybe. Maybe not.

It depends on what matters to you.

This is one of the reasons we don’t think comparing rental cars should stop at the headline price.

How GetCheapRentals Approaches It

GetCheapRentals is built around the same fundamental idea: never assume the price you booked is the final price.

But we try to look at the rental a little more broadly.

Price is obviously important. But when the information is available, we also look at the rental company, vehicle category, transmission, pickup location, airport desk versus shuttle, deposit, cancellation terms, mileage, fuel policy, insurance excess and the broker selling the rental.

Because these things matter in the real world.

Saving $25 probably isn’t worth replacing an airport-terminal rental with one requiring a 20-minute shuttle.

Saving $150 might be.

A $1,500 security deposit might be completely irrelevant to one traveler and a dealbreaker for another.

There isn’t always one objectively best rental. Usually, there is a trade-off between price, convenience and rental conditions.

The Broker Problem

Another part of rental-car pricing that many travelers don’t realize is just how much the broker can affect the price.

Suppose Europcar is selling a particular rental directly for €420.

You might find the same Europcar rental through one broker for €395, another for €368 and another for €351.

Same rental company. Potentially the same car category. Completely different prices.

This happens because brokers negotiate different rates, apply different markups, run their own promotions and sometimes accept a smaller margin to win the booking.

This is why checking only the rental company’s own website doesn’t necessarily tell you what that rental actually costs in the wider market.

It is also why we spend a lot of time looking across different rental channels.

AutoSlash also works with booking partners, but one of its traditional strengths is optimizing coupons and discounts. GetCheapRentals puts more emphasis on comparing the actual offers appearing across different brokers and rental sources.

So, Is AutoSlash or GetCheapRentals Better?

It depends on the booking.

There will be rentals where AutoSlash finds the best price.

There will be others where GetCheapRentals finds something AutoSlash doesn’t.

And there will be plenty of situations where neither service can beat the reservation you already have.

That’s completely normal.

There is no rental search engine that is going to have the lowest price for every car, in every country, every day of the year. Anyone claiming otherwise is probably selling you something.

The better question is not which service is universally better.

It’s how you can use both to improve your chances of getting a better deal.

The Strategy We Would Actually Use

If you already have a good rental with free cancellation, keep it.

Think of that reservation as your safety net. If prices go up, you don’t care because your car is already secured at the original price.

Then track the booking with AutoSlash.

Track it with GetCheapRentals as well.

And keep the reservation open while the market moves.

If nothing better appears, you already have your car.

If something cheaper appears, compare it with your current booking and decide whether it is actually worth switching.

Consider a simple example.

You have a compact automatic booked in Rome for €310.

Three weeks later, you find three alternatives.

The first costs €295 but comes from a worse-rated rental company, requires a shuttle and has a €1,200 deposit. You save €15. Probably not worth the hassle.

The second costs €263, comes with similar conditions and has a similar deposit. Now you’re saving €47 without giving much up. That is worth considering.

The third costs €275, but you get a larger car, an airport desk, a lower deposit and a better rental company.

Technically it isn’t the cheapest offer. But it might actually be the best one.

That is the difference between price tracking and deal tracking.

Should You Book Early or Wait for Prices to Drop?

There is no perfect answer because nobody knows exactly what rental prices will do.

But if you find a decent rate that allows free cancellation, booking early is usually a fairly low-risk strategy.

If prices rise, your original price is protected.

If prices fall, you can potentially rebook at the lower rate.

Instead of trying to predict the exact cheapest day to reserve a rental car, you secure a good enough price and continue watching the market.

That is much easier than trying to time it perfectly.

When AutoSlash Makes the Most Sense

AutoSlash can be particularly useful if you’re renting in the United States, have memberships such as AAA, AARP, Costco or USAA, want rental-car coupons tested automatically, or simply want your existing reservation monitored for price drops.

It has been doing this for a long time and is very good at it.

When GetCheapRentals Makes Sense

GetCheapRentals can be particularly useful if you’re renting internationally, want different brokers compared, already have a booking you want to improve, or care about more than finding the lowest number on the screen.

It can also make sense if you’re willing to change rental companies or vehicle categories when the overall deal becomes better — for example, paying less while getting a larger car, a smaller deposit or a more convenient airport pickup.

Is GetCheapRentals an AutoSlash Alternative?

Yes.

But we don’t think that means you should stop using AutoSlash.

Use both.

AutoSlash doesn’t charge you to track an existing reservation, and neither does GetCheapRentals.

If AutoSlash finds the better deal, great.

If we find the better deal, great.

The objective isn’t to win a comparison between two websites.

The objective is to pay less for your rental car.

The One Rule We Recommend for Almost Every Rental

Whenever possible, book a rental with free cancellation and keep checking the price until pickup.

Your first booking does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be good enough to lock in a car and protect you if prices rise.

Then keep watching.

If the price drops enough to make switching worthwhile, rebook.

If it doesn’t, keep what you already have.

That’s really it.

Already Have a Rental Car Booked?

You can submit your existing reservation to GetCheapRentals and we’ll check whether there is anything meaningfully better available.

You don’t have to cancel what you already have, and you don’t have to switch if the alternative doesn’t make sense.

If we find something better, we’ll show you.

If we don’t, keep your existing booking.