This 30-Minute Car Rental Hack Is Annoyingly Simple & Could Save You Some Serious Cash

Time is money, and that holds particularly true in the car rental industry. A simple adjustment of your pickup and drop-off time could potentially slash your costs. The magic lies in maneuvering your schedule by a mere 30 minutes.

The strategy, aptly termed the "Half-Hour Hack" by car rental app Autoslash, finds its roots in the competitive pricing algorithms used by car rental companies. Regularly re-adjusting their rates to outpace rivals, they often offer more favourable rates on the half-hour. As an unsuspecting consumer, capitalizing on this can lead to some unexpected savings.

For instance, a test case involving a weeklong rental at Salt Lake City International Airport for a quote requested for noon pick-up and drop-off from Alamo and Payless gave a figure of $525. However, simply moving the time by 30 minutes to 12:30 p.m. found that Alamo reduced the quote to $470, a 10% price decrease just by tweaking the time.

A similar exercise at San Francisco International Airport yielded a substantial $143 saving from National, just by shifting the schedule by half an hour. Kind of a steal for a seemingly insignificant time change.

The hack doesn't require special insider information or technical know-how. It's a trick hiding in plain sight, and leveraging it won't cost you a dime. Next time you find yourself booking a rental, don't forget to run two quotes: one on the hour and one on the half-hour. The minor adjustment could net major savings, making the Half-Hour Hack an essential tool in your travel-savvy arsenal.