We’ve been saying it for a while now: “set those Price Alerts so you can find a great deal on your flight!” But when it comes to rental cars, quite frankly – we’ve all been hoping for the best. The good news is, overall we’re finding that rental car rates have been going down 15-20% compared to last year* and, even better – our data shows that rental car prices could be trending downwards towards the end of summer* (anyone else thinking road trip for Labor Day?).

So, to help travelers take advantage of lower prices and help them find great deals on wheels, we’ve launched our Price Alerts for rental cars.

How does it work?

GREAT question. When you create a Price Alert, we use our data to determine what will happen to prices in the next few days. Then, we’ll keep you up-to-date via email and/or push notifications (your choice) and let you know when’s the right time to book your rental car. Because we love a good deal.

Cool. I’m interested – how do I start?

There are a couple of ways to find this cool new tool (side note: we’re working on adding to the app but it’s desktop-only for now).

1. Activate it in your search results

After you put in your location and search dates at kayak.com/cars, you’ll see an option at the top of your search results that looks like this:

Switch that “Track prices” toggle on and you’re on your way to better savings!

2. Set up all of your alerts in one place

Head over to your notification center (aka kayak.com/alerts) and select “Create a Price Alert”

Then, select which you’d like to monitor. For this purpose, we’ll choose cars.

Last but not least, select where you’re headed and when…

and bam! You’re off to the races (well you will be once you find a price you like).

Who knew rental cars would so quickly become the MVP of your trip? Well, I mean – we did.

And, if you’re still not convinced, we have some more money-saving tips that can help you get from Point A to Point B for less:

• Pick up your rental car in a city location (vs. an airport) where prices are about 8% cheaper.
• Consider car sharing services like Turo to find a great price.
• Go eco-friendly to save on gas. You can easily filter your search to show only hybrids and electric cars.

Curious on how to set up a Price Alert for flights or stays? Head over to our blog to learn more.

*Methodology: KAYAK considered rental car searches made in the US from 5.1.22 – 7.26.22. To compare year over year, we considered searches from 5.1.21 – 7.26.21. Percentages and prices are on average and may vary with time