Maybe a little drop in car rental rates

December car rental cost dropped a little to "only" $400, down from $430 a couple of weeks ago. (7.5% reduction)  Still not economically justifiable to me, will stay mostly downtown, but with a trip to Ellis Island.

I have to believe that some local's casinos and off strip restaurants are being affected somewhat by the car rates.  While all casino's apparently are doing well, I think the outlying ones would be doing better if car rental rates became reasonable.   Before Covid I would usually go to Jamm's for at least one breakfast (excellent country skillet) and / or Mr. Momma's.  Likewise would stop at the Rampart and Southpoint.  My last trip in May, with no rental car, I only left downtown to go to Ellis Island. 

Yeah, my December rate came down to $467 for 8 days using Thrifty.   Thats with all fees and taxes.

Just for fun I looked at rates in November and was seeing nothing under $700 for a weekly rental.     Thats crazy.  My $467 rate is crazy but I dont feel so awful after seeing the November rate.

I really need to wean myself off rental cars but I like the freedom and ability to roam they offer.   

Well, I can't help but ask the question...why go...

If you live anywhere in the country except, maybe, Hawaii, there are casinos that are usually much closer than Vegas anyway. And since most of what made Vegas fun has vanished or its price has tripled, why not go to Big Wampum Casino Resort (run by the Sockitoomee Nation) instead? Drive your own car.

My daily rate in Vegas from Costco for a full size 10/21-10/25, which I booked several months back, is $49 per day including taxes/fees.  I just checked, and if I booked it today through Costo for the same time period, pricing jumps to $118 per day.

On the other hand, I just rebooked my rental van (aka Loser Cruiser) for Pensacola beginning this Saturday as pricing dropped for 5 days from $665 to $556 total ($114 per day).  Plus, we're moving from the Voyager to the slightly nicer Pacifica.  I've had to keep an eye out and check regularly to lock in these rates.

We have to tote around 4 sets of golf clubs plus 4 carry on bags, so we needed a van or full size SUV.............and they are about $1000 for the same time period.

Boilerman, a question - which site are you utilizing for your quotes? 

Mostly Costco, but you need a membership.  I also scan Expedia, but Costo is cheaper 95% of the time, plus if you have a problem, they are magnificent.

Have you tried AutoSlash.com? I find that they have the best rates 19 out of 20 times for me. Just keep checking back at least daily, you might be surprised.

I dont know why but for some reason I dont have fun gambling except in Las Vegas.   We have a full service casino 40 minutes from my house that has almost all of the same games you get in Vegas - but its not the same experience for some reason.     

I get a really nice perk with my job that lets me stay at high-end timeshare places in Vegas for free.   So when you couple that with my airfare paid credit card miles....and my $300 of casino comps/food offers  the only expense I reaelly have is the rental car.    And historically the money I'd save/win from the coupon books would pay for that.   Not this year.

But its still works out to be a fairly cheap vacation not withstanding the money I'll flush at the craps table.     

Non-Vegas based casinos tend to be have no energy and it's frankly depressing.  A large percentage of the people shouldn't be in their gambling because they can't afford it.

David, I just checked Autoslash.  $869 vs Costco's $566.  As recently as 4-5 days ago, Costo's prices was more in the $675 range.

What's interesting is that Autoslash asked me if I wanted them to check Costco pricing, and I clicked on the button.