As I’ve mentioned a few times in this space, my son and I are planning a trip to West Texas and New Mexico in a few weeks.
[READ MORE: Visiting the highest point in Texas and Carlsbad Caverns]
When we were planning the trip, I knew that we eventually wanted to get to El Paso, which is the closest major city to both Guadalupe Peak (the high point of Texas) and Carlsbad Caverns. But airfares were expensive, and award space was not lining up. So in the end, I booked a 7500 Avios flight from CVG-DFW.
[What county is DFW airport in?]
Plus since all know that
the shortest distance between 2 points is no fun
this would give me a chance to get in some counties on my quest to visit all 3,143 counties in the US
My projected new counties are in grey – looking at 47 total, which will bring my total up to 1822 (58.0%)
Renting a car at DFW
I signed up for a car rental for my trip there, which will be about 4 days total (slightly less than 4 full days but I’m being charged for the whole 4 days). My initial quote was for $179.46 with National in a Compact Car.
[Why you’re foolish to rent a “standard” car]
Of course I signed up my reservation with Autoslash, which is my go-to tool for saving money on renting cars, and was named my #2 travel tool when I ranked them back last March. My best Autoslash success story comes from our trip to Denver a few years ago when a week’s rental came out to a little over $100 and when I returned the car the agent said “You got a great deal on these – I’ve been renting them for $100 / DAY!”
I was actually a little surprised because it felt like my initial total was a little higher than expected, so I was expecting Autoslash to come back quickly with a much lower rate. But a few weeks went by with nothing
An updated rental car quote
But within the past week or so, I’ve gotten 2 emails from Autoslash. The first one gave me $155.67 at Dollar Rent a car, but I ended up not taking it. Now I just got ANOTHER email saying:
You’re currently booked at the rate of $179.46 USD with National in a Compact Car. AutoSlash is able to offer you the following lower rates on your rental:
So now it’s time to decide if $43 is worth it? I’ve had some sketchy experiences with Dollar but I’ve had a few good ones too, and I know it’s very location dependent. While I’d rank Dollar in the mid-tier ahead of places like Payless or some of the true budget rental car places, I definitely consider them a step below National. Currently I’m at National, and with my Amex Platinum card I should have National Executive status, which would definitely save me some time picking up the car.
What would you do? Would $43 be enough to get you to switch from National to Dollar?
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I had the same worry a couple of weeks ago. Turns out my Dollar rental was surprisingly fine.
I would go through Costco and get a better deal at Alamo.
Have fun visiting Loving County the least populous of 254 Texas counties. Mentone is a one streetlamp town!
Yup – we’re definitely going through there!
I am loyal to National because they get it. They take care of me when I need it. $43 spent at National is well worth it.
Until last September, I owed a business in Dallas for 18 years, flew there often and rented cars. I was not loyal to any one car rental company and always booked on price. They were all fine, including Dollar. I even used Fox!
My last experience with Dollar, I stood in line for over 45 minutes and then they gave me a car with a smashed in tailight, dents, and scratches because “it was the only one left.” Haven’t rented from them since.
I had a similar experience with Dollar Rent-a-car DCA but I am not sure if experiences across different airports / locations are relevant / predictive
Since you’re taking a loooooong drive, what you get is a bit more important than just a quick weekend jaunt around town. Frankly, I’d do Silvercar if I could get a couple of good discounts. That Audi A4 will eat up those miles.