The very best travel coupons that you’ll find on the internet are car rental coupon codes. I have been able to use some sort of car rental coupon every single time I’ve had to rent a car; whereas it’s a rarer occasion when I’ve used a coupon for airfare or hotel.

This post first provides a list of car rental coupon codes and then goes through the best method for getting a good deal on a rental car.

Car Rental Coupon Codes by Brand

Avis Coupon Codes

Avis is currently offering 15% off weekly rental cars, 10% off a weekly rental, and book online and get a free upgrade. Here are the links for those offers:

Budget Car Coupon Codes

Budget is currently offering the following car rental coupon codes:

• Get a FREE upgrade + 10% off at Budget Rent A Car.
• Use your Mastercard & Save Up to 20% PLUS get a Third Weekend Day Free
• Use your Discover card on your next weekly Budget rental and get up to 25% off plus a FREE day!
• Enjoy $20 off weekly rentals at Budget Rent A Car!
• Up to 15% off Budget Weekly Car Rentals! ends 9/8

Dollar Rental Car Coupon Codes

Rent a Compact car for $38.99 per day at one of our participating U.S. locations. Offer available for pick up through September 6, 2010. Enter promo code 2COM8.

Dollar rental car right now offers these coupons. 5% off any vehicle from Dollar Rental Cars in one of there best deals at the moment.

Europcar Rental Coupons

I used Europcar two times when I visited Europe and found that they consistently have the best prices. Here are the coupons that are currently available through Europcar

Expedia Coupons for Rental Cars

Expedia has the following coupon available: Expedia Last Minute Car Deals - Rental rates from $12 a day! - Expires 07/31/2010

Fox Rental Cars Coupon Codes

Fox has a great selection of Hybrid cars – check out this coupon code for 5% off all hybrid car rentals

Thrifty Car Rental Coupon Codes

Thrifty Car rentals currently offers these coupons including 5% off coupon for any of their vehicles:

Tips for finding cheap rental cars (with and without coupon codes)

1. Use a travel search engine (aggregator) for an initial search

Like with airlines – which may have hubs in some places and thus be cheaper - car rental companies may have “hubs” in certain cities. Because of this, there is no reason to have any loyalty to a particular car rental company based on price. (You may be loyal to one company based on customer service or something else, but you shouldn’t think that one company always has the best price.) I like to start with a search on a travel search aggregator like Kayak and see what companies are coming up with the best price in the area I’m visiting.

2. Use rental car discount codes and coupons directly on the company’s website

Once you’ve determined which car rental company (or companies) are offering the best prices for your location or dates, look for coupons for those particular companies. We will regularly update this page (so bookmark it) with coupons we have available, but sometimes the coupons are listed directly on the company’s site. You can also Google “(name of company) car rental coupon code” to see what turns up. Finally, some auto service clubs, insurance agencies, schools, and other affiliation groups or clubs may offer discounts. Watch for any offers through promotions you get from those clubs and companies. (For instance, I get discounts through USAA, my insurance company, as well as my Amex card, and an alumni association I’m a part of.)

3.  Sign up for preferred car rental clubs (if they’re free)

Avis Preferred Service is completely free to sign up for (and well worth it because you don’t have to wait in line - read my post about it.) Hertz also has a #1 Gold program that offers similar benefits. I was able to get into the Hertz program for free with my Amex card. Unless you’re an extremely frequent car rental (which hopefully you’re not as it’s not the greenest of transportation options) it’s probably only worth it to sign up for these preferred car rental clubs if it’s free to sign up.

Hope you found this post about car rental coupon codes helpful. Be sure to check out our other travel coupons posts for more great coupon codes.

Full Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you rent a car after using one of the above links, we may earn a very small percentage of revenue from the sale.