A WOMAN who laid out $677 at a car rental agency for a trip with her family then saw the same car at Costco for half the price.
Last week, Alex Petrakieva posted her story on TikTok explaining how she discovered she could have saved hundreds, leaving her shocked.
Alex Petrakieva laid out $677 at a car rental agency for a family trip[/caption]
She then discovered she could have saved hundreds through Costco for their visit to Colorado[/caption]
Petrakieva and her husband had rented a motor for seven days for a trip to Colorado after scouring online to compare prices and get the best deal.
She begins her video with the caption “don’t get robbed like us” and said: “I’m not sure who needs to hear this but I’m sure somebody does.”
They ultimately went with Alamo and paid a hefty $677.72 – this included $433.88 for the total time and distance and another $264.84 in taxes and other fees.
She said they thought it was a reasonable price up until she posted it online.
Petrakieva was flooded with messages saying she should have travelled using Costco instead.
‘Costco is a mindset’
“A bunch of you started messaging me saying ‘Alex, you use Costco. Why did you not use Costco for car rentals?’.
“I didn’t know Costco had rentals, ok.”
Petrakieva then searched for the same car for the same time period using Costco Travel.
“Let me show you the same car, the same company, the same timing – how much it costs on Costco,” she added.
Sharing her screen with viewers, Petrakieva found the exact same vehicle – an intermediate SUV – with unlimited mileage, an additional driver and no cancellation fees.
Shocked, she said: “Guys, it’s $290.”
“So if you’re traveling, take it from me and just use Costco,” she added.
“Somebody told me the best quote ever. Costco is a mindset. And I just need to adopt that.”
‘The car rental service is king’
Users flocked to the comments both in shock that they hadn’t realised Costco does car rentals themselves or sharing their admiration for the retailer.
“Costco Travel is the best – we booked our honeymoon through them,” one said.
Another user added: “I tell everyone if you have a Costco membership, the car rental service is king.”
One user, who was a travel agent, even said: “When people ask me to book a rental car, I always ask if they are a Costco member because it’s always so much cheaper.”
“I only use Costco to purchase rentals and have done for the last nine years to travel back and forth from Cali, it’s the best,” said another viewer.
The Sun reached out to Petrakieva for comment.
Elsewhere, a driver recently claimed that she has found a way to dodge sky-high car rental charges.
Houston-based songwriter Raycheal Winters shared the hack with her followers – renting a U-Haul for just $19.99 a day.
And if you’re looking for a new way to get great deals on used cars online, Amazon has linked up with a major rental car company across four US cities.
Amazon Autos, launched last year, expanded into used and certified pre-owned vehicle sales and is currently working with dealers across 130 cities in the country.
Petrakieva discovered she could rent the same motor through Costco for $290[/caption]
