MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
Update at 1:22 PM on 3/23/15: I just got three. This deal has not sold out and may not during the entire five weeks. If you think you’ll make a rental soon where Alamo will be the cheapest company, this is a phenomenal deal. Don’t forget all the local taxes that you’ll avoid with these certificates (detailed below.)
Today is the first day of five weeks of discounted travel packages from the US Travel Association called Daily Getaways. Every weekday at 1 PM ET, a discounted travel package or packages will go on sale and will usually sell out in a few minutes. Some of the offers will be awesome; some will be duds.
Today you can buy a up to three Alamo $50 gift certificates for $25 each. There are 2,000 available.
“Within 5 business days of purchase, Alamo will send the purchased certificate(s) to the e-mail address you provide at time of purchase. The e-mail will provide detailed information on how to redeem your certificate either by phone or online.”
The simple math is that this deal could save you $75 on upcoming car rentals, but a nearly identical deal saved me $120 last year.
The Deal
Today’s deal is a $50 certificate toward an Alamo car rental for $25. That’s a sweet 50% discount! You can buy up to three and use them towards the same rental or different rentals for a $75 discount.
How to Turn that $75 in Savings into $108 in Savings
Last year, the same exact deal was offered, except there was a further 10% discount if you bought the $50 Alamo certificates with an American Express. (This year there is no discount for purchasing with American Express.)
I bought three of the discounted Alamo gift certificates and put them toward a weeklong car rental in Los Angeles.
Instead of saving $82.50–$150 in gift certificates bought for $67.50–like I expected, I saved about $120 with the gift certificates because dropping the base fare dropped the taxes a lot.
For my rental period, the cheapest deal was from Alamo at $155 plus taxes and fees for a week.
The taxes and fees were insane, of course, and added up to about 33% of the base price. Here’s the same car at nearly the same base rate to illustrate the taxes and fees.
The taxes and fees worked out to 23.2% of the base fare + a flat $10.
The best part about the gift certificates was that they dropped the base price, which dropped the variable 23.2% in taxes and fees significantly, saving me way more money than I was expecting.
The $150 in gift certificates (3 x $50) knocked the base price down to $5. That made the 23% in taxes and fees about $1. There was no effect on the $10 Facility Charge, but my all in price was $16.
The $150 in gift certificates saved me $187.
- Without certificates: $203 all in
- With certificates: $16 all in
Because taxes and fees on rental cars are huge and percentage-based in a lot of places, I am now a rental car gift certificate enthusiast! The $67.50 I paid for my three Alamo gift certificates last year saved me $187, meaning about $120 saved by participating in Daily Getaways.
This year, buying three certificates will be $7.50 more, so maybe I’ll save about $112 with by buying three Alamo certificates.
Purchasing the Packages
This deal will probably not sell out, or at least not instantly like some of the Daily Getaways, but I’ll include the following section in each post.
To maximize your chances of getting in on the deal, I recommend using a site like whattimeisit.com to figure out the official time. Last year’s sales all started on time to the second. Keep refreshing the deal page for the best chance.
This is what happens if you try to purchase something where all quantities are already in someone’s cart.
This doesn’t mean the deal is sold out. If someone doesn’t complete his purchase, that quantity will immediately become available for someone else. Keep checking until the dreaded “Sold Out” appears.
The sale starts at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT / 7 AM HT.
Do you plan to buy Alamo Gift Certificates? Post your successful or failed attempt in the comments, so we can gauge how quick you had to be to snag a deal.
Alamo $50 Gift Certificates for $25
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
hi Scott–is the 10% AmEx discount just not offered on this deal or is it not available for any of the deals?
Not available this year. Many prices dropped 10% to compensate (like on IHG Rewards and Club Carlson points.) This deal didn’t drop its headline price, so we’re stuck paying 11% more.
hi Scott–is the 10% AmEx discount just not offered on this deal or is it not available for any of the deals?
Not available this year. Many prices dropped 10% to compensate (like on IHG Rewards and Club Carlson points.) This deal didn’t drop its headline price, so we’re stuck paying 11% more.
Do you remember how fast you received the certificates after the purchase last year?
Do you remember how fast you received the certificates after the purchase last year?
I am debating this one – have a few hours left to decide. Yes, it drops your taxes and fees a lot – but you can only get the 5-10% Alamo Insider discount (cannot apply other coupon codes). That said, in my upcoming trip to Washington DC, it was about the same amount of cash spent if I used the cert vs using a Costco discount code. (so the better discount ended up coming close to matching the 50% off certificate) Does anyone know the expiry date on these certificates? I might buy and hold as part of my strategy as there will likely be occasions where this might be the cheapest way to go. Also thinking of the Hertz deal since I have a 5 day one-way California rental coming up and reports are that they are expensive.
I am debating this one – have a few hours left to decide. Yes, it drops your taxes and fees a lot – but you can only get the 5-10% Alamo Insider discount (cannot apply other coupon codes). That said, in my upcoming trip to Washington DC, it was about the same amount of cash spent if I used the cert vs using a Costco discount code. (so the better discount ended up coming close to matching the 50% off certificate) Does anyone know the expiry date on these certificates? I might buy and hold as part of my strategy as there will likely be occasions where this might be the cheapest way to go. Also thinking of the Hertz deal since I have a 5 day one-way California rental coming up and reports are that they are expensive.
Expiration? On the certs I purchased last year, I couldn’t find an expiration date. I just called today to use one of them and asked about it. I was told “2037” I guess I have a little while to use them. 🙂
Expiration? On the certs I purchased last year, I couldn’t find an expiration date. I just called today to use one of them and asked about it. I was told “2037” I guess I have a little while to use them. 🙂
Beautiful – might be worth it to speculate on these certificates then. Sometime in the next 20+ years I should be able to find a good time to use them! I’ll pick up $75 worth this afternoon then.
Beautiful – might be worth it to speculate on these certificates then. Sometime in the next 20+ years I should be able to find a good time to use them! I’ll pick up $75 worth this afternoon then.
Seems its not applied for one (1)-way rental charge ? In Terms and Conditions…
Is that right ?
I think you can use this for a one way rental, but only toward the base fare, not any separate one-way charge.
Seems its not applied for one (1)-way rental charge ? In Terms and Conditions…
Is that right ?
I think you can use this for a one way rental, but only toward the base fare, not any separate one-way charge.
Can this drop the base price to zero? Say if a rental was 130 base price, worth it to use three certificates?
My understanding is that it can, but you don’t retain $20 in value. It is still slightly better to buy and use 3 certs on a $130 rental than just to buy and use 2. $5 + taxes better
Can this drop the base price to zero? Say if a rental was 130 base price, worth it to use three certificates?
My understanding is that it can, but you don’t retain $20 in value. It is still slightly better to buy and use 3 certs on a $130 rental than just to buy and use 2. $5 + taxes better
Just got 3 at 10:05am! Thanks for the link!
Just got 3 at 10:05am! Thanks for the link!
Just got 3 – It’s 1:33pm (I lost track of time) and had no issues.
Just got 3 – It’s 1:33pm (I lost track of time) and had no issues.
It says “valid at participating locations in the United States”. How do we know which locations are “participating”? I would only buy these for a very specific trip to Hawaii this summer, so I want to be sure the location is covered.
How many certificates can you use per rental? For example, can you apply 6 certificates (assuming I can purchase again next week) toward a single 2-week rental that would cost more than $300, for example?
Also, the T&C states “When using more than one (1) certificate, reservations must be made by calling 1-866-626-9102.” Will the rental price be different website vs representative? Thanks.
Up to three per rental. In my experience, online and by phone are the same price.
I bought three today but was thinking of using it for an international car rental coming up (in Chile). The terms and conditions say for use only in participating United States sites?!?!? anyone know if this is true?
thanks.
[…] You can use up to seven one-day rental certificates on a single rental, and rental certificates like this are extra awesome because they mean that you don’t have to pay p… […]
[…] You can use up to seven one-day rental certificates on a single rental, and rental certificates like this are extra awesome because they mean that you don’t have to pay perce… […]
[…] Hidden Savings: Rental certificates like this are extra awesome because they mean that you don’t have to pay percentage taxes on your car rental, though you do have to pay flat fee taxes like “facility charges.” Scott redeemed similar certificates bought through Daily Getaways a few years ago for a discount off of an Alamo rental car. The best part about the gift certificates was that they dropped the base price, which dropped the va… […]