Discussion: Cars

We looked for a car for our week and a half in the east several weeks back and the cheapest we could find was $700 for an SUV for the twelve days (collecting in Sydney and dropping off in Canberra). Fast forward a few weeks when I checked again (only about a week out from our trip) and the price had dropped $150! No reason behind it but good fortune on my part that we didn't book the first one.

About time you got a "bonus". I'm surprised that the reverse wasn't the case. Perhaps school holiday bookings weren't as high as anticipated.

Possible that someone had booked it and cancelled at a later date, freeing up the cheaper one for us. Craig S mentioned that he books cars early then keeps checking prices for cheaper options given that typically there is no cancellation fee so easy to swap at a later date.

How did you ever find an SUV for only $700 for 12 days? I'm guessing that's without including insurance or airport taxes/charges. We always budget on paying approx. $100/day all up from Sydney airport, but this particular weekend from Melb airport would be something like $450 for 3 days :(

We didn't, we got it for $550 or thereabouts. We don't pay the extra insurance charge and it was an at airport one (Budget) so I assume the airport taxes were built into that.