(NerdWallet) – In the typical journey motion picture “Planes, Trains and Cars,” an airport shuttle leaves Steve Martin in a distant parking good deal only to obtain the car he rented is not there. He spends the future few times seeking to get home by any suggests feasible.

Scenes like that are staying played out this summer months across the place. In some locations, no rental cars and trucks are available at any value. In some others, an financial state-dimension rental could value much more than the airline ticket that bought you across the state.

While some persons want no component of the craziness and have postponed their journey designs, others discover creative approaches to protected wheels or at least get to their place.

The most effective suggestion of all: Book your rental car right before you do something else.

The rental auto drought

There is a scarcity of rental vehicles simply because there’s a shortage of new vehicles for the reason that there’s a scarcity of the microchips applied to control every little thing from amusement units to protection gear.

That domino effect is slowly but surely reversing, permitting rental automobile corporations to rebuild their fleets to meet an ongoing journey surge. For illustration, as travel ground to a halt in 2020, Hertz sought individual bankruptcy security and bought off hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks. It emerged from bankruptcy in June and is introducing cars and trucks to its inventory to cope with the growth, in accordance to a organization spokesperson.

Mismatches among provide and demand are even now frequent. Want a minivan for a Labor Day weekend getaway? Using the lookup motor Kayak.com to evaluate availability, that 4-day rental in Las Vegas would value at minimum $441 in Portland, Oregon, $1,029 and in Anchorage, Alaska, you would be out of luck at any price tag.

Think exterior the airport rental counter

Here’s a seem at other strategies to get wherever you will need to go — some of which could present up in on line travel reserving sites together with Greenback, Price range and Company, some that count on others to do the driving. Take into consideration these rental auto solutions:

1. Turo is a peer-to-peer rental vehicle web site wherever people today share their personal automobiles. In some scenarios, you can arrange to have the Turo automobile still left at the airport and unlock it with an application. But maintain in thoughts that a lot of of these autos are older and many others may perhaps restrict the number of miles you can generate.
2. Getaround is similar to Turo, but it allows you lease a automobile by the hour. For illustration, the price tag to use a 2019 Honda Civic for three several hours in Southern California was around $30.
3. Zipcar demands a compact membership rate, then charges hourly or every day fees. The automobiles are stored in city lots or on school campuses. You unlock the motor vehicle with an app.
4. U-Haul is known for trailers and trucks but, in a pinch, these autos can continue to offer essential transportation. For case in point, in Southern California, a 9-foot cargo van weekly rental cost is about $300 and involves 300 miles of driving, in accordance to the U-Haul web site. But, if you’re driving to a wedding ceremony, make sure the content couple is Okay with you arriving in a operate van. You may possibly uncover related industrial autos offered by means of Budget, Penske or other relocating truck providers.
5. Taxis and ride-hailing companies this kind of as Uber and Lyft are excellent for quick hops. Instead than paying out a grand for a week’s rental, you can be driven by a person else for a ton considerably less.
6. Want much more legroom and a driver sporting a tie? These are just two of the benefits of a limousine assistance. And, although it will expense a lot more than an Uber, you can have much more people and split the more price tag.
7. Acquire the bus or other public transportation. Here’s how. In some cities, trains, subways and buses are incredibly economical. If you go this route, acquiring a every day or weekly pass will conserve you funds and allow you to get on and off at will.
8. If you are in the market place for a car at dwelling, acquire just one at your spot and use it for your holiday vacation. Then, market it, travel it back or have it delivered residence.
9. If you’re inside of a affordable array, take into consideration driving your own motor vehicle. Certainly, it’s more quickly to fly. But if you’ll need a vehicle and can not discover a rental, it might make sense. Maybe you are going to discover some thing wonderful alongside the way.

If you have to lease a car

If you do make a decision to go the rental automobile route, listed here are a couple ways to hold the price down.

• Test out a neighborhood rental whole lot. Airport facility charges and taxes won’t use, and they can be hefty. Attempt calling the location right if no availability exhibits on the net.
• Reserve for a 7 days. Usually, there is a discount for a weekly rental. In some instances, if you return it early, you’ll get a refund of the difference.
• Prepay. Relying on the vendor you may save as considerably as 35%.
• Use the appropriate credit score card. If you are going to spend a modest fortune, use a credit card that offers you anything back, both with reward factors or perks this sort of as key insurance coverage coverage.
• Use your desired position as a repeated renter. It could get you to the entrance of the line a lot quicker, and at the maximum concentrations, might in fact assure you a motor vehicle.

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Philip Reed writes for NerdWallet. E-mail: posts@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @AutoReed.

The posting 9 Solutions for When You Can not Uncover a Rental Auto originally appeared on NerdWallet.