• Limiting number and amount of city surcharges at the negotiating table
• Negotiating out other types of surcharges, including airport concession fees
• Seeking more deals with net rates, in which contracted price excludes travel agency commissions
• Negotiating favorable refueling rates: National's introduction of a refueling option for Emerald Club members, which matches the cost of refilling the tank at the lot upon return of the vehicle to market prices, is popular. One analyst, John Schuler at American Express One, thinks other car rental companies eventually will match the program.
• Seeking signing bonuses and rebates for meeting volume requirements
• Trading down from full-size to intermediate vehicles
• Extending corporate benefits to retail rates, particularly for long-term rentals, which tend to be cheaper on a weekly basis in the retail market than daily contracted rates
• Booking cheaper retail rates through the Internet, even at the cost of losing corporate benefits
• Installing direct automated links to car rental supplier inventory, to save on car rental GDS transaction fees
• Using secondary industry suppliers—such as Alamo, Budget or Thrifty—which used to target only leisure travelers but now offer business services as well