Whenever my dad has to rent a car, he calls up three or four car rental places and asks them for their best rate. If say, Hertz offers $50 a day and he's on the phone with Dollar rental that's offering $75 a day, he'll just say "Hertz offered me $50 a day. Can you beat that?" Nine times out of ten, they will.
Are you or your husband a memeber of USAA? They have some good rates w/ Avis car rental, I've used the USAA discount twice (once in Germany, once in California) and was happy w/ it.
Let them know you want their government rate and that will be best rate you can get. I always say that (when booking hotels, cars, etc) and get a great rate!
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"Despite all your best intentions, sometimes, fate wins anyway."
Thanks girls! We are members of USAA, and can get the gov't rates, so I'll try both (although I've heard the gov't rates on car rentals are sometimes higher than the regular rates). I also will try NCShopper's idea (and maybe triple A). Thanks again.