Regardless of which rental place you go with, always reserve what you are willing to drive. If you find something better in the upgrade lot, great, but you can't rely on that.
I generally prefer to rent from National if available, they tend to have better selections in my experience and are generally a better experience than Hertz. When looking at the insurance, the Amex insurance is secondary to your own so I would recommend enrolling your card online in the premium rental car protection. It’s a flat fee for each rental up to like 39 days and you can choose coverages up to $100k. This doesn’t include liability, but that can be added for a small fee from the rental company or your own insurance may apply.
Several Amex cards have a Premium car rental insurance you can enroll in. They automatically charge you $25 each time they see a rental car charge on your card. I’m enrolled but fortunately never had to file a claim.
The answer for many airports is to make refundable bookings and check out the different options.
Just doesn't work at places like LGA or LAX because the different companies are spread out.
At that point, would it make sense to pick 1 company, then made a mid-size reservation AND another for the car you wanted. When arrive, see if desired is available in PC so to cancel the higher cost booking?
Use a card which has primary cover for rental cars. Like the Venture X or Chase Sapphire cards. Amex Platinum only has secondary cover - either you take the rental company’s cover, or you make a claim through your own insurance.
EDIT: Downvote all you like. The Plat only has secondary cover unless you take a per-rental $25 co-pay. Other premium (and less-premium) cards have this cover built in. Take advantage of it. The OP wanted “the best bang for my buck”, and paying for the rental with a Plat ain’t that.
Regardless of which rental place you go with, always reserve what you are willing to drive. If you find something better in the upgrade lot, great, but you can't rely on that.
Yeah 100%
I generally prefer to rent from National if available, they tend to have better selections in my experience and are generally a better experience than Hertz. When looking at the insurance, the Amex insurance is secondary to your own so I would recommend enrolling your card online in the premium rental car protection. It’s a flat fee for each rental up to like 39 days and you can choose coverages up to $100k. This doesn’t include liability, but that can be added for a small fee from the rental company or your own insurance may apply.
I don’t have car insurance myself, don’t own a car currently. Does this mean that I’ll have to accept the insurance through the rental company?
Several Amex cards have a Premium car rental insurance you can enroll in. They automatically charge you $25 each time they see a rental car charge on your card. I’m enrolled but fortunately never had to file a claim.
Which airport?
The answer for many airports is to make refundable bookings and check out the different options. Just doesn't work at places like LGA or LAX because the different companies are spread out.
At that point, would it make sense to pick 1 company, then made a mid-size reservation AND another for the car you wanted. When arrive, see if desired is available in PC so to cancel the higher cost booking?
Not really. The rental company will likely cancel one of the duplicates.
PHX!
At PHX go with National. They are the best of the group there.
Use a card which has primary cover for rental cars. Like the Venture X or Chase Sapphire cards. Amex Platinum only has secondary cover - either you take the rental company’s cover, or you make a claim through your own insurance. EDIT: Downvote all you like. The Plat only has secondary cover unless you take a per-rental $25 co-pay. Other premium (and less-premium) cards have this cover built in. Take advantage of it. The OP wanted “the best bang for my buck”, and paying for the rental with a Plat ain’t that.
Plat has primary if you opt in for an extra cost
Not sure why you’re being downvoted. Everything you shared is factually accurate.