May 2013 Car Rental - Best deals?

[ColoradoDis]

Thought we should all work together to see if we can all get the best deals possible for our trips in May 2013.

I've just started looking and can't believe how high the rentals are - over $500 for 10 days in May.

Please post your best deals - Good luck!

[jadephoenixx]

We have a compact rental from National booked right now for $264 for April 30-May 9. This is with the KLM code. I'm hoping to apply an upgrade coupon as we get closer, but if not, we're good with a compact since it's just me and hubby.

[ColoradoDis]

Anyone else?

[MickeyMousePez]

Would recommend checking mousesavers.com regularly - they have the best list of discount codes. Was in a similar situation for an upcoming trip. Initial quote was around $500 but have kept checking and now reserved a mini-van for $300 for 8 days.

[danda22]

I was under the impression that bundling a rental car with airline tickets was the cheaper alternative, is this not the case? bundling a midsize car with airline tix came out to be $270 difference (fri to fri rental at airport).5/31-6/7, I haven't priced it out individually yet.

[aubriee]

Originally Posted by danda22

I was under the impression that bundling a rental car with airline tickets was the cheaper alternative, is this not the case? bundling a midsize car with airline tix came out to be $270 difference (fri to fri rental at airport).5/31-6/7, I haven't priced it out individually yet.

I don't believe so. Most people say to apply the car rental discount codes that are posted on various sites and that the best prices are a week or two before your trip.

Sept 1st-8th I used discounts I found here on the DIS (Costco, Alamo Insider, and American Airlines code) and got a midsize for $110.63 for the eight days. We went back down there Oct 26th-Nov 4th and got a premium car for $202.00 for nine days, again using codes posted here on the DIS (Alamo insiders, Costco, and a Visa code). Usually the best prices are less than a month out. Our Sept car went down just a few days before we left and the one for our Oct/Nov trip went down about a week before. I was down there with a friend last May and she got a full size rental for the nine days for $98.00 from Alamo, using discount codes. She said her price went down just a night or two before the trip.

[bigfish32]

I booked a dodge caravan thru budget using a code from an April 2013 car rental thread. I think it ends up at $359 for a week and then a $30 online coupon should come out in 2013. I will try and find the code if anyone wants it.

[travelcoupons]

It's kind of early for the best discount codes to be out for May. Most of them end at the end of the year and around the end of December they will come out with some that end in March-June. Best advice is to book the best deal you can find now, then keep checking codes from mousesavers.com & rentalcodes.com . You should be able to find something that lowers your rate as the date gets closer. Then just book a new rental and cancel the old one.

[bigfish32]

Originally Posted by travelcoupons

It's kind of early for the best discount codes to be out for May. Most of them end at the end of the year and around the end of December they will come out with some that end in March-June. Best advice is to book the best deal you can find now, then keep checking codes from mousesavers.com & rentalcodes.com . You should be able to find something that lowers your rate as the date gets closer. Then just book a new rental and cancel the old one.

Thanks!

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Subbing. I was going to hold off and wait until around the end of Feb to really start researching the best codes/discounts as we will need to rent a minivan for our May trip. I have a couple websites bookmarked in the meantime. Is anyone considering Hotwire? I don't have a preference for a particular company which is why I am considering Hotwire or Priceline. Thinking maybe the best deals will be a couple weeks before our trip?? I don't like cutting it that close, but I'm not really worried though.

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I decided to follow the advice of the pp (thanks!) and go ahead and book something for our week in May. Booked a minivan for a week through Dollar using the Orlando Magicard (which we have) corporate code from Mousesavers.com. The base rate is $286 ($372 total with taxes and fees). DH was happy with this rate, but I will periodically check around to see if we can get an even better deal.

[bigfish32]

i booked with budget and used the code ?(i will let you know) and the BASE for the minivan was 270! that makes it 359 out the door! then supposedly you can find a 30 dollar off coupon after dec 31 or one from an entertainment book. i tried a bunch of other codes and nothing came close to this one. just wanted to let you know in case you want to save a few bucks!

the code is x474200

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Originally Posted by bigfish32

i booked with budget and used the code ?(i will let you know) and the BASE for the minivan was 270! that makes it 359 out the door! then supposedly you can find a 30 dollar off coupon after dec 31 or one from an entertainment book. i tried a bunch of other codes and nothing came close to this one. just wanted to let you know in case you want to save a few bucks!

the code is x474200

Thank you

[webworm]

Originally Posted by 2Pirates2Princesses

I decided to follow the advice of the pp (thanks!) and go ahead and book something for our week in May. Booked a minivan for a week through Dollar using the Orlando Magicard (which we have) corporate code from Mousesavers.com. The base rate is $286 ($372 total with taxes and fees). DH was happy with this rate, but I will periodically check around to see if we can get an even better deal.

Try Budget using travelocity code x474200 and e-coupon MUPZ044 for $40 off. Total for 7 days is $262 inc taxes after e-coupon is applied when return minivan. Budget also includes free additional driver and Dollar charges $10/day extra.

[bigfish32]

Webworm


I applied that coupon and the original price is still 359. Is that discount applied when the van is returned? I just wanted to make sure I understood. It was accepted on the website but the price didn't change..... Any help appreciated. Thanks!