April 2014 car rentals

[EasternShoreGal]

Thank you for the feedback on Dollar. Right now I have some pretty good rates with Dollar. I will register for the EXPRESS service. 4/26-5/3 - $145.49 full size for everything. No code, then I clicked city specials.

Just an FYI-in order to take advantage your reservation needs to be made with your express number.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Just an FYI-in order to take advantage your reservation needs to be made with your express number.

Yes, I understood that! I believe I am able to go in and update my reservation and add the express number once it is assigned. Thank you for clarifying!

 

[andrews_dad]

Just got a mini van for the week of 4/4/14-4/11/14 (going from SFB to WBC) on the www.carrentalsavers.com site with Enterprise for $210 total ($152/wk plus tax/fees)! Hope I'm not missing something!

I rented via carrentalsavers.com last year and was nervous as heck the deal was too good to be true. 10 days in July, mini van, $136 all in after taxes and fees, when all other websites and coupn codes were in the $700 range. Pick up Sanford, drop off in St. Pete. All was PERFECT. Sanford literally had one mini van on lot for me, within 10 steps of the counter.... I could see it through the door. St. Pete airport was even smaller! LOL. But to put your mind at ease, it worked smoothly.. .no extra charges. No problems at all.

 

[Ranger111]

Rates today finally moved at National

With KLM code: $266 (been at this number since January was cheap then, not now).

No code, contract or coupons at all -- $241

national emerald generic ID (one issued as you join Emerald): $218

Since have a better deal at Enterprise: $142

 

[4DisneyDuvaks]

Hi

Just secured a minivan at National for $520 for 18 days (4/4 to 4/22) using our emerald club membership (their free membership program). This seems like a reasonable amount, it breaks down to approx $25/day.... Has anyone seen any better rates out there??

Thanks!!
Desiree

 

[Ranger111]

Hi

Just secured a minivan at National for $520 for 18 days (4/4 to 4/22) using our emerald club membership (their free membership program). This seems like a reasonable amount, it breaks down to approx $25/day.... Has anyone seen any better rates out there??

Thanks!!
Desiree

You have a very good rate.

I have been checking since early January -- and except for one day in February -- rates at most places for a minivan have been $39 per day or above.

I did manage to grab a "poof and it was gone" rate at Enterprise for $24/day that they put up for a few hours -- so going with that one probably (see my post just above yours).

Anyway, good find, but keep checking -- you never know.

AND -- you never know when using any particular code will give you the best.

As I noted in my post above, NO CODE OR ID AT ALL gave me a better rate than KLM ID AT NATIONAL. But those things change hour by hour.

So, again, good deal based on my efforts.

 

[ashleyrm]

Just got a good rate for my 3 day April trip. Carrentalsavers. Dollar, 4/6 - 4/8. Intermediate for $107.31.

Disregard - booked 9 pm instead of 9 am. Boo....

 

[4DisneyDuvaks]

You have a very good rate.

I have been checking since early January -- and except for one day in February -- rates at most places for a minivan have been $39 per day or above.

I did manage to grab a "poof and it was gone" rate at Enterprise for $24/day that they put up for a few hours -- so going with that one probably (see my post just above yours).

Anyway, good find, but keep checking -- you never know.

AND -- you never know when using any particular code will give you the best.

As I noted in my post above, NO CODE OR ID AT ALL gave me a better rate than KLM ID AT NATIONAL. But those things change hour by hour.

So, again, good deal based on my efforts.

Thanks Ranger!

 

[DCbride]

We had to totally change our trip due to snow days. Had a great rate on a mini van... Now I can't find anything less than $650! Our dates are 4/15-4/22. Which I know is Easter...but we go every Easter and have not paid more than $300.

Please tell me prices will come down in the next few weeks!!! We have to have a van because MIL will be renting a scooter.

 

[funforfive]

A couple of weeks ago I booked our rental through Costco for a full size from Budget for $214 for 4/11-20. I am concerned because of all the bad reviews, long lines etc..I have read about Budget...I haven't cancelled my back-up rental yet, but it's over $100 more. Is renting through budget worth the difference in price?

 

[ashleyrm]

A couple of weeks ago I booked our rental through Costco for a full size from Budget for $214 for 4/11-20. I am concerned because of all the bad reviews, long lines etc..I have read about Budget...I haven't cancelled my back-up rental yet, but it's over $100 more. Is renting through budget worth the difference in price?

I've never had any trouble with Budget at MCO. Did you join Fastbreak/RapidRez so you can pick up at the garage instead of waiting at rental counter?

 

[Ranger111]

A couple of weeks ago I booked our rental through Costco for a full size from Budget for $214 for 4/11-20. I am concerned because of all the bad reviews, long lines etc..I have read about Budget...I haven't cancelled my back-up rental yet, but it's over $100 more. Is renting through budget worth the difference in price?

GAWD, where did you read the horror stories about Budget.

They are no better or worse -- in general -- than any of the majors.

I prefer National, but that's because I travel extensively in my work (gone one to two weeks per month) and they treat me right as a regular.

But, on occassion, I have rented from all the majors and some of the minors. I have had great experiences with all of them and "so-so" experiences with all of them -- even a couple of horror stories, but can't paint the whole industry because of a couple of incidents.

I have a minor issue with the Mousesavers web site, as she disses Enterprise.

I have to say of all the agencies, Enterprise has been one of the better for me....and I have probably rented from Enterprise some 20 time or so.

YMMV, just quit overthinking it.

 

[funforfive]

I've never had any trouble with Budget at MCO. Did you join Fastbreak/RapidRez so you can pick up at the garage instead of waiting at rental counter?

I will do this...thanks

And you are probably right Ranger...I do tend to overthink!

 

[Fern]

Quick question, I'm a car rental noob and am starting to compare prices for our 10 day trip at the end of April. I have no idea what is a decent price for the time period. When you are saying you got a price of xx dollars (say a week for $120), do you mean for the rental alone, or are you talking about the total cost (including all the fees, etc.). I'm seeing that for my dates (4/21-5/1) the best rate I can find is about $187 a week, but then the "est grand total" rate is more like $360 after fees/taxes. Which doesn't seem nearly as good a price!

 

[Ranger111]

Quick question, I'm a car rental noob and am starting to compare prices for our 10 day trip at the end of April. I have no idea what is a decent price for the time period. When you are saying you got a price of xx dollars (say a week for $120), do you mean for the rental alone, or are you talking about the total cost (including all the fees, etc.). I'm seeing that for my dates (4/21-5/1) the best rate I can find is about $187 a week, but then the "est grand total" rate is more like $360 after fees/taxes. Which doesn't seem nearly as good a price!

When I talk about MY rates, I always include tax, license, etal. So, if I say I got $24 per day, I am including everything.

To just give you a baseline, a good test is to go to HOTWIRE and see what they want to charge you for your rental.

Once you get their total price, try to beat it by at least 20-25 percent. If you do, you have received a good rate.

There is no magic code or ID or coupon.....these things change HOUR by HOUR.

But, I have a life, I am not going to check car rental rates all day long.

I try to check once or twice a day....I book early on and cancel and rebook according to prices. I check all IDs and codes.

Sometimes I get the best rate with a code or coupon or both, sometimes by using nothing at all. Sometimes with a last minute rate a day or so before the rental.

A tip, better prices USUALLY (not always) appear the closer you are to your date.

I don't know kind of car you are seeking. A great rate for a minivan would be around $20-25 per day TOTAL. Smaller cars $12-18 or so....just depends.

 

[Fern]

Thank you, that is really helpful! Especially the tip to use Hotwire as a gauge for prices. My initial check has come up with about $19/day for a standard car. through Dollar using the City Special. Not the best, but I went ahead and reserved it, and will cancel if I can find a better deal as we get closer. I've always gotten good prices through Enterprise, but that's always been last minute. Def not used to checking everyday!

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

Anyone looking for a decent deal from Tampa.....

Just scored a Standard SUV for $20 per day. My dates were 4/13 (11AM) - 4/21 (6PM). Bid was accepted by National, so I feel very good about this.

Note: Best current published rate by a reputable company for the same time is $57 per day.

 

[Hawk]

Quick question, I'm a car rental noob and am starting to compare prices for our 10 day trip at the end of April. I have no idea what is a decent price for the time period. When you are saying you got a price of xx dollars (say a week for $120), do you mean for the rental alone, or are you talking about the total cost (including all the fees, etc.). I'm seeing that for my dates (4/21-5/1) the best rate I can find is about $187 a week, but then the "est grand total" rate is more like $360 after fees/taxes. Which doesn't seem nearly as good a price!

I usually look at the per day price since the taxes and fees are a way of life at MCO and they don't change.

In order to save money (I think that is what this post is all about), you need to be vigilant in searching for good deals. If you don’t have the time, or think that it is not worth it, you will not get the best deal.

See my post #65 and #69 on this thread. We have booked two cars for our upcoming trip. I went from $29.80/day for a Toyota Corolla (midsize-National KLM) to $9.71/day for a Nissan Altima (full size/Dollar City Code).

Since then I have rebooked with Dollar using AAA discount and now I am at $8.99/day for a Nissan Altima (full size/Dollar City Code w/AAA 10% discount code)) and $19.49 for a Dodge Caravan (mini van//Dollar City Code w/10% AAA discount code). I could not pass up the low Van price, so we cancelled the second full size. These are the lowest prices I have ever seen in at least the last 8-10 years, especially the van.

If you look at these cars right now on the Dollar site using City Code the Altima would be $45.31/day and the Van would be $67.42/day!!!! Outrageous!

However, when I re-booked I had to look 3-4 times per day. It takes 2 minutes to check – very easy!! You never know when they will appear, but they change constantly; by the hour. For instance in my case, I booked the Altima’s on 01/26 at 2:35 PM EST. I rebooked on 02/12 at 9:59 AM EST. I cancelled one Altima and booked the Van on 2/12 at 9:57 AM EST.

With the great rates that I have, I am still looking. Ok, maybe not that hard!!!

Your plan should be this: Look once in morning, at midday and before you retire for the night. Bookmark, this thread (or the thread of the month you are going, and maybe the threads of the month before and after). Also bookmark the rental agency(ies) you want to rent from. (I only use the agencies that are onsite at MCO). Keep with you the discount codes from Mousesavers.com or AAA. You will see from the initial visit to the Agency site whether the rates are low or not after you key in your trip info. If they are low, insert your code information for an even lower rate - then book your vehicle. After that, check with some frequency and re-book as necessary. This has been our tried and true method over the last several years. Also- once you book – join the agency frequent user or preferred user membership so that you can bypass the counter or get in the faster preferred waiting line.

This method works – EVERY TIME!! (Just my 2 cents)

Tim/Hawk

 

[DCbride]

How do you book with Dollar using city special and AAA? If I put in AAA, city special link goes away. And if I do city special there is no place for AAA.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Has anyone gotten good rates from Sanford airport recently with drop off at MCO? We need full size or larger from April 25-May 5. The best I have gotten is $297 for a full size with the KLM code and $30 coupon.