I CAN'T find a rental car that I can afford

[tink30]

I only need one for four days, I am picking it up at 11:00 p.m on a Sat. night and dropping it off at 11:30 am Thurs. morning...that's really only 3 days, I don't know how they add up the extra hours...I need a mid-size or up...I have been on the computer for hours. I keep getting quotes of around $200.00. I know there must be something cheaper than that out there. I have to rent a vehicle while I'm there, because I am staying offsite and the shuttles run back to the hotel too early. Please give me an idea!! I really can't afford that much money to rent something for three and a half days...This is a very last minute trip and for various reasons we have to go now, I just found out about it yesterday, and only have a wk. to get everything together. . . HELP!!

[travelcoupons]

You should be able to get a deal using one of the following:
Budget Rent a car:
http://www.smarterliving.com/us/budget.html

Or you could try hotwire (If your not fussy about what company you rent from).
I get a rate of about $22/day on compact and $23/day on standard size car.
Use coupon code at:
http://www.travelcouponsonline.com/car.html for an additonal $5 off.

Avis has florida group rates which may offer you a better rate:
http://www.space-coast.com/avis.cfm

Good luck.

[SleepyatDVC]

You could try priceline if price is the most important concern. I think you can find out more about bidding from www.biddingfortravel.com. Read about it before bidding, there is no refund.

I think that you can go through Ebates.com and get a 1% rebate on your priceline car rental. Also, check under "bonus money opportunities" on the www.biddingfortravel.com site to see if priceline is offerring bonus money.

[FoodLover]

tink30, I just tried National using the Disney Club contract ID# and an online coupon and got a rate of $130.13 (including taxes and fees) for an Intermediate car July 21-26 using the times you mentioned in your post.

If you don't belong to Disney Club, you can still use the online coupon and get a rate of $159.40.

The online coupon link is on my site here:

http://www.mousesavers.com/groundtrans.html#rental and scroll down to the info on National rental car.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

[ducklite]

Rather than trying to rent for 4 days, put it in for a week, then turn it in early. Just call the agency and make sure they don't have an early return fee before you commit. It's almost always cheaper to rent by the week after you apss the three day mark.

Anne

[skeezixspud]

I don't know WHEN you're renting, but right now Alamo has a special on full-size cars, if you don't mind being off-airport that late at night. The special that Nat'l is running for the Disney Club is the discounted rate and one day free on a weekly or weekend rate. If you know anyone who has an Entertainment Book (for any city) or a Sam's club membership, there are coupons in both those places. Also, Dollar often sends free-day coupons when you sign up for Fastlane membership.
You actually might come out ahead if you tell them you will drop off at 11:30 pm as well, because then you might qualify for a weekly rate at some companies; it won't matter to them if you turn it in earlier in the day, you'll still be paying for that day anyway, rental charges are on a 24-hr. cycle, but special rates sometimes don't click in if the return time is much earlier than the pickup time on a 4-5 day rental. (Same situation for weekend rates, I just proved it on my own Fri-Wed reservation, earlier return was quoted higher.) Good luck!

[denisenh]

I am trying to decide on a short trip as well, so I know what you mean. Did you try Thrifty?
Rates seemed good through them....I have not used it before though.
http://www.thrifty.com
Good luck!

[CarolA]

I would NOT rent the car for a week and turn in in early. If you look on the rental contract is says higher rates may apply if the car is turned in early. Basically the week rate makes you keep the car a week! If you turn it in early you will probably be changed to the daily rate!

[jel0511]

If you rent a car using a weekly rate, you must keep the car for at least 5 days, over a Sat, to qualify for the weekly rate. This doesn't seem to apply to your case.

[tink30]

I appreciate all the good advice. After checking out every site on mousesavers and a few others I've decided to go witha place called EZ RENT. They gave me a rate of 132.00 for a full size with tax and everything included. For the person who recommenced THRIFTY, EZ RENT gave me a lower quote if you want to check into them. Thanks again everyone! 5 MORE DAYS!!

[whitt46]

This my 1st time to post so I hope it goes smoothly. I recently read an article about EZ Rental in Orlando. It said that someone rented a car at EZ Rental through their travel agency because it was the cheapest in Orlando. When they arrived to pick up their car the rental agency wanted to see proof of auto insurance. Since they had flown in they obviously didn't carry their proof of auto insurance on them. The rental agency said that in their rental agreement it stated they must show proof of insurance or buy the insurance that they offered which increased the cost of the rental to more than if they had went to one of the expensive rental car places. The article stated that this was legal in Florida (to require proof of insurance) because EZ Rental is one of the few car rentals that rent to 18 year old drivers. I thought I would try to pass this on to Tink30 before they left. I don't know how to send private message or I would try to send it that way. All of this info is something I read on the internet so I don't know how true it is, but you might take some sort of proof of insurance just in case.

[clutter]

Did you try priceline?

[hulabird]

:bounce: I just rented a car at Nationalcar.com using the DC contract code AND the
coupon code # for a free rental day and got a decent deal. :jester:
I am renting for 8 days (drop off at 7 pm on day 8) & getting a compact car, for $141.50 and
that includes taxes etc...:D These combined codes can only be used on all cars EXCEPT
economy class. I tried economy using only the DC contract code, and that car was only $2.00
less than the compact price. So why bother? The prices including taxes for other cars I priced are
as follows:

Full size: $177.10 Intermediate: $152.10 By the way, no credit card # was required
to reserve at the online site and they send email confimation as well as confirmation on the scree
immediately

Hulabird
:smooth: