Car rental reservation - how flexible are times?

[mieuxmew]

I am trying to avoid an extra day charge on a car rental. Our flight's scheduled arrival time at MCO is 9 am MCO and departure is 1:45 pm. How flexible are rental reservation times? I am trying to avoid paying for an extra day and I am guessing their is some flexibility in these reservations.

Would 11:00 am pick up/return be reasonable, considering you have to get off plane, get your luggage and get to car rental terminal? I am guessing if plane is on time, we may be 1-1.5 hours early. Will we be charged for the extra time?

Return time - how much time do they give before penalty? 30 minutes to an hour? I was planning to arrive at the airport at noon, but can get there a little bit early if needed.

Even 1/2 hour extra on National triggers an extra day charge on the reservation! An extra day on minivan outsdie a week reservation looks fairly hefty.

Thanks!

 

[DebbieB]

I am trying to avoid an extra day charge on a car rental. Our flight's scheduled arrival time at MCO is 9 am MCO and departure is 1:45 pm. How flexible are rental reservation times? I am trying to avoid paying for an extra day and I am guessing their is some flexibility in these reservations.

Would 11:00 am pick up/return be reasonable, considering you have to get off plane, get your luggage and get to car rental terminal? I am guessing if plane is on time, we may be 1-1.5 hours early. Will we be charged for the extra time?

Return time - how much time do they give before penalty? 30 minutes to an hour? I was planning to arrive at the airport at noon, but can get there a little bit early if needed.

Even 1/2 hour extra on National triggers an extra day charge on the reservation! An extra day on minivan outsdie a week reservation looks fairly hefty.

Thanks!

The final charge when you return is based on the time you actually used. So if you pickup at 10:00am and return at 12:30pm, your final receipt will reflect those times and charges. It doesn't matter what you have on your reservation.

 

[rwdavis2]

Some companies charge by the hour before they hit you with a full day charge. You would need to it up on their web sites. If you land at 9 you might very well be ready to get the rental car by 9:30.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The car rental counters at MCO are in the terminal, unless you're renting from an off site rental agency. It won't take you anywhere close to 1 1/2 hours to deplane and get your luggage, unless your flight is delayed. It might take 30 minutes.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Grace period on all rentals (without status) is 29 or 30 minutes, after that you will be charged on average 1/3 the daily rate for each hour after the 29/30 minutes up to three hours at which time another day is added.

Your reservation times are not as important as your actual pickup and return times, these are what your rates will be based on. Example, if you book a week rental, but only keep it 4 days, your rate will be recalculated on the daily rental rate (which is typically higher than a week rate on a per day basis).

 

[Lewisc]

I think some rental agencies dropped the grace time altogether.

You're not going to want to be sitting at MCO watching the clock, waiting to pick up your car. You don't want to be hoping for airline delays. Pick up your car as soon as you get your luggage. You don't want to pay for an extra day. Return the car the same time you picked it up. Use the extra time to have lunch in MCO. Shop. You may have 3 1/2- 4 hours in MCO. Time for a sit down lunch. JMO but you're at the limit, maybe a little over, before it makes sense to just suck it up and pay for an extra day.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Planning to arrive at MCO at 12 for a 1:45 flight is not quite enough time. You really need to be there at least 2 full hours before flight time. The lines in that airport are always long and it's big, you have a bit of a distance to travel once inside. So with that in mind I would suggest that you would need to be returning your rental car closer to 11 (if in terminal) 15 minutes earlier if it's an outside location.

When you arrive go and get your luggage then go back upstairs and have breakfast before you get your rental car. That should kill a full hour or more. I would think that you would then only have to pay for an extra hour on the rental when you get back...maybe less.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I remember someone posted on this board a few years ago about this issue. I can't even remember if they were returning the car "late" or early.

But the crux of it was that because they did not return the car as specified, they recalculated the entire rental period. I wish I remember the exact details!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Planning to arrive at MCO at 12 for a 1:45 flight is not quite enough time. You really need to be there at least 2 full hours before flight time. The lines in that airport are always long and it's big, you have a bit of a distance to travel once inside. So with that in mind I would suggest that you would need to be returning your rental car closer to 11 (if in terminal) 15 minutes earlier if it's an outside location.

When you arrive go and get your luggage then go back upstairs and have breakfast before you get your rental car. That should kill a full hour or more. I would think that you would then only have to pay for an extra hour on the rental when you get back...maybe less.

IMO, an hour and 45 minutes is way more then enough time at MCO...2 hours or more, unless flying International, is way more then needed. I am trying to recall, but I am sure I've never spent more than 20 minutes in line at MCO, maybe 30 is the most, but never more.

 

[gmeh1]

I am trying to avoid an extra day charge on a car rental. Our flight's scheduled arrival time at MCO is 9 am MCO and departure is 1:45 pm. How flexible are rental reservation times? I am trying to avoid paying for an extra day and I am guessing their is some flexibility in these reservations.

Would 11:00 am pick up/return be reasonable, considering you have to get off plane, get your luggage and get to car rental terminal? I am guessing if plane is on time, we may be 1-1.5 hours early. Will we be charged for the extra time?

Return time - how much time do they give before penalty? 30 minutes to an hour? I was planning to arrive at the airport at noon, but can get there a little bit early if needed.

Even 1/2 hour extra on National triggers an extra day charge on the reservation! An extra day on minivan outsdie a week reservation looks fairly hefty.

Thanks!

No, over 29 minutes triggers an extra hour of rental time. Over 1 hour 59 minutes gives you the extra day charge.

The advice of getting the car on time and returning early and spending some time at MCO is excellent. Of course, you could always go to the counter and see what they can do for you regarding your time. National/Alamo an be pretty accomodating.

 

[dudspizza]

I think some rental agencies dropped the grace time altogether.

You're not going to want to be sitting at MCO watching the clock, waiting to pick up your car. You don't want to be hoping for airline delays. Pick up your car as soon as you get your luggage. You don't want to pay for an extra day. Return the car the same time you picked it up. Use the extra time to have lunch in MCO. Shop. You may have 3 1/2- 4 hours in MCO. Time for a sit down lunch. JMO but you're at the limit, maybe a little over, before it makes sense to just suck it up and pay for an extra day.

I just had a rental from Avis. I scheduled 9am pick up and 9am drop off. I arrived at the counter at 8:39am and my estimate added on an extra hour since I had picked up early. In the end, I dropped off at 8:00am and the extra hour didn't appear on the final bill. So Avis does not offer a grace period, at least they didn't in my case.

Duds

 

[Planogirl]

I suggest just getting to MCO early. There are great shops with Disney, Seaworld and Universal merchandise and we never had trouble killing some time.