The Official October 2012 Car Rental Thread

[garris3404]

Originally Posted by tomjul811

I cant find the dollar city deal anywhere. can someome give me the promo code or tell me where to find it

Go to dollar website. Enter date and times. On the next page, click the "check for city special" button to get the special rates.

[keishashadow]

don't forget the alamo insider's # 7015135 switched to it today

[ammag]

Hi- our trip is oct 19-26 and the plane leaves at 7am ny time...meaning DH and I will be up arund 4am before herding DD5 and DS1 onto the plane. I am trying to find the cheapest option but I cannot be taking a shuttle to a far off car lot. What company is the fastest and easiest to rent from and drop off? Do some have the automated kiosks? thanks!

ps- prob silly question but I see people reserving cars and possibly changing/ cancelling the reservation in the future. d the companies not take payment up front?

[AnjieNet]

Advantage beat our Dollar City Special by $60. We now have a three day mid-size rental for $68. Still would rather do Alamo or National so we could pick-up at MCO and drop off at Car Care Center but so far the cost is so much cheaper, it'll be worth the extra time, I think.

[mdsd8700]

Originally Posted by ammag

Hi- our trip is oct 19-26 and the plane leaves at 7am ny time...meaning DH and I will be up arund 4am before herding DD5 and DS1 onto the plane. I am trying to find the cheapest option but I cannot be taking a shuttle to a far off car lot. What company is the fastest and easiest to rent from and drop off? Do some have the automated kiosks? thanks!

ps- prob silly question but I see people reserving cars and possibly changing/ cancelling the reservation in the future. d the companies not take payment up front?

The major companies, National, Alamo, Dollar, Budget, Avis, Thrifty, Hertz are all located on property at the Orlando Airport so no shuttle involved, you just walk across the street. If you sign up for any of their "programs" you can use pre enter all your information and use a kiosk to get your car. We have used Dollar, Budget and Alamo doing this. Feel free to book and cancel reservations as you find better rates, there is no penalty/payment up front for doing so

[sanibelover]

Originally Posted by ammag

Hi- our trip is oct 19-26 and the plane leaves at 7am ny time...meaning DH and I will be up arund 4am before herding DD5 and DS1 onto the plane. I am trying to find the cheapest option but I cannot be taking a shuttle to a far off car lot. What company is the fastest and easiest to rent from and drop off? Do some have the automated kiosks? thanks!

ps- prob silly question but I see people reserving cars and possibly changing/ cancelling the reservation in the future. d the companies not take payment up front?

National Emerald Isle (medium sized cars or better) is very convenient - just go to the Islae and pick your car. No lines at all. You can also do Emerald Reserve which just means you reserve the car class you want (ie mini-van), then you just go to the mini-van line and pick the one you want. Again, no lines, no kiosk, etc.

There are alot of discount codes and coupons (you can use both) available online. We have an Emerald Isle ressie for Oct 9-15 for $204 total.

[sheri236]

just booked the city special thru dollar for $215, full size oct 25-30. its the lowest i've seen yet but alamo did drop $40 for us so hopefully it keeps coming down as we would definitely prefer alamo.

[ppony]

Oct. 13-22 here. I'm trying to decide if we can make do w/ a full size at $278 or need the mini-van for $100 more. Still a great price on a minivan through Dollar. sigh If we didn't have so much "stuff" we travel with.

[Joan S.]

Hi,Since my trip is now 2 months away I am looking everyday for my car rental fee to go DOWN!! Is there any MAGIC number of weeks before the trip that prices tend to be at their lowest?? Thanks,Joan

[ktm62]

keep checking car rentals dot com. my price has gone down several times now paying 195 for 11 days ,full size car.... they list all agencies

[brenda1966]

Am trying to do a one way rental from TPA to MCO 10/26 - 11/3.
So far best rate I can find is 312 with fees and taxes (avis).
I saw Advantage for less (252) , but I'm not sure of the reputation of this company.
Of course Fox is way less, but with such bad rep, I won't risk driving a car from there that far and that long.
Any ideas? Most of the coupon codes don't work for one way rentals.

[Angel16]

Just booked Dollar's City Special Mini Van at $165.30 per week and $23.48 for two additional days. We are renting for 16 days mid September.

I would still like to get a deal from National and not sure we need a Mini Van. Just thought it was closer to what we are use to...a Highlander. I have time to figure it out and change.

[GrnMtnMan]

Originally Posted by Joan S.

Is there any MAGIC number of weeks before the trip that prices tend to be at their lowest??

For the pas few years, its been around 3 to 4 weeks before a trip that prices finally came down to the good deal ballpark.

[webworm]

Originally Posted by Angel16

Just booked Dollar's City Special Mini Van at $165.30 per week and $23.48 for two additional days. We are renting for 16 days mid September.

I would still like to get a deal from National and not sure we need a Mini Van. Just thought it was closer to what we are use to...a Highlander. I have time to figure it out and change.

Just to clarify that would be $292.62 inc taxes. If the additional driver is important to you Dollar charges $10/day extra.

[HayGan]

Everyone I check remains significantly higher than the ~$280 rate I currently have with National using the KLM code for Oct 12-22. I even tried the carrentals.com site and they only thing I can get for a better price is an economy (and that isn't happening!!!)