How do I get the cheapest price on a car rental?

[torinsmom]

It looks like I will be riding the train to Orlando. I will need to rent a car. In looking, I am finding that an economy car will be around $180 for a week, but for the extra 3 days, it jumps to $320. Why?

I am hoping to talk my whole family into taking the train. My son and I are heading down on Tuesday night 8/9, my sister and her family are heading down on Friday 8/12, and my parents are coming on Monday 8/15. We are all leaving on 8/19. If we all take the train, we will need an 8 passenger van for the time period from 8/15-8/19, and something that holds at least 6 people from 8/12-8/15. I am trying to figure out how to do this with the least expense. Any ideas? Would a split rental be cheaper?

 

[deva]

Most minivans in Orlando seat 7. You can get an 8 passenger, but they cost more and an actual van is much pricier. We've had good luck using orlando magic card code at Dollar. Check mousesavers.com for all the latest codes. Just try them all. Also you can likely get a good last minute deal if you do name your own price with priceline.

 

[tjs198]

read this:

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/autoslash-com-car-rental-price-search-engine.html

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

I got a rate of $15/day for an economy car through hotwire - with taxes and fees the total was $148 for 7 days. I've been really pleased with booking hotels through hotwire - this will be my first car rental.

Good luck!

 

[marcemc]

Hotwire, and the earlier you book it the better!

 

[mrsklamc]

Priceline.

 

[torinsmom]

I'm not finding 8 passengers at any place. Looks like its either 7 passenger or 12 passenger($$$$$). We may just do two economy if it comes down to it. That would mean 2x the parking fees, but it would be cheaper than the alternative. My sister and her family may prefer to drive anyway, and they have a Sienna. If they do, we won't need a van. I will probably still rent an economy size car in case we go our separate ways at any time.