April 2013 Car Rental Discount Thread

[ascardino]

I tried Priceline last night and put in a bid of $25 for a minivan for 4/3-4/8 and the price was too low. They told me that $48 would be reasonable but I low balled it based on the price listed in the other post but it did not fly.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I used Priceline once. I kept bidding and bidding and it would get rejected. Finally a week before we left, they accepted my offer. Offer was accepted by Budget. Historically my husband and I only rented from Alamo and National. We were in for a rude awakening when we waited in line for over an hour just to get car keys. I also did not care for the car they picked for us. It was clean and ran fine, but I did not like it. It was not the end of the world, but from now on, I only rent from Alamo and National.

 

[n2mm]

I used Priceline once. I kept bidding and bidding and it would get rejected. Finally a week before we left, they accepted my offer. Offer was accepted by Budget. Historically my husband and I only rented from Alamo and National. We were in for a rude awakening when we waited in line for over an hour just to get car keys. I also did not care for the car they picked for us. It was clean and ran fine, but I did not like it. It was not the end of the world, but from now on, I only rent from Alamo and National.

Yep, I could've posted the exact same thing. We will pay extra to stay with Alamo and National after using other companies.

 

[DB&KS]

I used Priceline once. I kept bidding and bidding and it would get rejected. Finally a week before we left, they accepted my offer. Offer was accepted by Budget. Historically my husband and I only rented from Alamo and National. We were in for a rude awakening when we waited in line for over an hour just to get car keys. I also did not care for the car they picked for us. It was clean and ran fine, but I did not like it. It was not the end of the world, but from now on, I only rent from Alamo and National.

That is funny because I had a Budget reservation but I decided to stick with Alamo for just that reason. I have heard a few reviews of them charging more than the reservation stated. Always happy with Alamo!

 

[tiffrobyn]

I used Priceline once. I kept bidding and bidding and it would get rejected. Finally a week before we left, they accepted my offer. Offer was accepted by Budget. Historically my husband and I only rented from Alamo and National. We were in for a rude awakening when we waited in line for over an hour just to get car keys. I also did not care for the car they picked for us. It was clean and ran fine, but I did not like it. It was not the end of the world, but from now on, I only rent from Alamo and National.

Ahhh. This is what I'm afraid of! I'm a loyal Alamo renter but I really need a minivan on our April trip. Right now, no one can come close to Budget on price.

 

[jodebode]

I just got rates from Alamo and Dollar that were much lower than yesterday when I checked, and the lowest I've found since I started looking 1-2 months ago. Dates 4/5-4/13 from MCO, with Alamo I got a full-size for $183 total. Previous price was $260 for same time period with Alamo. (Price with Dollar was $217 today compared to $237 yesterday).

Still not the $148 I had for 11 days in Nov-Dec, but much easier to swallow than it was before! So you may want to check your rates today to see if you can find anything lower!

 

[mieuxmew]

I saw Alamo has 4/5-4/13 (9 days) for full size $199 (econo $170). Funny how adding 2 extra days actually lowered the rate!

No minivans available for these dates from Alamo, National or Enterprise.

I have a minivan with National for $350 (KLM) booked months ago. I hate minivan premium!

 

[mieuxmew]

Alamo insiders/Costco - spouses get to drive too with no extra fee, correct?

National - spouse can drive no extra charge, yes?

 

[Pembo]

I found a code for Alamo 66777D. For a midsize SUV for spring break, 3/21-3/29 I'm getting $246 total.

I've been reading on your thread and wanted to share.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

I used Priceline once. I kept bidding and bidding and it would get rejected. Finally a week before we left, they accepted my offer. Offer was accepted by Budget. Historically my husband and I only rented from Alamo and National. We were in for a rude awakening when we waited in line for over an hour just to get car keys. I also did not care for the car they picked for us. It was clean and ran fine, but I did not like it. It was not the end of the world, but from now on, I only rent from Alamo and National.

I also used priceline for a trip last year and got Budget, like you experienced, the line was extremely long to get the keys, we even went to the other side of the airport and it was better there but still took over half an hour. After a lengthy check-in process (how complicated can it be?) and refusal to pay for several "upgrades" they were peddling, we got our car.

Once we got up to speed on the highway however it was clear there was a problem. The car shook like crazy! It felt like a wheel was going to fall off. I was pregnant at the time and did not appreciate all the extra jostling, not mention the constant fear that a wheel would just roll off and we'd wreck. We considered taking the car back to the airport, but we had dinner reservations at California Grill and due to all the extra time getting the car in first place we would definitely miss it if we went back. My husband called Budget and they agreed to let us trade in the car the next day at a location inside a Downtown Disney hotel. Better than going back to the airport, but still wasted more valuable vacation time.

To add insult to injury, when we returned the car at MCO there was a mysterious (erroneous) $70 charge, so we had to wait in line for 25 minutes AGAIN to get that taken off, and nearly missed our flight.

Long story short, while I LOVE priceline name your own price for hotels, I will not use it again for a rental car at MCO. Even though it costs more I will stick with a no-hassle place like National.

 

[jrw118]

I found a code for Alamo 66777D. For a midsize SUV for spring break, 3/21-3/29 I'm getting $246 total.

I've been reading on your thread and wanted to share.

Do you know what this code is from? Just got my sis a SUV for $200 and convertible for $300 3/25-2/31 pick up jax drop off fll

 

[Pembo]

It was posted on Flyer Talk but I can't figure out where it is from beyond that. Looks like it was good last fall as well.

 

[jkelly86]

Wow! This seems too good to be true. The Alamo 66777D rate quote only has 7% sales tax. No airport surcharges, etc... Is that just how Alamo gives its rates, including surcharges? I'd love to hear from others who have used this discount code.

 

[PrincesCJM]

Wow! This seems too good to be true. The Alamo 66777D rate quote only has 7% sales tax. No airport surcharges, etc... Is that just how Alamo gives its rates, including surcharges? I'd love to hear from others who have used this discount code.

I'm curious as well. I just booked a car for July using this code.

 

[Kassidysdad]

I'm curious as well. I just booked a car for July using this code.

66777D is a great code. I made a res for 2 friends for feb vacation at MCO. No issues, its not a code that gets a lot of chatter, we like it that way..lol (we being flyertalk members)

 

[funforfive]

Just booked with Alamo through Costco...3/26-4/8 Full size pick up in Ft. Myers, return MCO... $300 total saved about $125 over previous Enterprise rental

 

[Jsheehan310]

I looked in to this code and it is a travel agent code (66777d). Has anyone successfully used this code?

 

[ohiomom28]

66777D is a great code. I made a res for 2 friends for feb vacation at MCO. No issues, its not a code that gets a lot of chatter, we like it that way..lol (we being flyertalk members)

This code gave me a rate $120 higher than I already have with Budget.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using DISBoards

 

[Kassidysdad]

This code gave me a rate $120 higher than I already have with Budget.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using DISBoards

I hear ya, This time around I was lucky to snag a full 2 week standard rental from Alamo, April 20 - May 4 with just the insiders code and a coupon from BJs for 248.48 with taxes. I think the site had a meltdown and I was lucky to be checking that night. The codes are hit and miss sometimes, unfortunately we gotta play the game and keep checking to save money.

 

[spel]

I encourage everyone to check carrentalsavers.com today for April prices. I just got a full-size at Enterprise for $210 for the week of Apr 6-13 (early pick up, late drop off, so considered 1 wk + 1 day). That's a big drop in the past week!