are offsite (off airport) car rental places worth the savings?

[loriandmatt]

i am finding that i can get much better (about $100/ weekly rental) pricing if i go with a car rental place that has shuttle service from MCO. We have always rented from either Alamo or Enterprise, both of which have in airport counters and pick up.

are the off site places worth the savings? i am leaning towards Payless, but have also looked into E-Z and U-Save.

any opinions? We are a family of 4 with one child who is smaller. do we all gather up our luggage and the toddler and pile onto that rental car shuttle or does DH take care of that shuttle and me and the kids wait for the luggage and DH to return?

- lori

 

[seashoreCM]

Depends on which rental agency you choose. Payless and EZ are on the way to Disney; you can continue westbound out of Payless' lot to get onto 528 (Beach Line; Bee Line Expressway). So piling the kids and suitcases into the shuttle is quite expedient.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[DebRMN]

I definitely think that it is worth it. The last 2 years we have used Thrifty. Both years there were 3 adults and 3 little ones

 

[Michael623]

To save $100 I would say yes. That being said I can usually get codes/coupons from Mousesavers to get the on-site places as cheap or cheaper than the off-site places. I find Alamo is usually cheapest and with the kiosk it is a breeze .

 

[mom2aredhead]

For $100, maybe, but less than that, with 2 kids and all of the "stuff" that goes along with them, I would say no.
By the time you get off the plane, get your bags, get them on the shuttle, get them off the shuttle, get them in the rental car, and do this with 2 kids in tow, the savings would have to at least pay for a character meal for me.
If you split up, one of you will have to deal with the kids and the luggage but then you have to backtrack to come back to the airport.
Once I'm on the ground at MCO, I want my vacation to start as quickly as possible, and for me that's been an on airport rental, usually from Alamo or National so we can use the kiosk and get out even quicker.

 

[CarolA]

IMHO, No.

I won't use a "unknown" rental car agency. I have heard plenty of horror stories on "hard sales" for insurance, car class changes etc,

Thrifty and Hertz are exceptions. They are offsite, but they are national companies with "some reputation" to protect. These others are "one time" deals and don't really care if they upset you.

My brother did that once.... Took over 90 minutes to get the car and then it wasn't what he reserved. He travels a lot and said that was the hardest sale he had ever had on insurance where the guy kept quoting "outrageous" amounts for things they would charge for (ie. a door ding would cost thousands LOL!) He had gone to get the car while my SIL collected the luggage etc. Luggage and SIL with kids were in the baggage are for over an hour waiting on the "cheap rental" . He went back to Hertz after this fiasco!