august 2013 codes for rental cars?

[NurseKim]

A friend of mine always uses Dollar from MCO and has never had any trouble with them at all.

The only concern is if you go through a fully automated (no cash/coin option) toll station and do not have the Sunpass.......Alamo charges $2 or so per occurrence to a max of $25 plus tolls, Dollar charges $15 per occurrence to a max of $105 plus tolls. Are there any fully automated toll stations near Orlando or between Orlando and Tampa? I am wondering if this would be a concern. I think last year the only fully automated toll stations were near Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Is this still the case?

I was reading up on this last night. I am renting from dollar for the first time and saw in my confirmation email about the automated tolls. I am 99% sure that all the tolls from MCO to the Disney area have a cash option. I think it was Orlando informers website I read it on?

We were there last August and paid cash for all our tolls.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Dollar rates are up substantially for my dates this morning.

Our 8 day full size rental was $167 yesterday.

Same rental today is $214.

 

[coastgirl]

Go to Dollar. NOW. (Thursday 11:00 EDT as I type.) I just got a full size for two weeks for $288 all in. rate code is "Promo Code: 5C11M" which is just the 15% off from the front page. Funny the last post was Gina saying it was up. So volatile right now. I hope someone else can get their rate down before it changes again.

So weird. But that's a heckuva lot better than my best rate of $440 a week ago, and my "getting better" rate of $340 two days ago.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Go to Dollar. NOW. (Thursday 11:00 EDT as I type.) I just got a full size for two weeks for $288 all in. rate code is "Promo Code: 5C11M" which is just the 15% off from the front page. Funny the last post was Gina saying it was up. So volatile right now. I hope someone else can get their rate down before it changes again.

So weird. But that's a heckuva lot better than my best rate of $440 a week ago, and my "getting better" rate of $340 two days ago.

Using the 5C11M code, my 8-day full size is $254.83.

"City Special" is still at $213.93 like it was this morning.

The Car Rental Gods seem to be conspiring against me..... .... .

But I am glad you got a great rate, JoAnne!

 

[donnaf516]

My Dollar rates are through the roof right now. Maybe next week...

 

[GinCar]

Aug 3-12, late pickup time, Alamo is still the less expensive with Insiders and Visa 30 off for me, $165.00. I am just getting a compact, since we don't need as much room this trip.

Dollar has come down, but still a few dollars more for my dates than Alamo.

Good luck everyone! It really is a game.

 

[anorman]

Using the 5C11M code, my 8-day full size is $254.83.

"City Special" is still at $213.93 like it was this morning.

The Car Rental Gods seem to be conspiring against me..... .... .

But I am glad you got a great rate, JoAnne!

What is the City Special Rate and who can use it???

 

[brettb]

Aug 3-12, late pickup time, Alamo is still the less expensive with Insiders and Visa 30 off for me, $165.00. I am just getting a compact, since we don't need as much room this trip.

Dollar has come down, but still a few dollars more for my dates than Alamo.

Good luck everyone! It really is a game.

My pickup on 8/3 is 10:30am with a 6pm dropoff on 8/12 (so 10 full days) and I'm getting $316.72 for a standard ($287 for compact) while yesterday I was below $182ish.

Crazy, crazy fluctuations!

 

[brettb]

What is the City Special Rate and who can use it???

To see City Special rates, enter NOTHING in the Promo and Corporate boxes. When you see the list of cars on the next page, there will be a strip somewhere in the list that says, "CITY SPECIAL: Check for special rates on your dates in Orlando, Florida." and a button that says "CHECK FOR CITY SPECIAL" Click that button and you'll see select cars with a City Special tag.

You should also try the promo code 5C11M - sometimes that's a bit lower than the City Special rates.

And if you're in AAA, check here http://www.dollar.com/Business/D4BMain/Corporate/AAA_CAA_CD_Numbers.aspx for the Corporate code for your AAA chapter and enter than in the Corporate box. Sometimes that produces the lowest rate of the three.

 

[anorman]

I was reading up on this last night. I am renting from dollar for the first time and saw in my confirmation email about the automated tolls. I am 99% sure that all the tolls from MCO to the Disney area have a cash option. I think it was Orlando informers website I read it on?

We were there last August and paid cash for all our tolls.

Good to know that it shouldn't be a concern. Fingers crossed.

 

[richmo]

Any advantage/disadvantage to using Thrifty vs. Dollar. They're affiliated. The rates also seem to be almost identical at the moment for me.

 

[sarmat1]

To see City Special rates, enter NOTHING in the Promo and Corporate boxes. When you see the list of cars on the next page, there will be a strip somewhere in the list that says, "CITY SPECIAL: Check for special rates on your dates in Orlando, Florida." and a button that says "CHECK FOR CITY SPECIAL" Click that button and you'll see select cars with a City Special tag.

You should also try the promo code 5C11M - sometimes that's a bit lower than the City Special rates.

And if you're in AAA, check here http://www.dollar.com/Business/D4BMain/Corporate/AAA_CAA_CD_Numbers.aspx for the Corporate code for your AAA chapter and enter than in the Corporate box. Sometimes that produces the lowest rate of the three.

Wow - had been being lazy sitting on my National KLM booking for awhile ($306) and decided to visit this thread.

I can't believe Dollar. I'm 10 days 8/16 - 8/26. First used the 15% code and got $226. Then realized I had just left the noon to noon default times, so I edited by just a few hours to correspond with my flights and I got $202. Then I got rid of the 15% promo and just let it give me City Special rates and I got $198. Finally, using the link listed here to lookup my AAA corp number, I got it down to $183. So $183 all-in for 10 days. Not quite up to the $160 10 days I had from Alamo from last year, but pretty close. Thanks guys. This thread saved me $120 this morning.

 

[richmo]

Wow - had been being lazy sitting on my National KLM booking for awhile ($306) and decided to visit this thread.

I can't believe Dollar. I'm 10 days 8/16 - 8/26. First used the 15% code and got $226. Then realized I had just left the noon to noon default times, so I edited by just a few hours to correspond with my flights and I got $202. Then I got rid of the 15% promo and just let it give me City Special rates and I got $198. Finally, using the link listed here to lookup my AAA corp number, I got it down to $183. So $183 all-in for 10 days. Not quite up to the $160 10 days I had from Alamo from last year, but pretty close. Thanks guys. This thread saved me $120 this morning.

That's great...but don't quit yet. We're seeing even more dramatic results for early August dates in the past couple of days with Dollar and, to a lesser extent, Enterprise and the beginning of August is still a couple of weeks away. You might be able to squeeze another Disney cheeseburger or two out of your rates...

 

[brettb]

Wow - had been being lazy sitting on my National KLM booking for awhile ($306) and decided to visit this thread.

I can't believe Dollar. I'm 10 days 8/16 - 8/26. First used the 15% code and got $226. Then realized I had just left the noon to noon default times, so I edited by just a few hours to correspond with my flights and I got $202. Then I got rid of the 15% promo and just let it give me City Special rates and I got $198. Finally, using the link listed here to lookup my AAA corp number, I got it down to $183. So $183 all-in for 10 days. Not quite up to the $160 10 days I had from Alamo from last year, but pretty close. Thanks guys. This thread saved me $120 this morning.

There were some very good bounces down with Alamo yesterday for some early August dates. I got my 10-day (8/4 am to 8/12 pm) Alamo Standard down to $182ish. So if you prefer Alamo to Dollar, keep an eye on this board and re-check periodically. (Even if there's a big bounce down in the AM, check again throughout the day.) Rates for my dates bounced up a bit later in the day, came down again later in the evening, and today are UP substantially ($316 vs $181 for a standard).

 

[richmo]

I was reading up on this last night. I am renting from dollar for the first time and saw in my confirmation email about the automated tolls. I am 99% sure that all the tolls from MCO to the Disney area have a cash option. I think it was Orlando informers website I read it on?

We were there last August and paid cash for all our tolls.

The tolls between MCO and Disney via either the Greeneway (FL-417 - MCO South exit) or the Bee Line (FL-528 MCO - North exit) are cash tolls. Stay to the right for cash transactions. Either route, I believe you go thru 2 tolls. There's no need for a SunPass. For those tolls, you can get change at the tollbooth, etc. There are some entrances to and exits from these roads that require exact change or a SunPass. If you stick mostly to the Disney exits and the MCO exits, you won't run into that.

I believe the automated tolls are primarily on the Florida Turnpike at this time. If you're just going to Disney or Orlando from MCO, there shouldn't be any issue and I-4 itself is still free between Daytona and Tampa.

And because this always comes up, unfortunately, no you can't bring your EZPass. The systems are not compatible.

 

[NurseKim]

That's great...but don't quit yet. We're seeing even more dramatic results for early August dates in the past couple of days with Dollar and, to a lesser extent, Enterprise and the beginning of August is still a couple of weeks away. You might be able to squeeze another Disney cheeseburger or two out of your rates...

Hahaha my trip is in 5 days and I'm checking multiple times a day. I got an awesome deal from dollar yesterday $129 for 5 days mid size. I rebooked like 3 times in a half hr bc rate were still dropping. It's a few more Mickey bars for my kids =)

 

[Yogurt]

Dollar offered us $302 (after fees and taxes) for a 14-day midsize rental, August 17 to 31. City Special. Works out to around $22/day.

I'd still prefer Alamo or National, but it's our best option so far.

 

[richmo]

Hahaha my trip is in 5 days and I'm checking multiple times a day. I got an awesome deal from dollar yesterday $129 for 5 days mid size. I rebooked like 3 times in a half hr bc rate were still dropping. It's a few more Mickey bars for my kids =)

That's pretty good! I know the July folks haven't seen the same drops we're getting for August, which isn't surprising. Keep looking though...you never know!

I haven't rented from Dollar for awhile and I'm seeing conflicting answers to this:
Does Dollar Express and/or Rapid Rental give you the ability to bypass the counter (or use some kind of kiosk)? Also, last time I used Dollar, you didn't get to pick the car...has that changed..do they have you go to a row and pick one out or is it still assigned?

 

[Canwego]

Just checked again with Dollar and rebooked at $275 Full size car for my 8/15-8/27 dates! That was using the 5C11M code.

Checked again and City is $270 full.

If that is where I stick I will be ok. Would love Alamo or National and will keep checking, but i can live with $270. Less than five days ago i was at $400.

 

[anorman]

Dollar offered us $302 (after fees and taxes) for a 14-day midsize rental, August 17 to 31. City Special. Works out to around $22/day.

I'd still prefer Alamo or National, but it's our best option so far.

We got $287 with Dollar for a full size using the city special for 14 days Aug 14 to 28......what's the difference I wonder?