Best car rental company?

[mermaidmuse]

Hi there - need some advice. We are headed back to Disney for March break for our third trip but our first flying. We will need a car rental for the week. We want to pick up the car at the airport and return it there - we also are looking at renting at least one carseat. (and maybe a booster depending on cost) We can bring our own if necessary. Does anyone have any advice of the best company to go with? (or any great codes? discounts?)
Thanks so much!!

 

[donkthemagicllama]

I've had great luck with National.

If you get a free Emerald Club membership, you walk straight out to the parking lot, pick a car (the keys are in the ignition) and drive out with a quick stop at the gate.

Otherwise (in my experience anyway) you wait for up to 3 hours in line until they give you keys, and try scare you into buying tons of insurance.

The codes at mousesavers help, but I find if I rebook right before I leave, I can usually get a last minute special that beats any code discount.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The best rates are booked far in advance. As you get closer to your date they just go up and up. As the PP mentioned you might try for a last minute deal but you really should book something right now.

You can get codes from mousesavers and www.rentalcodes.com

Not all the agencies are located inside the airport. Alamo and National are, which we have used. I think Dollar is too. Some people have great success with hotwire.

Check the transportation boards for the best info on rentals.

 

[Aubie881]

Maybe we were just lucky, the last two trips that we booked car rentals we booked in advance got a pretty rate with alamo. Checked back 3 days before we were to leave a got a better deal for same car, about $60.00 cheaper for weekly rate. Once even got a free up grade because they did not have the kind of car we wanted available.

 

[Nagle]

The best rates are booked far in advance. As you get closer to your date they just go up and up. As the PP mentioned you might try for a last minute deal but you really should book something right now

This has been the opposite of our experience the last couple of times. Last September and October the rental cars for Disneyworld and Las Vegas dropped substantially in the weeks before both trips, to the point where we got a midsize car for under $90 for each week. Both rentals were with Alamo.

I have booked a car for our upcoming September trip through Alamo in case the price actually does go up by September, but I will keep checking the Transportation board and Mousesavers for any codes that will bring the price down,

 

[connorsmom911]

Another vote here for Alamo! I have used them for the last 3 years with really good luck. I make reservations early, and then just keep checking back, trying new codes and such, right up until the trip, to get the best rate. I always check-in online before the trip and use their self-service kiosk at the desk, then just walk across to the parking garage and grab the car. I know there are ways to bypass the kiosk altogether, but I always manage to have a coupon that prevents me from skipping that step. Even with that though, I've never had any wait whatsoever.

 

[casper_jj11]

We've used National and Alamo at MCO. Both were great. Definitely get the free emerald club number for National or *********** number for Alamo. For National, just go get your car. No line. For Alamo, do the save time thingy on their website and sign in your dl number, etc. Then go to the kiosk instead of the line, fill in the info and head to the lot to get the car. No lines. Wonderful!

As for car seat, I'd never rent one from a car rental agency. We have a baby equipment rental business in Ottawa and there are a few in Orlando as well. We brought our seats with us when we travelled in Jan but I'd rent from a private agency before the car rental places. Private agencies clean, sterilyze and do safety checks on the seats. From my experiences, car rental agencies do none of that. Further, most won't guarantee availability of the seats on arrival as its first come first serve. You may be out of luck. If you book from a private agency, they'll likely deliver to the airport for you and they'll be new, clean and guaranteed ready to go. The cost is also usually about teh same or cheaper than from the car rental agency.

HTH

 

[grover]

2 thumbs up for National!!!
We used Almamo once and it was a nightmare..we booked the ressie thru Airmiles and they would not recognize it was already paid for..they wouldn't look into it..had to get on the pay phone with Airmiles and get them to get ahold of someone at the Almao desk..really I blame both of them..something went wrong somewhere..but they were none to helpful in trying to resolve the problem-I had all my paperwork and everything-almost missed our flight!
BUT that said..that was several years back..our first trip I think--which would have made it 2000...so that is only one bad experience--stuff happens right!