Budget or Thrifty...Which Would You Choose?

[Kevenswife2]

I'm arriving Thanksgiving Day, so it's hard to find a good rental car rate. Given the following, which would you choose?

DH, Me, DD22, DD6, all on the normal to thin side. DD6 will be in a backless booster. We'll be arriving around 6:30pm, so my hopes are I might snag a free upgrade...but if not, that's okay.

Budget: $195 for a Mid-size.
Thrifty: $161 for an Economy. I belong to the Blue Chip program and would receive a free day on a future rental if I choose Thrifty.

DD22 will only be with us for the first 4 days of trip. Car will be used mainly to drive to and from MCO and Disney. Also to take DD22 back to MCO for her flight, and then to Florida Eco Safaris (just the 3 of us). Suitcase wise there should only be 1 big duffle and 3 small carry on size. None are the square 'brick' shaped suitcases which are popular, but duffle style.

I've never dealt with Thrifty or Budget, so given the above and your knowledge, which would you choose?

I have to add this is a BUDGET trip and I'm using the pennies out of my piggybank to do it

 

[mbb]

Does renting from one of the on-site companies make a difference...because Budget is in terminal, Thrifty involves a shuttle...if n difference, I'd take the pennies as top priority and rent with Thrifty...jmho

HTH!!

 

[SB in KY]

Personally I would go with Budget....doing the Thrifty shuttle on Thanksgiving could easily be quite an adventure...long wait, at counter, on and off the shuttle, etc.... for a few extra $$ I would go with Budget....if you want to save some dollars just bump down to the compact car at Budget...it will probably be fine.

If you join their Fastlane program on line you could bypass the line, which might be a REAL benefit on Thanksgiving evening...plus you would stand a better chance of an upgrade (although on such a busy weekend I think the chances of that with any agency would be slim).

 

[Kevenswife2]

I really don't think long lines will be a problem on Thanksgiving Day. We flew to Florida on T. Day last year and the airports were dead. I was told by airport personnel that it was a 'mad house' the day before though. I guess most people want to already 'be there' by T. Day.

I read on another post that Thrifty has very few econo cars and tries to talk you into paying for an upgrad. Many people report having gotten upgrades without paying for them because they simply do not have very many econos. I'm hoping that, with my later arrival and it being after the 'big' travel day, they will already be taken and I might get an upgrade.

I have no experience with either company so I'm unsure. I've heard bad about both. Any good?

Which one is more likely to 'hard sell' insurance (which I don't need) or some other kind of scam? I guess that's what has me so undecided.

Since I made my Budget reservation (Sept 19) prices have jumped drastically. And even when I made them, there was only 2 or 3 dollars difference between a compact and a mid-size.
I have to drop off the car at 5 am. The reservations both went through okay, but I'm uncertain if Thrifty will be open at that time. I know, being onsite, that Budget will.

Any other reasons to choose one over the other?

 

[luvabargain]

We used Thrifty and had a great experience with them. Being off site didn't bother me, it was a short ride away. I had the Blue Chip program so was able to go to the faster counter service and got served right away. It was quick, there was no question about adding any "extras". Dh and I joked with the counter lady about upgrading us for free to one of the cadillacs we saw out front. She laughed and told us that they had plenty of the economy cars in stock (what we booked) but that for us she would upgrade us to a standard size for free. It doesn't hurt to schmooze a little I guess.

 

[Kevenswife2]

Hmmmm...I could schmooze too...and I'd be happy with an upgrade to a compact.

 

[inkkognito]

I've had good experience with both of them, so I would go by price. I HATE shuttles, but Thirfty's has always been painless. We've gotten free upgrades from both of them, including economy to Ford Explorer from Budget (that was a GREAT upgrade!) and economy to a Vibe at Thrifty. Neither one has even been really pushy on the insurance, except only one at Thrifty, so we joined Blue Chip to avoid that.
Barb

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

We're driving a Budget rental right now (arrived at MCO two days ago) They were awesome!! We had a few issues before we left with our reservations, I was chatting with the guy at the Fastbreak booth, he gave us a free upgrade to a premium car!!

We're LOVING those Budget people right now!!