Can I use ME back to airport to pick up rental?

[KayJD]

Hi all.

Hoping someone can help me. We are flying in and have booked ME to take us to our resort. When leaving we are not flying out but have rented a car from MCO for us to have a few days along the coast before heading home.

Can we book ME to take us back to the airport? Would we do so using a "fake" airline departure time? Is it possible for us to make our way from the departures area to arrivals where the car pickup would be?

Also - when we arrive, we are landing in the early evening (7 pm). If we let Disney handle our luggage, what turnaround time can we expect? Would we get the luggage dropped off in the middle of the night? Since we are planning an early morning at the parks the next day, should we handle the bags ourselves?

Thanks!!

 

[goofy4tink]

You will be dropped off very close to the car rental counters, so that won't be an issue. I would just call DME and talk to them, and then allow them to give you the pickup time that will get you to the airport at the right time for your rental pickup. But, talk to them once you arrive.
I've done this several times but have always added that extra step of giving them false info for a departing flight. That means having to figure out what time you need to get to MCO, then finding a flight that will depart at a time that gives you that 3 hr prior pickup time that coincides with your rental car p/u time. Can get tricky.


As for your arrival...if your flight arrives, ontime, at 7, you can expect to be at your resort by 8:30..probably sooner, but plan on 90 mins, just to be safe. Your bags are then supposed to be in your room up to 3-4 hrs after resort checkin. So that could feasibly be as late as 11:30. Then, it depends on your resort. The value resorts have less consistent luggage delivery after 10pm....the moderates are better but not great. And the deluxes do the best job.

 

[KayJD]

Thanks goofy4tink for the advice.

So if I go ahead and book a false "return" flight, I should work back 3 hours to the time I want to be at the airport... about how long does it take (ballpark) from the world to the airport?

i.e. If I want to be at the airport around 10 am for a 10:30 rental pickup, what time should my false air booking be for?

Thanks again!

 

[rgf207]

Factor about 1hr from when the DME bus picks you up until you are at the airport. This will account for the DME bus stopping at other resorts to pick up passengers.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Yes. When you take DME back to the airport, you are not required to get on an airplane, even though that's what most DME passengers do. You can rent a car instead.

However, you can also rent a car right at WDW from a variety of companies. The rental car company can pick you up at your resort. If you make a reservation for rental at a WDW location and return at the airport, you'll often pay a very similar amount to a rental the begins and ends at the airport. You would save time and have the convenience of being able to drive back to your resort quickly to put your luggage in the trunk.

See "Car rental locations for WDW..." at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2927109

That said, I once ran into a situation where it was much, much cheaper for me to rent and return at Orlando International, so, in that particular case, I used DME.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks goofy4tink for the advice.

So if I go ahead and book a false "return" flight, I should work back 3 hours to the time I want to be at the airport... about how long does it take (ballpark) from the world to the airport?

i.e. If I want to be at the airport around 10 am for a 10:30 rental pickup, what time should my false air booking be for?

Thanks again!

If you want to be there for 10am, then you need to leave your resort by 9:15ish, which means a flight that leaves around noonish. That will give you a pickup time of right around 9, getting you to MCO between 9:40 and 10.

 

[KayJD]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I decided to look into car rentals on property (thanks Horace!) and have found a reasonable rate (I'm doing a one way to Miami and all the agencies want an arm and a leg) with Alamo so I'm going to go that route rather than go through the added complexity of going back to MCO for pick up.

You've just saved us some time and probably sanity. I can just hear the kids with the nagging on the bus and then at the rental counter....

Great advice!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I decided to look into car rentals on property (thanks Horace!)

You're welcome!

Enjoy the drive to Miami and the many things there are to do in Miami.

One more bit of advice:

If you run into drop-off fees, or per-mile rates, or higher base rates for a one-way rentals, try different rate codes for the same rental car company. Start by seeing if your employer has a negotiated contract rate that can also be used for personal rentals. Then try codes for AAA, Costco, frequent flyer programs, clubs, unions, or whatever else you belong to, as well as legitimate websites.

Sometimes a code that's not particularly good for rental and return at the same airport can be great for one-way rentals, if it doesn't penalize you for a reservations that begins at one location and ends at another.

 

[KayJD]

Thanks again Horace - sounds like good advice.

I've got 6 weeks to keep tinkering around with the prices so I'll keep trying discount codes until then to see if I can do better.

Our two days at Disney is an add on to a 7 day cruise out of Miami, hence the one way rental. When I started looking into booking a car at the beginning of the year (I'm a planner, what can I say?) Budget came in at $40 whereas all the other companies wanted almost $200 for the day!

I am still retaining the Budget ressie for now but have to factor in the inconvenience of going back to MCO to pick up and then having to pay for a cab from MIA to Port of Miami as they do not offer a free shuttle.

The rate I got with Alamo using the Airline partners discount is $62... higher cost on the face of things, but they have a free pick up at Disney resort and a free shuttle from MIA to POM so if you factor in the cab fare from MIA to POM at $30 ($25 flat fare plus tip), it's cheaper- not to mention the convenience of being able to get the rental on Disney property.

Again - thank you so much for your advice. Very much appreciated! A few dollars saved here can be spent elsewhere (yeah - MK that means YOU!)