Car rental at mco

[Disneysun]

Has anyone had any luck getting a good price on a car rental for Orlando? I have a decent price with hertz using some hertz gold points, but I prefer a rental car place located at the airport - Alamo, National, Budget. We are traveling May 6-16.

Thanks,
Shannon

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have rented from MCO multiple times and usually spend quite a bit of time online trying different codes at different rental car companies. Last time, Enterprise had the best price but often it's Alamo. When googling for coupon codes, also be sure to check Sams and Costco if you have memberships there.

(I also recheck the prices every once in awhile to see if I can get it cheaper as time to the trip grows closer)

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

I *heard* by spring most car rental companies will be on property at the airport. I would check with Hertz!

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

We have always found Dollar to be the cheapest. We have priced out all the other rental places and no one can beat Dollars prices. Our last 2 trips we have booked with them and we are members of Dollar Express (free membership) check out the prices, they cant be beat.

 

[krystalleigh1]

In Oct I got a great price with Priceline. National for $126 I believe. Unbelievably cheap. It was a standard size.

 

[quentina]

I usually do price line. I have a trip next month and for the first time ever, priceline denied my bids.

So, I went to hotwire. I was able to get a full size, 5 nights for $138 total (including taxes).

I have also had some luck with Budget especially if you are willing to use there pre-pay option. I have saved many $$$ pre-paying.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Keep looking for codes and as you find a good deal book it. And then look periodically. If you find something better, book it and cancel the previous one. I wouldn't do PL/HW until close to your dates. But I definitely would try both to beat whatever the best cancellable price is that you have booked.

 

[safetymom]

Hertz is scheduled to move to an on airport location in the Spring. You may want to keep the reservation you have.

 

["Ginger"]

I can't get over these prices $600 to $1200.. I don't want to buy the vehicle.
I've tried Priceline, Hotwire, and I went to the rental companies direct.


Could it be our dates of travel, we are traveling March 30-April 7, spring break. I'm afraid if I don't get something now there won't be anything available closer to our arrival date.

Guess I should have checked rental rates first instead of worrying about airfare which I already booked. Had I known the rental car rates were going to be so high we would have driven our own vehicle there and save $$$$

 

[andrews_dad]

Hit the transportation board here on this site. You are sure to get a great deal. Those folks are great. Anyhow, I will give you my tip. Consider an offsite location. I use the Westland Street location of Budget for pick-up, drop off at MCO for no extra charge. It is a 7 mile trip, about 15-20 min based on traffic. It was a $22 cab ride plus tip, saved me a bundle. Combine a good code with the Westland St location and it is hard to beat, IMO. My last trip was over the busiest time of year, Xmas-New Years. Hotwire and direct bookings were coming uo at $650-1000 for the 8 days. I ended up with a compact for $146 for the 8 days at the Westland St location with MCO drop off, all taxes and fees included!

 

[Bren's Mom]

Your problem is you're going not just 'spring break' but over Easter. (ETA: this is for 'Ginger', I forgot to quote.)

I'd check all of the companies, check for codes on Mousesavers and google for others. When you find anything that is doable, book it. (If it's cancellable!) Then keep looking. If you find something $50 cheaper in 2 weeks, book that and cancel the first. Keep going until about the third week in March. Then try Hotwire and Priceline again. But at least you'll have something booked in the meantime.

Because it's over the holiday and a BIG time of year for people to be in Orlando you're unlikely to get as great a deal as someone going 3 weeks later. Sorry.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Has anyone had any luck getting a good price on a car rental for Orlando? I have a decent price with hertz using some hertz gold points, but I prefer a rental car place located at the airport - Alamo, National, Budget. We are traveling May 6-16.

What is the price you got from Hertz?

I'm seeing $258.77 including taxes and fees, for a midsize for your dates using ID 430710 at Alamo.

 

[andrews_dad]

With Budget code Y937800 I am getting $285 for those dates (with taxes and fees) from the West Landstreet location pick-up with MSO drop-off. Add about $25 to that for the cab fare. You could link a coupon to that code, I would think. The total would be $312 for the same code for MCO pick up and MCO drop, so not a worthwhile money saver once you add in the cab fare.

 

[smokeyblue]

We were shocked at the cost of a rental this time around. Two years ago we got a full size vehicle for $150 for a week and we got a $25 gift card in the mail from American Express for renting bringing the total down to $125.

This year we were hard pressed to find a rental for under $500 and that's including trying numerous codes, AAA ect.

We ended up saving the most by booking our car and flight together on Orbitz. We saved over $200. Orbitz was the only service that offered a substantial discount for "bundling" or travel. The rental is through Hertz and we are hoping they will honor coupons we have for upgrades at the counter since we couldn't use the codes when booking on Orbitz.

I don't know if this is true or not, but a friend told me that the increased cost is due to the rental companies downsizing their fleets. This of course would cause an increased demand making prices rise. Like I said, I don't know if this is true, I haven't looked it up myself, but it seems quite plausable.

 

[pjtm]

Use Priceline everyday! I just booked a mini-van for the end of Jan for $35 for the day. I am happy with that! Oh - it is with Hertz

 

[Disneysun]

Thanks all! We have three kids and my brother is also coming with us, so the mini van requirement costs more as well. I will keep checking, but will keep my Hertz booking for the time being (and hope them move to an on airport location soon because hauling the kids 5, 3 and 1 is kind of a drag when we just want to start having fun).

I have booked Hotwire before and my only hesitation is that they usually are non refundable bookings, is this still the case? Our dates are firm, but if I can keep checking prices and find something better than I usually perfer to go that route.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

[WENDYDOTS]

I was able to get a minivan for the end of January through Priceline for $18/day. It worked out to be cheaper to keep the car the whole week, even though we will be on the Disney Cruise for 4 days of it & pay $60 parking! We are going down on a Thursday night and to keep a full size car from Thurs. night to Sunday a.m. and turn it in at the Port & then pick up a one way rental back to the airport after the cruise would have been more expensive and we now have alot more flexibility and room because it is a minivan.