Car rental- good or bad rental companies?

[leebee]

NEVER DOLLAR, at least at MCO. Terrible experiences with them, just search.

When making the reservation, I never book with a company that wants my credit card number when reserving. Free cancellation is the name of the game! At MCO I only use the "legacy" agencies, those that have rental desks AT the airport. I haven't used Sixt yet because they haven't come in as the cheapest for my needs, but they are a huge rental company in Europe with good ratings; if they had the best price, I'd book with them.

Be careful when renting; make sure you aren't mistakenly getting an electric vehicle, which is what seems to have the best rates. I am not opposed to electric vehicles, but I don't want to spend my vacation time trying to find charging stations, waiting for the vehicle to charge, etc. Also, I don't completely understand the rules for returning an EV... how "full" does the charge have to be, and stuff like that.

 

[StAugustine]

Stay with the on-site companies. That will save you having to take a shuttle to an off-site location to pick up the car. I was on a shuttle once that was pulled over by Orlando PD while going to an off-site location, but that's a story for another day.

I have had good luck with Avis/Budget, but my go to is Alamo. If you join the Insiders Club you can do accelerated check-in, print out all the paperwork in advance, skip the counter and go directly to the car pickup area in the parking garage. Attendants there will direct you to the cars and you can choose any car in your price category.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I just watched a car rental at my car dealership upon a return of rental and taking pictures of every inch of the car. Including the rooftop .
Maybe I will just Uber everywhere from now on.