Car Rental Prices are ridiculous for FEB!!

[tigger2on]

Anyone know why? Every place I have looked ... the cheapest rate I can get for the cheapest car is $600+ !!! What is with that?
Anyone know how I can get a "normal" price?

 

[Drakestar]

Anyone know why? Every place I have looked ... the cheapest rate I can get for the cheapest car is $600+ !!! What is with that?
Anyone know how I can get a "normal" price?

i just looked on expedia.ca (canada) and got a price of 239 incl. taxes for an economy, for feb 3-10.

 

[JennSaint]

Did you check Hotwire? What are your dates and what type of car are you looking to book?

 

[Darcy03231]

From your ticker it looks like you'll be there the 4th week of February. That's a big school vacation week in the Northeast (we're off that week). If you're just trying to book now there my be limited availability which is driving the price up.

I would try Priceline. I got a car last year for April vacation using Priceline. While it was more than what I paid in the past, it was definitely better than what I was being quoted directly from the car rental agencies.

 

[shoes99]

We are using the free day with National for one week and still paying $227.74 for a midsize. Using 5007125 and NF2511JDC Ent book 1 free day. I also have the 1-2-3 free coupon but I can't seem to combine it to get cheaper than $227.74. Rental dates are 2/27 to 3/6.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Be patient and as the time gets closer look at the last minute deals. If all else fails then try priceline.

 

[KelnRon]

We are going in Feb. also and having a horrible time of finding anything under $1000 for a minivan!!! After much research I found this:

http://www.orlandoinfo.com/magicard/listings.cfm?searchCategory=transportation

We are flying into Tampa so not sure if it is more expensive then MCO? But with the Magicard for Thrifty I found a minivan for a total price of $484. You might try the code on the website!

 

[Esmerelda]

Don't feel bad. I too was recently checking for early December of 2010 for around 7 days. I checked Avis, National, and Dollar.

I got well over $1,100 at each website. What the he~~.....I don't want to buy the car, just use it for 7 days.

If we go, we will end up flying and just using a taxi when necessary for those prices.

Yikes!

 

[samshane]

We are going the first week of Feb (2/2 - 2/11 to be exact) right before the vacation season starts. Having grown up in New England, I knew vacations started toward the middle to end of Feb.

I shopped and shopped around and someone on here had mentioned Costco discounts - we are Costco members - and I was able to get a intermediate car for that time period for $201 (with all the taxes). I am happy. We went through Alamo - I tried some other places, but they were all about $100 more expensive. We can deal with an intermediate sized car... we deal with that now at home!

Though I think the later you get in the month - the worse it will be. But I will still continue to check as it gets closer - as it is, I started out at $265 and kept checking and now I am down to $201.

 

[twinsplusone]

We're flying into Tampa and originally I had a reservation for $199/wk (mini-van) but our flight time changed and now I think it will be void so I started shopping around and you're right the prices are outrageous. Our travel dates are 2/20-2/27. I also found a decent deal through the link previously posted with Thrifty. It's for a full-size and the base price is $264. DH said we'll manage with a full-size (we have 3 little kids) so we're saving a few bucks with not renting a mini-van. I'll keep checking as our time gets closer.

This car rental business drives me crazy.