Car rental prices seem very high!

[shelly3girls]

We are trying to find a mid-size for 9/30-10/5 The cheapest I can find is Thrifty ($115) but I do not know anything about them and really don't want to have to take a shuttle. National is $157 for these dates using the Priceless code. This just seems really high! I have never paid this much. I am thinking I will just skip the car rental and use DME but our flight home does not leave until 4:30. We were hoping to spend the morning in DTD then drive to the airport but not at these prices. Anyone make out better for this time of year?

 

[Jeanne B]

I may be mistaken but I think you'll find that the car rental rates will start dropping as you get closer to September. I've had pretty good luck with Alamo the last couple of times. I'll probably go ahead and reserve a car with them this weekend and then keep checking periodically to see if the rates come down between now and Octbober.

 

[ncbyrne]

I agree with you - I have never seen prices this high for a FL location. I'm so glad that I reserved my car several months ago and got a decent price at National. Right after I booked it the prices started to climb and they have not gone down at all! My instincts tell me that the increase has coincided with the beginning of ME.

 

[dozeman]

I read an article in USA Today last week stating Alamo will now charge a ten dollar cancellation fee on all reservations. I don't know when the start date is, but everyone be aware of this new policy.

 

[ckret01]

I agree I have never seen them so high. I too amd looking for Sept dates for car rentals. I am wondering if it's b/c of last year w/ all the hurricanes and then running out of cars that they are raising the prices now for that time of year. Just a thought.

 

[dtsaos]

We were going to take Amtrak but might drive now instead. But a couple of months ago I booked a weekly full size rental with National for $204 w/ tax. I checked there site last week and the same rental would run $275 w/tax now. And that price was for the internet "special" rate!

 

[dtsaos]

A while ago I read on here about www.e-zrentacar.com and they didn't work for us since we were doing Amtrak . Anyway I just checked the rates for a week in sept at MCO and got a rate of $105 w/taxes for an economy. I think you have to take a shuttle to get to them though. I do remember that the reviews on them seemed to be positive...

 

[Mr Poohbrain]

Shelly,

I agree - we're going at the same time and prices seem very high. I did notice that a midsize at Alamo just went down. I booked it about 3 weeks ago and the total was around 235 (8 days, includes the multitude of taxes, surcharges, etc). I re-booked yesterday and am down to $170 (total).

Hoping to get to the $120 range, or will take ME.

Mrs. PB

 

[k_k_100]

I read an article in USA Today last week stating Alamo will now charge a ten dollar cancellation fee on all reservations. I don't know when the start date is, but everyone be aware of this new policy.

mmmm... This is interesting - when I've made my reservations on the web w/ Alamo I didn't even have to put in a credit card #. Has this changed or should we assume it will change? I always book a car w/ Alamo as soon as I see a decent rate - it is so easy to change/cancel that there is nothing to loose. I like having a "sure thing" and then if something better comes up it's just a bonus

 

[shelly3girls]

From what I read with Alamo is that the $10 fee only applies if you book getting the extra 10% discount for prepaid internet reservations. The is also a time frame that you can cancel for free. This is what I found on Mousesavers.com

Prepay and Save - Get an extra 10% off the lowest rates when you book your rental at Alamo.com and prepay in full. There is a cancellation fee: if the reservation is cancelled more than 24 hours before the pick up time, a $10 cancellation fee will be charged to your credit card. If the reservation is cancelled within 24 hours of the pick up or is not picked up at all, a $25 no-show fee will charged to your credit card. 72-hour advance reservation required.