Car rental recommendations near airport?

[pcgmom]

I am beginning to think about another trip to Orlando, and I am curious about what car rental companies you would recommend. How big of a difference does it make to have the pick-up at the airport? We have never flown or rented a car with children, so I am open to all suggestions. TIA.

 

[1stluvispooh]

I can only speak for the 2 times that we have rented cars. The first time about 11 years ago before kids we went with Alamo. They had a shuttle bus to pick up and take you to get your car offsite of the airport. It was spring break time and very busy. But as I said this was YEARS ago. Three years ago when we had a 3 and 5 year old in tow we rented with Dollar. They have there agency at the airport and when my son (5) started to have a melt down because the car wasn't red the lady upgraded us to a van which was red at no charge. Unfortunatly it was at a different part of the termenal so we had a walk that sounded like it was going to be a long one but realy wasn't. We are planning a trip in Oct. and I will most likly us Dollar again. Hope this helps. Have fun

 

[AJKMOM]

If you search thru the travel websites, like Expedia or Travelocity, they will give you all the deals and tell you whether the location is at the airport or offsite. It is much more convenient to be at the airport, but you usually get a better deal offsite. Only problem is that when you need to return the car, you have to add extra time to travel back to the airport. That can be up to an hour extra depending on when you travel.

 

[LISAMWDW]

For convienence, get a rental car onsite. National is great! You can find great discount codes at www.mousesavers.com

 

[crjack]

We always rent a car when visiting Orlando and have used National, Alamo, Budget and Dollar. All were on-site except for Alamo and although it wasn't that big of a deal to use the shuttle, we do prefer to use an on-site agency if possible.

Have you signed up for the mousesavers newsletter yet? Using the discount codes listed there for car rentals our last two rentals, using Dollar and Budget, have been cheaper than the off-site agencies. You should definitely check it out for a possible savings.

 

[slk537]

We love, love, love using Alamo - they are onsite now at the airport and it is so easy. I usually pick up the luggage and put it on a cart while DH gets the car papers/check in and then we walk across the street and pick out our car. Then when we come back at the end of the trip, we drive in and drop off the car and get a luggage rack to take our packages to checkin. Very easy.

You can select any car you want that is in your "category". Alamo often has intermediate SUVs on "sale" even cheaper than the economy cars. If you have an AP, you can also get up to 20% off. They have never asked to see our AP's though...???

We have an intermediate SUV rented next month for two full weeks and are paying $218.00 with a $25 coupon (found on their website).

One nice thing about rental car rates is that you can go online and book them at no cost and then keep checking back. You can rebook and cancel at no cost over and over until you get the best rate you want. I've gone from $400+ down to $168 at times for trips, so it pays to keep checking.

Do check the discount codes at mousesavers.com. And if you have an AP, the Dis has that code listed. If your kids are in car seats, if they are FAA approved you can bring them on the plane for them to sit in and then just install them in the rental. If you prefer, you can also check the carseats at the airport and then put them in the car. You can also rent them along with the car, but we've found that DS prefers his own.

We've always gone with Alamo (9+ times), including when they were offsite, and have been very happy. I've looked at other rentals and either they have been more expensive or scary cheap and not reliably reviewed.

Good luck!!! Renting a car to have at WDW is excellent! You can get from place to place so much faster. We love eating at the resort restaurants and nothing beats hopping in the car and not worrying about switching buses or whatever.

 

[Nairnyn]

I haven't used them yet, but I have a reservation through Alamo for next week, and the price was EXCELLENT. I'm excited!

 

[mbb]

I'm going to pop this over to the Transportation Board for you

I know - in addition to all the advice you've recieved here, thanks all! - you'll get some more great rental car tips


Mary Beth