Car Rental with Air Miles

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wondering if anybody here has ever rented a car with their air miles? I am contemplating this for June as it seems there are no good cash rates available. I know I will have to pay the taxes as they don't get covered by the air miles but just wondering if anybody has done this before and if there are any other weird catches I should be aware of?

 

[Donald - my hero]

We find this is a GREAT use of our AM .. don't have time at the moment to explain but i will put something together for you tomorrow.

 

[mjhtvchick]

We have booked with Budget through AirMiles and haven't had any problems.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We find this is a GREAT use of our AM .. don't have time at the moment to explain but i will put something together for you tomorrow.

Thanks! That would be great. I have rented cars at MCO every trip but it has always been with cash. First time doing it with air miles.

We have booked with Budget through AirMiles and haven't had any problems.

Budget seems to be the best value for my air miles so probably what I will book. Did you have to show your air miles card or anything like that or just the reservation name?

 

[mjhtvchick]

Thanks! That would be great. I have rented cars at MCO every trip but it has always been with cash. First time doing it with air miles.



Budget seems to be the best value for my air miles so probably what I will book. Did you have to show your air miles card or anything like that or just the reservation name?

No, I didn't have to show anything - just worked like a pre-paid reservation.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Here's The Duck's info re:car rentals with AM
Like I have said in numerous places on the board, we have found this a GREAT use of our miles. I'll give you a few tips and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask

• Play around with the length of time you want the car, we saved a ton by doing 2 7 day rentals back-to-back vs 1 rental of either 10 - 14 days
• Try various time periods with the thought that car rental days are 24 hr time frame from the moment you pick the car up NOT what you filled the form out for online -- we once saved close to 500 miles simply by telling the system we were picking up at 5 pm and returning at 8 am. Kept the car for the same number of days, just a different time period within that
• Try different locations - you mentioned renting at MCO. We *usually* rent on-site so we can use DME to take care of the luggage and cut 2 days off the rental period (arrival and departure day) The same car can cost less depending on the county the agency is in and if they have to pay premium (hotel, airport being examples) All of the agencies in the Disney area have shuttle services
• Be sure to book the category of car you want because they will charge you an arm & a leg if you decide you want to upgrade to something bigger
• Insurance: you more than likely have coverage from your personal plan so just take a copy of the info with you. If your plan covers a rental during repairs you will have that rider, if not it will cost less to have it added than to pay at the counter
• Make sure you bring a copy of the paperwork you get from AM with you to pick up the car. Do NOT forget it -- this can be a very costly error! Your reservation will show up in their system as "pre-paid" but without proof of exactly what you paid they can quote you the current walk-up rate for your rental, and since this is what the tax will be based on you could get burned!
• You will pay nothing until you return the car and then it will be only the tax and gas if you neglected to return it full (or chose the option of paying for the tank up-front, something we never do because we can fill it up cheaper!)
• You will need to pay a booking fee to AM when you make the reservation which is around $10 plus HST

One last thought on this: Disney is now charging for parking so think carefully about how much that will add to your trip and how many days you truly need the vehicle. Have a BLAST

 

[mkmommy]

Thinking of using AM to book an expensive 1 way rental out west, to trick myself into thinking it is not so expensive, but question if you cancel the reservation do you get the Airmiles back?

 

[Donald - my hero]

Thinking of using AM to book an expensive 1 way rental out west, to trick myself into thinking it is not so expensive, but question if you cancel the reservation do you get the Airmiles back?

No, when you redeem your miles for anything you generally have no chance to get them back. You can add insurance when you redeem for any travel related expenses (flights hotels or car rentals) but i think the cost is outrageous. We recently redeemed for a single night in a hotel in Toronto for 2000 miles and when i check what they would charge for the insurance??? Yeah, it was almost $200

***edited to clear up my muddy answer

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Here's The Duck's info re:car rentals with AM
Like I have said in numerous places on the board, we have found this a GREAT use of our miles. I'll give you a few tips and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask

• Play around with the length of time you want the car, we saved a ton by doing 2 7 day rentals back-to-back vs 1 rental of either 10 - 14 days
• Try various time periods with the thought that car rental days are 24 hr time frame from the moment you pick the car up NOT what you filled the form out for online -- we once saved close to 500 miles simply by telling the system we were picking up at 5 pm and returning at 8 am. Kept the car for the same number of days, just a different time period within that
• Try different locations - you mentioned renting at MCO. We *usually* rent on-site so we can use DME to take care of the luggage and cut 2 days off the rental period (arrival and departure day) The same car can cost less depending on the county the agency is in and if they have to pay premium (hotel, airport being examples) All of the agencies in the Disney area have shuttle services
• Be sure to book the category of car you want because they will charge you an arm & a leg if you decide you want to upgrade to something bigger
• Insurance: you more than likely have coverage from your personal plan so just take a copy of the info with you. If your plan covers a rental during repairs you will have that rider, if not it will cost less to have it added than to pay at the counter
• Make sure you bring a copy of the paperwork you get from AM with you to pick up the car. Do NOT forget it -- this can be a very costly error! Your reservation will show up in their system as "pre-paid" but without proof of exactly what you paid they can quote you the current walk-up rate for your rental, and since this is what the tax will be based on you could get burned!
• You will pay nothing until you return the car and then it will be only the tax and gas if you neglected to return it full (or chose the option of paying for the tank up-front, something we never do because we can fill it up cheaper!)
• You will need to pay a booking fee to AM when you make the reservation which is around $10 plus HST

One last thought on this: Disney is now charging for parking so think carefully about how much that will add to your trip and how many days you truly need the vehicle. Have a BLAST

Thanks so much for the info!

We have always had a rental car as we tend to go off property to grocery shop and for some meals. This time around my mom wants to go to the Outlets at Vineland. TBH, the idea of planning a trip without a rental car hurt my brain.

 

[Silvermist999]

Thinking of using AM to book an expensive 1 way rental out west, to trick myself into thinking it is not so expensive, but question if you cancel the reservation do you get the Airmiles back?

We have used air miles for our car rentals a number of times. No issues whatsoever.

We had to cancel our WDW trip last minute in 2015 due to a family emergency, along with the MCO car rental. They reinstated all of our AM for the car rental. The AM rep I dealt with that day definitely went above and beyond, as we had no expectation they would do that. I think it's definitely at their discretion, even though the official rules say otherwise.