Christmas Visit Shock

[corpcomp]

Booked three nights the week after Christmas at BCV - Had no problems getting a room.

Big surprise was that I was flying into Ft Lauderdale to visit the family Saturday - Christmas day and then driving up to DVC on Monday. Car rentals are being quoted as $160 per day, $340 for two days picking up at the airport and then driving to Dolphin for dropoff - never been charged that much for a rental. Alamo and National are the only two that go into Disney. Anyone got any other sugggestions?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Wait until much closer to your stay to book the car rental.

 

[LindaBabe]

Rent from whatever company - airport to airport. Then it won't matter if they have an office on Disney property. You'll pay a premium to drop on property.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Avis is at the Hilton in DTD. I agree that you just have to keep looking! Ihope you find something more reasonable!!!!

Bobbi

 

[ldo]

If the price is a lot lower, I would book for MCO now and take ME, and, if rates go down, just cancel the MCO reservation. Also, I think Hertz has a drop at Shades of Green. I have used Avis to DTD Hilton many times. Elaine

 

[toniosmom]

Rent from whatever company - airport to airport. Then it won't matter if they have an office on Disney property. You'll pay a premium to drop on property.

Just curious -- if you were to rent a car and drop it off at Orlando airport, can you take ME to the resort?

 

[stopher1]

And Budget is over at the Doubletree within the DTD hotel area.

Unless you choose a pre-paid rate, you can always change your reservation later on with no penalty. Rates will fluctuate a lot between now and then.

 

[corpcomp]

Thanks everyone. I'll look into both DTD and dropping off at MCO. Unfortunately in Florida, the rental companies charge a big surcharge for not bringing the car back to the same location. And then there are the tire wear fees, battery usage fees, Florida car usage fee, etc..

But I did get a special rate for the plane fare for our July trip yesterday, $89 each way out of JFK. Of course then there is the seat selection fee, checked baggage fee - you know the drill. Surprised there is no fee to get into the baggage area to actually get your bag after the trip - at least not yet.

 

[Brian Noble]

in Florida, the rental companies charge a big surcharge for not bringing the car back to the same location

In general, I have not seen this---and I have mixed and matched MCO, TPA, and Swolphin desks with National. I don't know why FLL would be any different. In fact, I just quoted a fictional 2-day rental, FLL to Swolphin, for later this month and got the standard daily rate from National. It's not super-cheap, but it's not $300. More like $100 all-in.

I think what you are seeing is just that the car rental rates have been high for holiday periods unless you are willing to play chicken and wait until the last minute.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I rented a car Thanksgiving weekend from the Miami Airport and returned it to the Orlando Airport 4 days later for $150.

It was through Alamo

 

[corpcomp]

In general, I have not seen this---and I have mixed and matched MCO, TPA, and Swolphin desks with National. I don't know why FLL would be any different. In fact, I just quoted a fictional 2-day rental, FLL to Swolphin, for later this month and got the standard daily rate from National. It's not super-cheap, but it's not $300. More like $100 all-in.

I think what you are seeing is just that the car rental rates have been high for holiday periods unless you are willing to play chicken and wait until the last minute.

Alamo reflected a 10% surcharge for non return when I got the quote. The car I'm renting for Spring break for 4 days was $350 for a convertible which seemed reasonable. But to pay the same amount for two days was shocking.

I will end up waiting. Just not sure what the airfare on Christmas day will be. Just too far out for booking by the airlines yet. That may be a deal breaker and we may just stay home or go to our place in the OBX.

 

[liznboys]

When we used to rent I made good use of this page:
http://www.mousesavers.com/rentalcar.html

 

[DeeDeeDis]

I'd keep my eyes open for flights from Ft Lauderdale to Orlando, for 160.00 i'm sure you can find a cheaper flight than that.

 

[Disney Princess]

We rented through National over New Year's and got a great rate using a code from Mousesavers. Please take a look at her site and try the different codes for which you are eligible. We picked up from MCO on New Year's Eve and returned the car to the Dolphin on January 3rd. We paid $126. It was a great bargain when I compared to other rental agencies, especially because it was a holiday. Do try and plug in different rate codes that you qualify for. Good luck!

 

[schewy]

If you can find a car rental agency close to the airport that will let you drop your car at WDW property then I would suggest taking a taxi to the car rental place from the airport in Ft. Lauderdale.
I flew into MCO last summer. The cost of renting a vehicle at the airport vs. renting approximatley 1-2 miles away from the airport was tremendous. Plus you don' t have to pay the additional cost of airport rental car taxes and other tacked on charges to drive the price way up.
Just something to consider.

 

[MinnieGi]

Yikes on those rates!! Makes me doubly glad we booked the autotrain for our trip next Christmas!!!

But I would keep looking for coupons and specials, those rates should come down!

 

[MinnieGi]

Yikes on those rates!! Makes me doubly glad we booked the autotrain for our trip next Christmas!!!

But I would keep looking for coupons and specials, those rates should come down!

 

[corpcomp]

If you can find a car rental agency close to the airport that will let you drop your car at WDW property then I would suggest taking a taxi to the car rental place from the airport in Ft. Lauderdale.
I flew into MCO last summer. The cost of renting a vehicle at the airport vs. renting approximatley 1-2 miles away from the airport was tremendous. Plus you don' t have to pay the additional cost of airport rental car taxes and other tacked on charges to drive the price way up.
Just something to consider.

Thanks. Tried that by picking up in Boca where the family lives but prices were close to the same as the airport. Bad issue is going anywhere for christmas. By then the airlines will be charging for using the air vents above our heads.