Costco Car Rental Prices

[Doingitagain]

I am renting a car at MCO for use at WDW. In the past, we have used Costco Travel to rent a car from Budget and it worked very well. Now I am noticing that the prices from Costco are higher than what I can get from Budget, even when adding in the cost of the extra driver ((and using the standard non-member rates). A friend just found the same situation last week renting a car in San Diego from Budget. Am I missing some benefit from Costco, like insurance or other fees?

 

[VGCgroupie]

I am renting a car at MCO for use at WDW. In the past, we have used Costco Travel to rent a car from Budget and it worked very well. Now I am noticing that the prices from Costco are higher than what I can get from Budget, even when adding in the cost of the extra driver ((and using the standard non-member rates). A friend just found the same situation last week renting a car in San Diego from Budget. Am I missing some benefit from Costco, like insurance or other fees?

Make sure Budget is showing teh all in price, often the 1st page isnt adding taxes and fees.

My rental this week Costco was cheaper or the same across various agencies. The huge plus with Costco is the ease of cancellation. Prices fluctuate multiple times per day. I cancelled and rebooked 3 times, in the end I saved $75 by canceling and rebooking the new lower price.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I haven't found Costco to be the best price in nearly 2 years. The citi travel portal beats them consistently. I have an october trip upcoming and the current difference is $120 cheaper with citi.

 

[gmi3804]

Costco hasn't been viable for me for a couple years as well. I let AutoSlash find me a rate (it's almost always less than Costco's) and then have them track the rental. They almost always find something even lower, so I re-book and let them watch that rate. They seem to get good rates through Priceline, so I let them do the booking and have never once had a problem with them.

 

[Doingitagain]

Make sure Budget is showing teh all in price, often the 1st page isnt adding taxes and fees.

My rental this week Costco was cheaper or the same across various agencies. The huge plus with Costco is the ease of cancellation. Prices fluctuate multiple times per day. I cancelled and rebooked 3 times, in the end I saved $75 by canceling and rebooking the new lower price.

I read the Budget terms and it says we can cancel, but it has to be before the pickup time or we get charged $75. So similar to Costco.

 

[EACarlson]

Costco hasn't been viable for me for a couple years as well. I let AutoSlash find me a rate (it's almost always less than Costco's) and then have them track the rental. They almost always find something even lower, so I re-book and let them watch that rate. They seem to get good rates through Priceline, so I let them do the booking and have never once had a problem with them.

You're misunderstanding how AutoSlash get's their rates. They check all of the known publicly available discount codes. Pay Later rates are always through Priceline as that is how they make money, Priceline gives them a little taste of the referral fee that the rental companies pay Priceline. Priceline is also one of the few options that allows users to enter their loyalty numbers.

I always check a couple of private codes I have access to, then go to Autoslash. Occasionally the public codes available from AAA give better prices than what AutoSlash can find due to Hertz's system issues with checking AAA rates online.

AutoSlash will check Costco prices as well as others when you check the appropriate box.

 

[gmi3804]

You're misunderstanding how AutoSlash get's their rates.

I don’t believe I said anything about how AutoSlash gets their rates.

 

[Lewisc]

They seem to get good rates through Priceline,

don’t believe I said anything about how AutoSlash gets their rates.

They book through Priceline but the rates have nothing to do with Priceline.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Alamo is cheap for our trip in October. We planned to use a black car to/from MCO and then have a car for 5 days from Car Care Center. Just picked up 7 days (6 nights) Alamo MCO for $422 for Standard Elite SUV. I had hoped to save DH the pain of driving around MCO but I was able to save almost $200 and he doesn't have to drive a Rogue. Prices have certainly dropped for that time period anyway!

 

[Doingitagain]

Make sure Budget is showing teh all in price, often the 1st page isnt adding taxes and fees.

This answered my question! Costco quotes a final price, but Budget only showed the base price until checkout…and taxes and fees are quite high! Costco and Budget base price was similar, but Costco included a second driver for free which made it cheaper,

 

[gmi3804]

This answered my question! Costco quotes a final price, but Budget only showed the base price until checkout…and taxes and fees are quite high! Costco and Budget base price was similar, but Costco included a second driver for free which made it cheaper,

There's a feature in the search to display rates including all taxes before you check out.

 

[gmi3804]

Alamo is cheap for our trip in October. We planned to use a black car to/from MCO and then have a car for 5 days from Car Care Center. Just picked up 7 days (6 nights) Alamo MCO for $422 for Standard Elite SUV. I had hoped to save DH the pain of driving around MCO but I was able to save almost $200 and he doesn't have to drive a Rogue. Prices have certainly dropped for that time period anyway!

I don't think $422 is "cheap." I usually pay about $275-$325 for an SUV for a week.

Let AutoSlash track that rental rate for you.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I don't think $422 is "cheap." I usually pay about $275-$325 for an SUV for a week.

Let AutoSlash track that rental rate for you.

2022 we paid over $500 per week for an SUV so comparing our last trip, it is cheap for us. I have tried autoslash many times and never got a great price. I will give it a go again and see what I get. Thanks.

Edit: I just checked Autoslash $449 for Alamo (same SUV Audi or Cadillac). Yes, there are cheaper "no name" brand rentals but we stay away from them. Avis charged us for a car in 2022 ($1400) that we cancelled and we had to fight it through our CC but we won. Alamo has always been great. Thanks again for the tip.

 

[Lumpy1106]

2022 we paid over $500 per week for an SUV so comparing our last trip, it is cheap for us. I have tried autoslash many times and never got a great price. I will give it a go again and see what I get. Thanks.

Edit: I just checked Autoslash $449 for Alamo (same SUV Audi or Cadillac). Yes, there are cheaper "no name" brand rentals but we stay away from them. Avis charged us for a car in 2022 ($1400) that we cancelled and we had to fight it through our CC but we won. Alamo has always been great. Thanks again for the tip.

Now put that rental info into AutoSlash and see if they can find you a better deal. Nothing to lose.

 

[gmi3804]

2022 we paid over $500 per week for an SUV so comparing our last trip, it is cheap for us.

That’s because you didn’t use AutoSlash!

Seriously, you don’t “check” AutoSlash. You let them track the rental reservation you’ve already made. It’s two different things.

 

[EACarlson]

That’s because you didn’t use AutoSlash!

Seriously, you don’t “check” AutoSlash. You let them track the rental reservation you’ve already made. It’s two different things.

They are renting premium vehicles. The higher the class the less that Autoslash is going to be able to help. Autoslash also is not having nearly the success that they were previously.

 

[gmi3804]

They are renting premium vehicles. The higher the class the less that Autoslash is going to be able to help. Autoslash also is not having nearly the success that they were previously.

That's a YMMV situation. My most recent SUV rental was three weeks ago.

 

[leebee]

I always worry that "consolidators" (autoslash, carrentalsavers, etc) will quote me a price for a membership I don't have, like Costco, and then I'll be asked for my ID at the garage and be screwed on the price!

 

[EACarlson]

I always worry that "consolidators" (autoslash, carrentalsavers, etc) will quote me a price for a membership I don't have, like Costco, and then I'll be asked for my ID at the garage and be screwed on the price!

Autoslash specifically asks you if you have certain memberships and will only include those rates if you say you have them. I don't have a Costco membership but will usually check rates both with and without that box checked, a couple of times the savings have been almost enough to get me to become a member. If you get a quote from Autoslash and the price you pay isn't what they quoted for any reason that's not your fault, they will pay you the difference. It happened a couple years ago when one of the public codes got nerfed, they paid out to everybody that had booked using that code and had to pay a higher price.

 

[gmi3804]

I always worry that "consolidators" (autoslash, carrentalsavers, etc) will quote me a price for a membership I don't have, like Costco, and then I'll be asked for my ID at the garage and be screwed on the price!

Not once in dozens of AutoSlash rentals have I been asked for a membership ID from anywhere.