Going in August...best time to reserve car?

[kathyg]

We will be going in August...Ft. Lauderdale to Universal to Disney...total of three weeks. There will be 6 of us. My question is when should I think about reserving a car and who should I go with?

Thanks.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm going in August and reserved my minivan a couple of months ago through Dollar. With 6 people I would get a minivan. I keep checking and have changed my reservation several times using new codes when they come out. I started at about $1000 for the two weeks (including all taxes and fees) and am now down to $600 for the two weeks(including all taxes and fees). mousesavers.com is a great place to get the discount codes.

 

[MEK]

The nice thing about rental cars is that you can hold several reservations at once. You just cancel the ones you don't need. There are no deals yet for August - it's too soon. But you can start checking prices. I find that Orbitz is very good at listing all the companies and the up to date prices. It gives good side by side comparisons. Then work with the codes from mousesavers.com.

I have gotten two very good deals from Thrifty (Aug 2005, Nove 2006). They are off site, but the shuttle comes in about 2 minutes and the lines were very short at the rental counter. I got 8 day rentals (mid size) for $160 both times. Last time we arrived around 9:30pm - got upgraded to a van. You can't beat that. It was not inconvenient going off site, compared to renting on site. Alamo often has the longest lines of on site companies.

However, Thrifty does not always have sales so you have to check periodically.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

We have a June/July trip. I booked a minivan for $356 for 11 days. I think that is steep. I am glad I booked though. I can't find anything much cheaper than $450 for my dates (week of July 4th). Hoping for deals down the road.