Got great $20 day rate w/Alamo! Should we take it?

[GEM]

Hi! We (just hubby and me) are driving from Arkansas to WDW in December. We aren't afraid to fly or anything, we just always drive to WDW when we can because we like to take a large cooler, etc. Plus, we just enjoy the drive! However, we have been a little worried that our old car might not make this trip so well. So, I checked out the Alamo website and found what seemed like a great deal. We can get a compact four-door car for $20 a day with unlimited nationwide mileage! We can drive it anywhere inside the US without paying for the miles. Our rental cost for picking up on Dec. 5th and dropping back off on Dec. 20th would only be $338 including all taxes, fees, etc. Also, the airport location in Little Rock will accept a debit card. We will not have to have a regular credit card for the rental - which we don't have.

This sounds like a really good deal for us. Is it too good to be true? Is there a catch? What kind of experiences have you guys had with Alamo? Will they stick us with any extra fees that aren't mentioned on the website? What about the extra insurance and all that? Should we get that, or will our regular car insurance cover us? We only have liability insurance on our car. We have never rented a car before, so we aren't sure about the answers to these questions. Can anybody help?

 

[Beverly Lynn]

most airports have fees of road surchares and tis charge nad that charge and taxes. just look at what they tell you. does it mention addiotnal charges? are the taxes in cludes?

 

[ducklite]

If you have only liability and no major credit card with the extra coverage, you will need to take the insurance, which will add at least $15 per day to the cost.

Anne

 

[GEM]

These are the fees that are included in the total. Do you think we should be worried about any extra fees - or is this pretty much it?

Base Rate - Compact - 4-Door (USD)
(2) Weekly Rate ($109.00/wk)
(1) Daily Rate ($20.00/day)
Rate Code US
Guaranteed Base Rate
Unlimited Mileage

Subtotal....................$238.00

Taxes, Surcharges and Fees:
Concession Recoupment Fee (11.11%) - $26.44
Sales Tax (18.13%) - $52.02
Vehicle Property Tax Recovery Chrge ($1.50/day) - $22.50

Subtotal....................$100.96

Grand Total....................$338.96


Also, if our debit card has a visa logo on it, does it provide any insurance coverage for us? If we have to pay extra for insurance, it really isn't such a good deal for us anymore.

Thanks so much!!

 

[ducklite]

The debit card offers no insurance protection at all.

You should also make sure there isn't an added charge for a second driver...

Anne

 

[GEM]

I guess we won't do it then. We'll just hope our car makes it. There is no charge for a second driver, but adding the insurance almost doubles the amount we would have to pay!!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by GEM
I guess we won't do it then. We'll just hope our car makes it. There is no charge for a second driver, but adding the insurance almost doubles the amount we would have to pay!!

Please don't take this wrong--but if you aren't sure your car would make it, than wouldn't it be prudent to bite the bullet and rent the car anyway? It would certainly cost more than $600 to fix a broken down car on the way. Besides, if the car is in iffy shape, it doesn't need the extra miles I woudln't think...

Anne

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the concern, but there really isn't anything "wrong" with the car - other than it is old and has lots of miles on it. We are planning on getting a new car in the spring and we were just trying to decide if we should try to squeeze one last Disney trip out of this one. It has made the trip lots of times. It's not like it breaks down all the time or anything. If it did, we certainly wouldn't consider taking it. It's actually in pretty good shape for an old car. It's a 92 Nissan Sentra with almost 250,000 miles on it. Since we are getting a new one soon, we definately aren't worried about putting more miles on it. It's a little late to worry about that! We were really justing thinking that we might rent one this time, since we found such a good deal. Oh well . . . My husband pretty much already decided he didn't want to rent one when he found out it wouldn't have a CD player in it - just a casette. Ours has a CD player in it. In fact, we don't own any tapes, just lots of CDs. He was thinking it would be a pretty long trip with just the radio to listen to. We drove it to Connecticut and back this summer without any problems, so I guess we can do it one more time. Thanks for all the help!