I was looking at rental car prices and had a stroke

[debbiedana]

$76 a day at MCO? Are you kidding? For a compact?

I'm looking at Tue Feb 22 - Fri Feb 25. Thinking about cheating on Mickey and going to Universal for a few days using some credit card airline points and staying in a cheap hotel. I was NOT prepared to see $400 for a four day rental. That blows my budget.

Am I missing something?

 

[vicki_c]

You need a code. Check mousesavers.

 

[Swimmergirl]

Have you tried applying codes? mousesavers.com, rentalcarmomma.com and carrentalsavers.com are good places to check. I looked at car rental savers and found a car for you dates for around $170. And keep checking! We're still debating if we'll get a car this summer, it just keeps getting more expensive every year. Good luck!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I called to check on renting a large SUV for our trip in May and I was quoted 1200.00. FORGET it!! We will be driving two cars down.

 

[debbiedana]

This was WITH the discount codes. Crazy!

 

[debbiedana]

I looked at car rental savers and found a car for you dates for around $170.

I tried there too and got it down to $65 a day...

 

[dudspizza]

Rental car rates are out of control.... they are higher than I have ever seen before..... $500 plus for 10 days in March...... luckily I booked months ago for $222 for the 10 days!

Duds

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Is that your entire stay? If not, try to increase your rental to 5 days to get a weekly rate. The problem is you're hitting daily rates which are always higher.

 

[jeff968]

Your dates are within President's week. That is why the prices are so high. I got very reasonable rental prices for that week but I had to get them in July!!! The same story with flights. It is a very popular week.

 

[rvchat]

prices are crazy.

not sure why this is such an $$$ week. it's ALWAYS raining and freezing cold this time of year! LOL

 

[RainbowsMist]

Rental car rates are out of control.... they are higher than I have ever seen before..... $500 plus for 10 days in March...... luckily I booked months ago for $222 for the 10 days!

Duds

Do you mind me asking some info...we too are going 10 days in March. Just wondering who you went through and what size car you have booked. I booked months ago as well and the cheapest I could find was $472 with Budget..this is for a mini van...I also have an intermediate booked as well for $252..we are a family of 5 so the van would be much better.

 

[rigs32]

1) Those dates fall within a crazy busy week.
2) It's only 3 days, so you don't qualify for week-long discounts.
3) It's mid-week, so no weekend rental discounts.

Have you tried running the numbers for a 5+ day rental and then you just return the vehicle early? That might make you eligible for discounts or coupons.

 

[Orlando Vic]

Your dates are within President's week. That is why the prices are so high. I got very reasonable rental prices for that week but I had to get them in July!!! The same story with flights. It is a very popular week.

To this, I would add that the Daytona 500 is February 20th and many of those fans fly into Orlando, rent cars at MCO and perhaps stay a few more days in the area.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Have you tried running the numbers for a 5+ day rental and then you just return the vehicle early? That might make you eligible for discounts or coupons.

Doing this most often results in the rental being repriced at return as you failed to meet the original requirements of the discount/rate provided.

 

[dudspizza]

Do you mind me asking some info...we too are going 10 days in March. Just wondering who you went through and what size car you have booked. I booked months ago as well and the cheapest I could find was $472 with Budget..this is for a mini van...I also have an intermediate booked as well for $252..we are a family of 5 so the van would be much better.

I booked way back on August 26th. Someone posted on the DIS that National was having great rates for Feb, so I booked hoping my dates would pan out. They did and I have a decent rate. Right now, I am very happy.

I used the Continental code 5007160 and a $40 off 10 day rental coupon out of the Entertainment book. It was in the 2010 book, but is not in the 2011 book.

duds

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm looking at Tue Feb 22 - Fri Feb 25.

As others have mentioned, you have three problems:
1: it's president's week
2: you don't have a saturday night stay
3: your rental is only 3-4 days

Add 'em together, and this leads to very high prices. You might want to see if your employer has any established contracts that employees can use for leisure travel (mine does, with National). But, book what you can now and keep checking. As we get closer, there's a chance that prices will drop---but only if cars don't sell out. If they do sell out, you won't get one at any price.

 

[SarahKate]

Are you staying offsite? If not, take a look at the places on Disney property. We'll be there Feb. 11-17 and I booked a full size SUV from Alamo at a rate of $257 (and yep, that is the total cost w/ all the fees). I used a code thru rentalcarmomma and also there was a Visa code I was able to stack on.

ALSO - something surprising to me was that it was wayyyyy cheaper to rent on Disney property than at Orlando airport......a few hundred bucks cheaper!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

ALSO - something surprising to me was that it was wayyyyy cheaper to rent on Disney property than at Orlando airport......a few hundred bucks cheaper!

I've found more often then not renting on property is more expensive for the same rental. Now there are advantages to renting on property, especially if you don't need the car the full period.

 

[jpeppers]

I'm watching for about a week later and the prices are currently incredibly high but I started checking rates a few weeks ahead of my dates and they drop drastically so hopefully the closer it gets to the date it will drop, 2 weeks before my dates the rates are $109-$150 a week but for my time they are $400-$700......keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[vavalynn2]

I am renting during the same period and found Budget to be the cheapest with 15% off florida rentals from mousesavers. And applying it gave me more like 60% off!