January 2011 car rental

[schriverl]

how'd you do that?!
i'm looking for alamo (or national) minivan for 1/23 morning-1/25 evening and i cannot get it below $208+tax... and i've used every code, link, etc i can find, signed up for the frequent traveler club, etc...
does it matter that i am renting from disney's car care ctr and not the airport?

I have always checked airport vs. Disney's Car Care Center (and other Disney car rental places) and always found that everything is at least 2x more expensive than the airport. It was way cheaper for me to rent from the airport for 10 days than 2 here and 2 there from disney property rentals.

 

[n2mm]

how'd you do that?!
i'm looking for alamo (or national) minivan for 1/23 morning-1/25 evening and i cannot get it below $208+tax... and i've used every code, link, etc i can find, signed up for the frequent traveler club, etc...
does it matter that i am renting from disney's car care ctr and not the airport?

You gotta have that Saturday night to get the perks of coupons. There's some good advice here in the PP above. Sometimes it's cheaper for a week vs a couple of days.

 

[Dizney73]

Note - I just tried carrentalsavers.com and was able to get a minivan for $211 for the 19-26th! Any good success stories with this site??

I was excited when I went to Alamo and saved $$$ and got my minivan for $240.54! I tried this sight and did a doubletake when the price cam up at $180.43!!!!

 

[mattiew]

I used the alamo codes from mouse savers . com

20% off California and Florida rates and $40 off a minivan rental.

Plus, by joining Alamo Insiders (free) my wife can be an additional driver for free.

Thanks for the codes!

 

[gigi1313]

You gotta have that Saturday night to get the perks of coupons. There's some good advice here in the PP above. Sometimes it's cheaper for a week vs a couple of days.

HOLY SMOKES!! i just did the whole week (we really only want it for two days, but what the heck?!) and it's $1 cheaper than 2.5 days!!! i'm thinking i will take the kids on DME and dh will get the car and drive to the resort... that way we can use the car to go to our arrival night dinner reservation w/out having to worry about timing and can go offsite for diapers and stuff instead of having garden grocer deliver...

we'll do the same on the way back... i'll take bus w/kids and dh can drive to the airport... this so works for us!

THANKS!

 

[n2mm]

HOLY SMOKES!! i just did the whole week (we really only want it for two days, but what the heck?!) and it's $1 cheaper than 2.5 days!!! i'm thinking i will take the kids on DME and dh will get the car and drive to the resort... that way we can use the car to go to our arrival night dinner reservation w/out having to worry about timing and can go offsite for diapers and stuff instead of having garden grocer deliver...

we'll do the same on the way back... i'll take bus w/kids and dh can drive to the airport... this so works for us!

THANKS!

That is amazing. Having that car to get from resort to resort for dining will save you tons of time. Also it's great to go to DtD too. Maybe venture out to the Disney outlet.

 

[munchkies_mom]

Congratulations, that is a great price. (never used them.)

Down to $201 today! Hoping to break the $200 mark before we leave!!!

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

Never used National EA before, but I signed up, watched deals and using the $35 off they had last week I got EA midsized for $158 including taxes and fees for 8 days the last week of January.

 

[gigi1313]

That is amazing. Having that car to get from resort to resort for dining will save you tons of time. Also it's great to go to DtD too. Maybe venture out to the Disney outlet.

VENTURE OFF SITE?!! Lions & Tigers & Bears! OH MY!!
not sure it's in our DNA to do such a thing!

 

[n2mm]

VENTURE OFF SITE?!! Lions & Tigers & Bears! OH MY!!
not sure it's in our DNA to do such a thing!

I guess you have to start with baby steps. When we started we would only go as far as the cross roads and some cast areas. We now venture lots of places and yes, we've gotten lost, but we love the adventure of new areas. We've even driven ourselves to Port Canaveral TWICE and never got lost. Disney does a great job in terms of signs and directions and we actually think the Orlando area does a great job with their signs too.

 

[At World's End]

HOLY SMOKES!! i just did the whole week (we really only want it for two days, but what the heck?!) and it's $1 cheaper than 2.5 days!!! i'm thinking i will take the kids on DME and dh will get the car and drive to the resort... that way we can use the car to go to our arrival night dinner reservation w/out having to worry about timing and can go offsite for diapers and stuff instead of having garden grocer deliver...

we'll do the same on the way back... i'll take bus w/kids and dh can drive to the airport... this so works for us!

THANKS!

I've never stayed onsite, but don't you have to board ME at least 3 hours prior to your return flight? I would think it would save time for everyone to drive to the airport together. Also, do resort guests get free parking in the parks? Seems like having a car would save alot of time instead of waiting for a bus.

 

[gigi1313]

I've never stayed onsite, but don't you have to board ME at least 3 hours prior to your return flight? I would think it would save time for everyone to drive to the airport together. Also, do resort guests get free parking in the parks? Seems like having a car would save alot of time instead of waiting for a bus.

we do have to board DME 3 hours in advance... but we don't mind, we also always get to our home airport a few hours ahead, it's how we roll... we typically enjoy a meal at the airport and let the little one run, run, run so he's tired on the plane! plus, i like the idea of handing off my luggage and not seeing it 'til we get home... nothing less fun than dragging luggage, three kids, car seat, stroller, etc thru the airport... so w/DME we don't have to!

yes, free parking is a perk of being a resort guest... but i doubt we'd bother... we actually like the buses (and monorail as we'll be at GF for part of our stay)...

call us crazy! LOL!

 

[doublea211]

Seems like having a car would save alot of time instead of waiting for a bus.

For us it does. My mom has severe arthritis and when she's done, she's done. She can't wait forever for a bus. That's the biggest reason why we always rent.

That being said, we do take the bus to MK because parking at the TTC takes so much more time.

My rates for Alamo, that I booked on 1/1/11, have gone up by almost $60 for 5 days. I guess I picked a good day to book.

Ours went up quite a bit as well. What's weird, though, is that the rate's now higher when using the Insider 20% off code than it is using the standard Insider ID. Odd

 

[Shelly888]

Does 314 for a full size car sound reasonable for 10 nights? It is from National. Just wondering if there is a better deal or if we should stick with it.

 

[doublea211]

Does 314 for a full size car sound reasonable for 10 nights? It is from National. Just wondering if there is a better deal or if we should stick with it.

I'd check Alamo and try Insider and some one of their coupons. I checked a 10 day stretch at the end of Jan and got a fullsize for $185.78 with the regular Insider code and the $40 off coupon from Mousesavers.

 

[IbeAbitGOOFY]

Does 314 for a full size car sound reasonable for 10 nights? It is from National. Just wondering if there is a better deal or if we should stick with it.

I got $238 (including taxes) for your dates at National using the Enterainment code and $30 coupon. With National, and probably any company, you need to stalk the rates daily. When I booked by mid-size car about two month ago, it was over $300 for a week. I am now down to $145 (including taxes).

 

[Shelly888]

I got $238 (including taxes) for your dates at National using the Enterainment code and $30 coupon. With National, and probably any company, you need to stalk the rates daily. When I booked by mid-size car about two month ago, it was over $300 for a week. I am now down to $145 (including taxes).

Where do I get an entertainment code? Is that from the book or is there a way to get one without a book? Thanks!

 

[IbeAbitGOOFY]

Where do I get an entertainment code? Is that from the book or is there a way to get one without a book? Thanks!

Enter contract ID 5028683 and coupon 29Z3ZDI. In the many times I've rented from National, I've never been asked to present a coupon. But it says you might need one when going through the reservation process.

Also, checkout mousesavers dot com for other discounts for other rental companies.

 

[n2mm]

we do have to board DME 3 hours in advance... but we don't mind, we also always get to our home airport a few hours ahead, it's how we roll... we typically enjoy a meal at the airport and let the little one run, run, run so he's tired on the plane! plus, i like the idea of handing off my luggage and not seeing it 'til we get home... nothing less fun than dragging luggage, three kids, car seat, stroller, etc thru the airport... so w/DME we don't have to!

yes, free parking is a perk of being a resort guest... but i doubt we'd bother... we actually like the buses (and monorail as we'll be at GF for part of our stay)...

call us crazy! LOL!

Hopefully you do know that you don't have to use DME to get this great perk. We always rent a car and we always using RAC to drop off our luggage and get our boarding passes. This is not an exclusive perk that requires DME use. I agree, it would be easier to drop off your luggage with RAC in the morning and all head to the airport together. You can still get there early. Once you get to the airport you can actually go to your airline counter and check your carseats if you don't need them on the plane. Stroller...it's always better to keep that and gate check it.

 

[overthemoon4mickey]

Does 314 for a full size car sound reasonable for 10 nights? It is from National. Just wondering if there is a better deal or if we should stick with it.

Please go backand read page 8 post #111. I got mid-sized for $143 but I 'm sure you could bump up to full for a little bit more. I used Priceline.