June 2013 Car Rental When Best Deals

[ryalluvdiz]

I want to cancel one but im not sure i like the reviews for budget so its off to do some research.

 

[disneygal55]

The only thing potential bad about this is it has the potential to keep rates high if EVERYONE does it. Supply & Demand. Lots of outstanding reservations=lots of demand which drives rates up. I have seen people comment that they have multiple reservations & will keep the best one. Whatever you do, DONT do that. It just creates artificial demand.
Book one ressie and keep checking if you find something better, then rebook & cancel the first ressie. Help keep rates down for everyone.

I never have more than one reservation at a time. I change it only if I find a better one.

 

[keishashadow]

I have a reservation with avis for two weeks in june for a minivan for $1046. I just made one with budget for the same exact dates for $589. Big difference. Im just wondering why. They both say a dodge caravan.

Avis is expensive for all dates i've checked @ MCO. Budget is my last choice out of MCO based upon personal experience with condition of vehicles, not to mention the attempts at aggressive upsale at desk...just say no, repeatedly. Make sure to inspect the vehicle (outside and in) and mark any issues you find on your paperwork and have their rep sign off on it before you leave to the lot to avoid any misunderstanding as how you took possession of the car.

lots of advice here but it's def a YMMV situation. A rental car is truly one of the variables where you can save $ on a vacation. imo if you want the best price you really need to spend some time plugging in the codes/coupons.

We travel several times a year to MCO during popular times and have never gotten any of the amazing last minute deals that others seem to find. I regularly monitor the prices and typically find a good rate 5 months out. As date nears I can often shave off a bit from it if i keep repricing with possible hot code/coupon that happens to be making the rounds.

Tending to book alamo or national midsize or fullsize, haven't seen a minivan on those aisles in years with spotty SUVs sightings. I feel for those who need to secure mini-vans that tend to be so pricey. I need to book something to hold 5 people and cruise/park luggage next January, not looking forward to that quest lol.

As for those who worry about people holding multiple reservations anything over two could be deemed excessive, although i'm willing to bet that the rental companies have figured out the cancellation/actual pickup ratio at this location. Perhaps the last minute cancellations attribute to the amazing rates many report?

 

[aubriee]

Budget is my last choice out of MCO based upon personal experience with condition of vehicles, not to mention the attempts at aggressive upsale at desk...just say no, repeatedly. Make sure to inspect the vehicle (outside and in) and mark any issues you find on your paperwork and have their rep sign off on it before you leave to the lot to avoid any misunderstanding as how you took possession of the car.
QUOTE]

Off topic, but just wondering: Last Oct we booked a premium car through Alamo. When we went to choose the car they had only three left. This was a about 3:00pm on a Saturday at MCO. All three had scratches and two of them had pretty significant dents. I wanted the Nissan, but it was one of the ones that had several dents on it, so went with the one that had only the scratches. I took pictures of the scratches and as we were exiting the garage mentioned them to the agent at the gate, asking him to initial something showing that the car already had scratches on it, but he refused, saying he was not allowed to do so. What do you do in that circumstance? I'd hate to be charged for damage that I was not responsible for.

 

[keishashadow]

aubriee

on the back of paperwork that's in the car I draw a diagram showing position of any specific dents/damage or just specific notation (ex: multiple scratches on trunk, right front fender, etc.), then take a picture.

I then hand it over to attendant at gate and request that they initial it. Never had anybody refuse to do so (most do an eye-rolland indicate they have records on file of every vehicle's condition) but if they did i'd request that a supervisor be summoned before I left the lot. We last rented from Alamo in MCO last October too (pre-columbus day)

We had issue few years ago of same nature you describe as to pickings being slim @ MCO and had to accept a vehicle with a dent. We didn't have anybody sign off but did mention it to attendant and told it wouldn't be a problem. HA! It was resolved in our favor after I contacted corporate after we returned home. They explained that rarely they do err in notating damage to a car when it's returned but...we were told it's always a good inspect the car and follow the above protocol to avoid any future discrepancies as to car's condition.

 

[honeymooners11]

Hi all,
This is my first post on this board. I too am looking for a great deal on a full-size or bigger car rental out of MCO starting June 23rd-July 19th(26 days). Haven't found anything yet less than around $1200. Last year around the same time I managed to find a deal for $350 for a full size for 21 days. Keep posting your tips....I love reading them!!!

 

[back2disney]

I just read all the reviews for Budget at MCO... Scary.... Bad customer service and secret upgrades being charged... Worried... I have a reservation through Avis for 300 more... I might keep that to avoid the mess....anyone else have a bad experience with Budget?

I will never ever forget about the guy who worked at Budget. He told me not to read the fine print.

 

[ryalluvdiz]

I will never ever forget about the guy who worked at Budget. He told me not to read the fine print.

Holy cow!

 

[AuSable]

Is it cheaper to rent from WDW Care Car Center then at MCO airport?

 

[Magalex]

We didn't liked Budget either for our last trip to WDW in June 2012. We had a great rate from a discounted website. But that wasn't the issue. They were very pushy. We only have one DS(11 at the time & avg size for that age). The Desk agent kept trying to get us to pay for an upgrade because we would not have enough room. Our 11 yr was not 6'5. It was for driving to our WDW resort & a day at Universal (not driving across country). Then all the insurance add ons. I think we had a week rate of $117 but we kept saying no to everything. I am glad we did I think it would of been over $300 if we listened to her. I was told by someone we know that travels for business that all the scary stuff they say about the "extra" insurance is untrue. It is for the uneducated tourist. We never had any issues with Avis or Alamo.

 

[Tdubswife]

Has anyone used the "name your price" option on Priceline? The last time we rented a car from MCO, we scored a deal at $100 plus taxes for 7 days at Alamo. We picked a Nissan Maxima and were pretty happy. We are trying again, everyday. I remember our bid being accepted 2 weeks our trip, but I did have a backup reservation in case our bid not win. Just a thought.

 

[Bullseye]

Hi all,
This is my first post on this board. I too am looking for a great deal on a full-size or bigger car rental out of MCO starting June 23rd-July 19th(26 days). Haven't found anything yet less than around $1200. Last year around the same time I managed to find a deal for $350 for a full size for 21 days. Keep posting your tips....I love reading them!!!

Welcome to the boards Good luck on your rental search...prices always get better as time draws nearer. I'm doing the same thing for an early June trip. I usually always end up reserving and canceling at least 5-6 rentals as I keep finding better deals right up until trip time. What NHL team do Newfoundlanders follow? Maple Leafs?

Is it cheaper to rent from WDW Care Car Center then at MCO airport?

Airport is usually more expensive because of additional taxes and surcharges and what have you. I still always rent at MCO though cause like having the car on last day so we can stretch the last day and go straight to airport.

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I have a challenge. I need a rental out of Tampa airport to travel around to see colleges for my son. Then we, of course, are heading to Disney and will drop the car off there. I do not know if I will find a deal since we are dropping off at a different point.

I have never rented a car before so any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[honeymooners11]

Welcome to the boards Good luck on your rental search...prices always get better as time draws nearer. I'm doing the same thing for an early June trip. I usually always end reserving and canceling at least 5-6 rentals as I keep finding better deals right up until trip time. What NHL team do Newfoundlanders follow? Maple Leafs?



Airport is usually more expensive because of additional taxes and surcharges and what have you. I still always rent at MCO though cause like having the car on last day so we can stretch the last day and go straight to airport.

Thanks Bullseye...us Newfoundlanders follow many different teams..lol...my husband roots for the Montreal Canadiens...there is a big rivalry here between Leafs fans and Habs fans!! I keep checking each day until I hopefully find something cheaper!!! Fingers crossed!

 

[h&D3]

I will never ever forget about the guy who worked at Budget. He told me not to read the fine print.

and we've never had a problem.

We went out to the garage, gave the booth our paperwork, they told us where the car/van was parked and we loaded up our suitcases. We got the van loaded an we were out of there in about 15 minutes. It took us longer to get the suitcases loaded and the kids buckled in than it did to actually get the vehicle.

Now the last time we were there, we did have some damage on the vehicle when we picked it up, but we did note it with the garage person in the kiosk.
Never had any other problems with the rental or dropping it back off.

Now I did book with them again, but I'm just wondering what other problems others have had? (besides the pushy desk people, but aren't they all? that's why I'd prefer to use the kiosk or do like we did when we got it from budget.)


~D

 

[honeymooners11]

Wondering what everyone's take on Enterprise is??? Also...if we had to bring the car back a day or two early, would we be charged anything?? Thanks for your help!!

 

[Tdubswife]

Just booked our rental on National for June 1st thru June 14 TH. used the KLM code plus an Entertainment coupon for $30.00 off our rental. We are Emerald members: $373.80

 

[keishashadow]

Just booked our rental on National for June 1st thru June 14 TH. used the KLM code plus an Entertainment coupon for $30.00 off our rental. We are Emerald members: $373.80

Great rate for 2 week rental!

I booked via the same code/coupon.

able to change my flight arrival yesterday to earlier arrival and get a SWA creditso I needed to change the res.

I was able to go into the national site and could've made the modification (which in the past had to send email or call to cancel). Problem is the weekly base rates have increased since i originally booked. Still far less than any of the other codes but hate to pay more for the same weekly rental kwim?

Emailed National, hoping they can adjust the time without the increase but not holding my breath lol.

 

[farah]

We always book through Costco.com and found that it has the best rates. We usually go with Budget and never had a problem and found their rates the best through Costco.com.

This time we need one/ways from WDW to port and port to MCO. Costco.com does one ways to/from airport only so we booked through them from Port to MCO for $64 including taxes for a full size. From WDW we booked through Alamo.com for $67.

 

[quagmire0]

Been keeping an eye on rates for our June trip. Haven't seen many deals lately. Best price I have locked in right now is at National - $304 for a minivan for a week. I know two years ago I had an SUV lined up at ~$250, but was actually able to end up with a premium car for ~$130. Hoping prices end up dropping again. Anyone seen any good deals lately?