March 2023 - Car Rentals

[Kim&Chris]

Mine has been pretty static. Down about $5 since last week, but heck I'll take it. I'm just using the Visa code.

 

[georgina]

Are you paying in advance? If so how quickly do you receive your credit.

No, Costco bookings are not pay in advance. The rate has gone up some again since Monday, but I keep checking every day.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

Just popping in to say that Alamo's rates seem to drop a few dollars every day. What started out as a reservation at about $280 is now down to $195.

$195 is a lot lower than I’m seeing on the Alamo website. Is this rate for a week? Maybe my week is just more expensive I’m arriving March 16 and my weekly rate is over $500. I’m using the Alamo Insider discount which is 5%.

 

[georgina]

Yeah, Alamo is my preferred company, still high through Costco (730), even higher on the Alamo site (816) for 10 days Feb-March. Budget is down to 574.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I am renting an intermediate car from Budget for 1 week for $318. I used Undercover Tourist and was able to get a big discount after buying 2 park tickets from them (SeaWorld). I think you have to spend $100 to be eligible. We rented from Budget last year and I was not happy with the long line at the airport. We waited for 2 hours! The car had a dent near the bumper, which we photographed when in the garage before we took the car. Thankfully they didn't accuse us of the damage. There was some confusion with the bill at first bc they had charged a lot more on my cc, but that was just a hold and it was eventually taken off. I didn't really want to rent from them again, but the savings is too good to pass up.

 

[Kim&Chris]

$195 is a lot lower than I’m seeing on the Alamo website. Is this rate for a week? Maybe my week is just more expensive I’m arriving March 16 and my weekly rate is over $500. I’m using the Alamo Insider discount which is 5%.

My trip is just 4 days, now down to $175. Budget is around $195 for the same days now. I'm using the Visa code, which is 7014405 (you have to use a Visa card to pay for the reservation).

 

[katallo]

If anyone uses Costco, there is a 25 gc offer on some models.

 

[georgina]

My trip is just 4 days, now down to $175. Budget is around $195 for the same days now. I'm using the Visa code, which is 7014405 (you have to use a Visa card to pay for the reservation).

That's a great rate. For fun I tried that code on my 10 day rental with Alamo, over $700 for economy class. Alamo through Costco is a bit less for me, but Budget is down to $566 through them

 

[EACarlson]

My trip is just 4 days, now down to $175. Budget is around $195 for the same days now. I'm using the Visa code, which is 7014405 (you have to use a Visa card to pay for the reservation).

Four days is usually the cut off where it goes from a daily rental to a weekly rental. So you'll pay the same for 4 days as you will for 7.

Yeah, Alamo is my preferred company.

Is there an articulable reason why you prefer Alamo over others? I've rented from seven of the 10 rental companies onsite at MCO and would have Alamo 5th and behind both of their sister companies, Enterprise and National.

 

[georgina]

Is there an articulable reason why you prefer Alamo over others? I've rented from seven of the 10 rental companies onsite at MCO and would have Alamo 5th and behind both of their sister companies, Enterprise and National.

I have never had an issue at MCO going straight to the garage and choosing my car with Alamo. That's the main reason. Haven't yet been able to do that with Budget, my most recent Budget rental there was through UT so I had to go to the counter, not sure if that counts and I can use FB this time. (I had a HORRIBLE airport experience with Budget in 2018 and did not use them again until last year.) They are a lot cheaper than Alamo so far. I have used Budget and Avis other places, but the Alamo process at MCO has always been so smooth. I usually go through Costco, Enterprise is more expensive than Alamo when I check, National is not a choice through them.

 

[CarolynFH]

New procedures today! When we landed, I had a text message from Budget with a link to their website. There I could see what car we had, license plate, etc., as well as where it was in the garage. We walked straight to it, no need to stop at the kiosk or counter. There was also a QR code that the attendant at the exit scanned, and we were on our way! Didn’t have to show ID or anything. It was the quickest rental car pickup procedure we’ve ever had.

Quoting myself to report the smoothest rental car pickup we’ve ever had. This was Tuesday 1/24/23, Budget rental via Costco. We added our FB number to the online booking on the Costco website and it automatically populated on the Budget app.

 

[georgina]

My Costco Budget rental for Feb 25 has dropped another $23 today. Started out at $805 back in November, was down to $640 earlier this month, is now $542.

Quoting myself to report the smoothest rental car pickup we’ve ever had. This was Tuesday 1/24/23, Budget rental via Costco. We added our FB number to the online booking on the Costco website and it automatically populated on the Budget app.

I saw my Budget rental in the app, I keep cancelling and rebooking, hope the Budget site can keep up with the changes!

 

[CarolynFH]

My Costco Budget rental for Feb 25 has dropped another $23 today. Started out at $805 back in November, was down to $640 earlier this month, is now $542.


I saw my Budget rental in the app, I keep cancelling and rebooking, hope the Budget site can keep up with the changes!

We canceled and rebooked multiple times on Costco site as prices dropped. I saved all the cancellation emails, which might be good, because DH says a charge for the original price has been showing as Pending on our CC since we picked it up. We’re waiting to see if it changes to the corrected price after we turn it in. If not, we have all the documentation to protest it.

1/30 update: the charge dropped off. Now to see what we’re charged tomorrow when we drop it off.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Quoting myself to report the smoothest rental car pickup we’ve ever had. This was Tuesday 1/24/23, Budget rental via Costco. We added our FB number to the online booking on the Costco website and it automatically populated on the Budget app.

That is certainly a great perk. I always stick with Alamo due to the convenience of going right to the garage, but this feature makes Budget more appealing.

ETA that Alamo is down to $167 for my dates, still about $20 less than Budget.

 

[georgina]

We canceled and rebooked multiple times on Costco site as prices dropped. I saved all the cancellation emails, which might be good, because DH says a charge for the original price has been showing as Pending on our CC since we picked it up. We’re waiting to see if it changes to the corrected price after we turn it in. If not, we have all the documentation to protest it.

1/30 update: the charge dropped off. Now to see what we’re charged tomorrow when we drop it off.

Yes, I save them all too in a special gmail folder. For some reason a Budget intermediate car today is $525, $17 cheaper than my compact reservation from yesterday, so I rebooked again!

 

[parkbr]

Quoting myself to report the smoothest rental car pickup we’ve ever had. This was Tuesday 1/24/23, Budget rental via Costco. We added our FB number to the online booking on the Costco website and it automatically populated on the Budget app.

We are renting a car from Budget via Costco as well. Can you please let me know what you did? What is FB number?
Thank you!

 

[EACarlson]

We are renting a car from Budget via Costco as well. Can you please let me know what you did? What is FB number?
Thank you!

FB is FastBreak, Budget's customer loyalty program. When booking the rental there is a place to enter your FB number, this links your reservation to your account where they already have your DL#, CC and history of preferences for rentals. This is what allows you to skip the counter and just take your car and go. If you don't enter the number when the reservation is made you generally aren't allowed to add it later.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Looks like prices are creeping up a little. The same exact reservation is now about $7.00 more this morning.

 

[Lynne G]

Have to say, had a good experience with a Costco discount and Alamo last week. Had my reservation with me that said $284.43 for the week of a mid size SUV. When I went to the booth to get out, she said price was $276.97. I was like, what? But figured she misquoted my reservation. Got my receipt after dropping it off. Was charged that lower price. I compared both, my reservation and the actual invoice and seems the one tax was lower in the actual invoice charged price. Never ever seen that before, but was pleasantly impressed they lowered the price when I got there.

We will be back in September for two weeks. Hoping to see a similar price. Have not seen it yet. But I always do that rinse and repeat. Find a better price, cancel current. Seems last week, the cheapest was 5 days before we left.

Hope all get some welcome price reduction when checking out your rental.

 

[LeslieG]

I've always found the best deal with discount codes for Budget, but I've found lately they haven't been working. They were legit codes I think I originally got on Mousesavers website, but I think after Covid they are doing away with a lot of discount codes.