May car rental deals? Hotwire or keep looking?

[sharona]

Hi. Are there any good car rental deals out there for early May? We need something for 5/7 - 5/15 (full/mid size or larger). MCO pick up and drop off. Hotwire has a full size for $180 incl. all taxes/fees. I haven't been able to find anything cheaper than that even with our corporate rate on National or Enterprise. I've checked carentalsavers.com, magiccard, mousesavers, hotwire, travelocity.... any other suggestions?

Is $180 a good deal? I thought it was decent for 8 days but someone suggested that I should be able to find it cheaper if I keep looking. What's everyone else paying if you don't mind sharing?

TIA

 

[dishguy1977]

I'm interested in this too. We are going May 3rd to 10th and hotwire is $166 for a fullsize. We are looking for a minivan and hotwire is more than double at $360. I thought about booking the fullsize and then upgrading to a minivan at the counter?? Will this save me any money? Anybody ever done this.

I did read in the other thread about a Budget code for a minivan which comes out to $300 for my dates but I'd love to find even lower. I am a member of the National Emerald aisle - does anybody know how busy MCO is at the begininng of may and what my chances of scoring a minivan in the Emerald aisle are?

 

[Lilo&Stitch]

I am also looking for a May deal ! I am patiently waiting for some new codes to come out before I decide on priceline or hotwire, why don't we all keep checking and post on this thread if we find something decent

Sharona... $180 isn't too bad but i've had rates between 120-140 before so I personally would wait at least until a new round of codes come out

 

[sharona]

I will definitely post back any deals that I find. Please do the same. Hotwire went to $170 then up to $190 all within a few hours so I guess I can wait and see if it drops below $150. I think that's my "buy it" price for the 8 day rental.

We're staying on site so for me, I guess worst case scenario is we take Disney buses and use the $150+ gas that we would have spent on the car to taxi to/from Sea World and for some quick escapes from the parks when we're not in the mood for the bus line up. Of course now that I talked myself into a car I want one!!!

 

[sammielynn]

I got a mid-size through Hotwire for $147.20. Our dates are May 15 - 22. Booked Jan. 31, just as things were heating up in Egypt. Best deal I have had for that week in years. We fly in and out of Sanford, so that could make difference. We will be getting a car from Hertz, every time I have gone through Hotwire it has been Hertz.

 

[n2mm]

waiting for a better rate for May 2-14 w/National. I have a pretty decent one now, but that's because my rental is a long one. When it's longer, the rates are better for some reason. I'm paying $242 total for a 12 night stay. But my daughter needs a shorter rental and the prices are higher than my 12 night rental.

 

[bbwhos]

I'm in same boat, we're going May 5-12. I've got an Alamo for $254 which is way high. I checked Hotwire this morning and it shows $171 all in. Is there any other taxes, etc. that may get figured in this amt? I've never used Hotwire before. Also does anyone know how often Enterprise might come up? My son used MCO Enterprise 2 yrs ago with bad experience. Appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[sammielynn]

I'm in same boat, we're going May 5-12. I've got an Alamo for $254 which is way high. I checked Hotwire this morning and it shows $171 all in. Is there any other taxes, etc. that may get figured in this amt? I've never used Hotwire before. Also does anyone know how often Enterprise might come up? My son used MCO Enterprise 2 yrs ago with bad experience. Appreciate any help. Thanks.

The price they give you is the price you pay. At the counter they may try to sell you add ons, just smile and say no. Most everyone I know get Hertz from Hotwire.

 

[sharona]

Today I looked into using my Amex rewards points toward the car rental. The rate from Avis was $245 if booked directly with their site, if I try to book via the Amex rewards site, the same exact booking is $550+. What a rip off. Is there any way to use your rewards points and get the public discounted rates that you see online?

 

[pinkprincess30]

We are going to DISNEYLAND, but thought this might help....
We were lookingat a minivan for 7 days at around $75 a day. I put in a bid at Priceline.com and got a minivan for $30 a day!

So I would say try Priceline! You have to choose the "name your own price" option.

 

[sharona]

We are going to DISNEYLAND, but thought this might help....
We were lookingat a minivan for 7 days at around $75 a day. I put in a bid at Priceline.com and got a minivan for $30 a day!

So I would say try Priceline! You have to choose the "name your own price" option.

I may have to give that a try. Not much different than hotwire since you don't find out until you pay which company you're getting right? What company did you get through Priceline? Also, were you able to specify "in terminal" or something similar? If memory serves, at MCO you can usually walk right to the cars for the brand name rental companies. I wouldn't want to get stuck on a shuttle to some outlying lot...

TIA

 

[vettegirl]

Also check out advantage. There rates have been really good.

 

[klm7926]

I just booked through Hotwire last night for April 30-May 7th (8 days), full size for $190.14 w/ Hertz. It's the best rate I could find anywhere...including using my husband's government code!

 

[sharona]

Hotwire certainly seems to have the best deal for May so far. No other deals out there are even close. I hate to pay in advance for a rental car though. I have a feeling the line for Hertz check in is going to be pretty long on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in May!

 

[bbwhos]

I feel exactly like you Sharona. If we were may a couple weeks out, like 2 or 3, I would feel better about committing. I've never used Hertz which is what everyone seems to get. Does anyone know how Hertz's cars are (condition, newness, etc.)? Do they assign cars like Budget I wonder? We've used Budget, Nat'l & Alamo in the past and gotten great cars. Hotwire is $100 cheaper right now though for a full size for our May trip. We are going Th-Th and arrive pretty early, like 8:30 am, so I don't usually worry about lines.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Hotwire certainly seems to have the best deal for May so far. No other deals out there are even close. I hate to pay in advance for a rental car though. I have a feeling the line for Hertz check in is going to be pretty long on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in May!

You are probably right about the Hertz check in lines. I would probably take the Hotwire deal fairly soon. It's doubtful that car rental prices are going to come down in the next few months.

 

[sharona]

I feel exactly like you Sharona. If we were may a couple weeks out, like 2 or 3, I would feel better about committing. I've never used Hertz which is what everyone seems to get. Does anyone know how Hertz's cars are (condition, newness, etc.)? Do they assign cars like Budget I wonder? We've used Budget, Nat'l & Alamo in the past and gotten great cars. Hotwire is $100 cheaper right now though for a full size for our May trip. We are going Th-Th and arrive pretty early, like 8:30 am, so I don't usually worry about lines.

Well we're arriving at 12pm on a Saturday (the airport apocalypse)! I really want a good rate from Nat'l so I can skip the counter. If I could get that $190 for 8.5 days from National I'd book it and be happy w/ that. I did get a coupon from them today via email for $20 off a weekend rental so maybe they are starting to drop their specials into the mix.

Also I noticed in the April car rentals thread that many people suddenly booked this week so deals must have started to open up for next month. I'm going to wait until the first week of April before I book anything that can't be changed like hotwire or the pay up front for a better price deals like at Budget.

 

[sharona]

The hotwire deal is gone - shot up to $237 for the 8.5 days. Guess I should have booked it when it was $192!!! I did find the $237 on Enterprise via carrentals.com and just booked that as a back up in case no better deals pop up in the next 6 weeks or so.

Does Enterprise have an "avoid the counter" frequent renter program?

 

[LaurenT]

The hotwire deal is gone - shot up to $237 for the 8.5 days. Guess I should have booked it when it was $192!!! I did find the $237 on Enterprise via carrentals.com and just booked that as a back up in case no better deals pop up in the next 6 weeks or so.

Does Enterprise have an "avoid the counter" frequent renter program?

No, but they do have a plus program...be sure to join that (free). I did and the sent me a 15% off coupon, so I rebooked and canceled the first res and saved $50!
I've never stood in a long line at Enterprise (but that doesn't mean it won't happen). They did let me choose from 3 different cars last time....I paid for an intermediate and wound up with a very nice Sebring!

 

[sharona]

Thanks for the tip. I'll do that.

Whatever happened with your rental car for your last trip? Did they hold it for you despite your flight delays? Which company was that?