Official Car rental September 2013...advice please

[gmeh1]

Alamo was down this morning. Rebooked using the insider's deal and got a midsized, upgraded to a standard for 9/16-9/25 for $205.70. Now do I understand correctly that at MCO, they don't have "standards" so we will be upgraded again to a full sized? They just point us to the cars and say pick one? Another question, my DBF and I live together, but we just bought a house in IN and I still own my home in IL, so his drivers license says IN and mine still says IL, will I be able to be added as an extra driver for no fee (we booked under his Alamo account)? Or do we have to have licenses that match?

Alamo has standard cars, they do not have a standard row, you will pick from the full size. After you checkin (online, kiosk or counter) you will go to the garage and a friendly attendant will show you to the appropriate row and you will select a vehicle from that row/area, the keys are either in the door of the vehicle or on the dash, you will then proceed to the exit booth, where the exit agent will check the driver's license and you will be on your way. It does not matter if you are from the moon, if your BF is an Insider member the additional driver is free.

 

[Day-Day]

Finally got a drop in Alamo today but Dollar dropped last night so I'm still with Dollar with the lower cost.

$138 total for full-size using promo code 5C11M from Dollar website for Sep 7-12. I think it will get lower but this is not too awful.

 

[sunlover13]

I've only rented a car once in my life so I'm a bit of a newbie.

Right now, our flight is not scheduled to arrive at MCO until 4:00pm. We are flying Southwest and if one of the early flights price drops, I would like to change my flight to an earlier time.

Should I book our rental car for 4:00 pickup, but then cancel and book again if we get an earlier flight.

OR

Should I book the rental car for the AM right now? Is there a penalty or big deal if I book my pickup time in the AM, but do not pick up the car until 4pm?

The only reason I ask is if I get a great rate for the 4pm and then have to cancel and rebook and don't get that great rate again.

TIA!

 

[gmeh1]

I've only rented a car once in my life so I'm a bit of a newbie.

Right now, our flight is not scheduled to arrive at MCO until 4:00pm. We are flying Southwest and if one of the early flights price drops, I would like to change my flight to an earlier time.

Should I book our rental car for 4:00 pickup, but then cancel and book again if we get an earlier flight.

OR

Should I book the rental car for the AM right now? Is there a penalty or big deal if I book my pickup time in the AM, but do not pick up the car until 4pm?

The only reason I ask is if I get a great rate for the 4pm and then have to cancel and rebook and don't get that great rate again.

TIA!

You can edit your times on the site. There is no penalty for showing up late, the clock on the ressie starts when you drive the car out and ends when you return it.
The only problem you could possibly have is showing up early,which might chage your rate because of the times. IE: you book for a 4pm pickup and a 4pm dropoff. You show up at 11am and drop off at 4pm (same dates), but, you will have incurred an extra day rental charge. Did that make sense?

 

[ktate82]

Alamo has standard cars, they do not have a standard row, you will pick from the full size. After you checkin (online, kiosk or counter) you will go to the garage and a friendly attendant will show you to the appropriate row and you will select a vehicle from that row/area, the keys are either in the door of the vehicle or on the dash, you will then proceed to the exit booth, where the exit agent will check the driver's license and you will be on your way. It does not matter if you are from the moon, if your BF is an Insider member the additional driver is free.

He has wondered before, I'm sure.

 

[jgraney106]

I've only rented a car once in my life so I'm a bit of a newbie.

Right now, our flight is not scheduled to arrive at MCO until 4:00pm. We are flying Southwest and if one of the early flights price drops, I would like to change my flight to an earlier time.

Should I book our rental car for 4:00 pickup, but then cancel and book again if we get an earlier flight.

OR

Should I book the rental car for the AM right now? Is there a penalty or big deal if I book my pickup time in the AM, but do not pick up the car until 4pm?

The only reason I ask is if I get a great rate for the 4pm and then have to cancel and rebook and don't get that great rate again.

TIA!

If it were me, and the rates were good for both times, I would book two reservations ,and cancel the one you won't be using as soon as you are set with the flight being set for you.

 

[disfamily3]

Alamo didn't want to cooperate with me so I just booked through Costco.

9/21-10/5 - Minivan - $582.52 Total

I'm hoping this comes down a bit. I'm also still on the fence whether or not we really need a minivan. 2 adults, 3 kids (2 in car seats, 1 in backless booster). We could probably get the job done in a full size but then luggage becomes and issue. We could also save a couple bucks by getting a standard SUV.

The part that worries me about a minivan is that we won't have as much room for luggage/stroller/etc as we would in an SUV. We should only have 3 suitcases and a couple carry-ons...any thoughts on this?

I thought this may help...you will have to buy an Entertainment coupon book though...they are 5.95 currently. You can buy your local book or the Orlando version...I believe all of the car rental coupons are the same in all of the area books.
Hope this helps:
Got a minivan from Sept 5-15 for $286 at National. Used KLM code 8572130 and entertainment book nda2354bu for $30 off.

 

[Cars2006]

Hi

I will be going Sept 7 - 14 and can't get the national under $440. How are you getting 200's? I joined KLM and just order the entertainment book. I'm also a Emerald club member. Thank you

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I think someone may have quoted me. I realized the next day that I was so excited to see the price that I forgot to change my car selection. The total for the minivan for 10 days came to $400.25. I apologize for the misinformation. I did repost the mistake when I found it. I keep trying every day and no change.

 

[Cars2006]

Hi

I will be going Sept 7 - 14 and can't get the national under $440. How are you getting 200's? I joined KLM and just order the entertainment book. I'm also a Emerald club member. Thank you

I found my error. I had enter in the Bj's code a week ago and my computer was still pulling the code even when I entered in the KLM code. So I deleted my history and it worked. Now down from $600 to $300 for the week.

 

[fflmaster]

Can someone post the best codes they have used so far?

All the codes I have put in seem to keep the price above 350 for a minivan.

Our times will be September 21st - 29th.

 

[keishashadow]

You can edit your times on the site. There is no penalty for showing up late, the clock on the ressie starts when you drive the car out and ends when you return it.
The only problem you could possibly have is showing up early,which might chage your rate because of the times. IE: you book for a 4pm pickup and a 4pm dropoff. You show up at 11am and drop off at 4pm (same dates), but, you will have incurred an extra day rental charge. Did that make sense?

I'm not sure i'm following you.

Often I see better rates when picking up earlier in the day, however, the price then jumps substantially for my early afternoon flight arrival time. I had thought it was result of a capacity issue (i.e. more cars available = cheaper base rate).

Are you saying it's ok to just book whatever time produces the best rate anytime that day (before and up to my actual arrival time) and Alamo/National will honor my reservation?

 

[lweisenb]

Are you saying it's ok to just book whatever time produces the best rate anytime that day (before and up to my actual arrival time) and Alamo/National will honor my reservation?

Personally I have never experienced that, Now the opposite, if you select a later return then your pickup will result in a higher rate (because you will be charged an extra day or additional hours at a higher rate depending on agency).

 

[andigomeep]

Finally got a drop in Alamo today but Dollar dropped last night so I'm still with Dollar with the lower cost.

$138 total for full-size using promo code 5C11M from Dollar website for Sep 7-12. I think it will get lower but this is not too awful.

Thank you for the promo code, got a full size for the price of a compact I had previously reserved. We're also going those dates!

 

[keishashadow]

Personally I have never experienced that, Now the opposite, if you select a later return then your pickup will result in a higher rate (because you will be charged an extra day or additional hours at a higher rate depending on agency).

of course, but i'm talking about booking earlier (within the same 24 hour time allotment) vs turning over the meter per se

 

[Day-Day]

Thank you for the promo code, got a full size for the price of a compact I had previously reserved. We're also going those dates!

I have modified my reservation twice since my last post; once for $3 drop and once for a $2 drop in the total price. It seems silly to change for such a small amount but it takes no effort since I've already gone through the process of re-checking the rates. I guess it would be sillier to not choose the lower price.

 

[andigomeep]

I have modified my reservation twice since my last post; once for $3 drop and once for a $2 drop in the total price. It seems silly to change for such a small amount but it takes no effort since I've already gone through the process of re-checking the rates. I guess it would be sillier to not choose the lower price.

Just saved $3, thanks for the reminder, I probably wouldn't have thought to keep checking.

 

[zamboniman333]

I thought this may help...you will have to buy an Entertainment coupon book though...they are 5.95 currently. You can buy your local book or the Orlando version...I believe all of the car rental coupons are the same in all of the area books.
Hope this helps:
Got a minivan from Sept 5-15 for $286 at National. Used KLM code 8572130 and entertainment book nda2354bu for $30 off.

Do I have to fly jet-blue/air France to use the klm code? Also you have to have the entertainment book coupon with correct?

Thanks

 

[ADVentive]

Got a minivan from Sept 5-15 for $286 at National. Used KLM code 8572130 and entertainment book nda2354bu for $30 off.

Using these codes, I get $424 for a minivan for 10 days. I'd like to get it lower, but that's the best I've found for now (sept 20-30). But my question is, I have the entertainment book, but can't find this particular coupon in it. The coupons in my book won't combine with the KLM code. Is that going to be a problem?

 

[goofy4tink]

Please remember to double check and make sure you are entitled to use any codes you may find here. If it's in the Entertainment Book? You had best have that coupon in hand!
People see codes here and just use them, only to find that they don't have the necessary stuff to back up the code use.