Official Car rental September 2013...advice please

[gmeh1]

I'm pretty sure you have to go to the counter. My dh will be an addtl driver in a week or so....I don't think I can do online checkin and have him added.

You certainly can give it a try and I believe you can add the additional driver online or at the kiosk or at the exit booth.

 

[K9pal]

You certainly can give it a try and I believe you can add the additional driver online or at the kiosk or at the exit booth.

Yes, additional driver can be added at the kiosk. That's what we do.

 

[SAT887]

only one person needs to be an Insider member. You can add an additional driver online. Or, you can use the kiosk in the airport terminal. If you made the reservation via the Insider log in, then you will avoid the add.driver charge. It will show up as a charge on the left hand side of the reservation but, will not show up on the right hand side where all the charges are listed.

Thanks I will give it a try! Well at least once I'm done hunting for a better rate!

 

[westcoastgal]

For both our trips this past Oct/Nov and again in May we booked Budget through the Costco website and didn't have a problem. As soon as they started talking about insurance, I told them I didn't want it as I had rental car coverage through both my Visa cc and my regular car insurance. The lady at the desk said no problem and then offered me two different cars. We chose what we wanted then walked out to the garage, hopped in the car, showed the paperwork and our driver licenses to the gate agent and left. Yeah, the second driver was free. Return was a breeze. The lady looked the car over quickly, checked the gas gauge and we were on our way. Both times we were charged what the original quote was. Both cars were clean and low mileage. We had no problems at all with Budget and in fact my current reservation is for Budget through the Costco site. I'll be there Sept 14th-22nd with a 12N pickup and 5PM drop off so also nine days and currently have a midsize for $159.00.

Thanks. I am going to go with Budget with the Cosctco code. I checked and the "pay now" option saves me a further $17 or so dollars depending on the car I choose. I'm thinking fullsize. The pay now saves me money and gives me peace of mind that I know what I'm paying. It makes getting my car faster too. My only concern now is what if I find a substantially lower rate? Any chance of that or should I just book Budget and be done with it?

 

[auger]

Depends on your travel date, it may have already reached capacity for the coupon.
Just checking here, but, did you log in as an Insider? That could make a difference. What was the error code?

No, it wasn't a capacity error.
I think it was saying something about validation.
I was logged into my Insiders acct, and it was putting the Insiders code in for me automatically.

I have tried it more times than I can count with no luck, then suddenly, tonight it worked.
No clue what changed; everything I put in has been the same every time!

Oh well, it works now. That's the important thing.
Thanks!

 

[aubriee]

Thanks. I am going to go with Budget with the Cosctco code. I checked and the "pay now" option saves me a further $17 or so dollars depending on the car I choose. I'm thinking fullsize. The pay now saves me money and gives me peace of mind that I know what I'm paying. It makes getting my car faster too. My only concern now is what if I find a substantially lower rate? Any chance of that or should I just book Budget and be done with it?

I don't know what to tell you as far as paying now or waiting. So far, every time, mine has dropped that last week, so I'm waiting. I currently have two reservations booked though, one for Budget through the Costco website and another through Alamo. The Budget one is about $20.00 cheaper than the Alamo one. I'm still hoping for the rates to drop in the next week or two though.

 

[bocaj1431]

I have read the posts about booking closer to the date you are leaving and would like to note it is not always the best price. I booked a rental 4 months prior to date needed. I checked every couple of weeks up until the week prior to leaving. The prices were more expensive by $50 the closer I got to the date of the trip. I think the advice should be book early and continue checking right up to the week you are leaving.

 

[Belle599]

I would recommend not using the pay now option unless you are a fastbreak member. Budget lines are notoriously long and if you have already paid and are not a fastbreak member you will waste lots of time (an hour is not uncommon) standing in the budget line. Avis often will pricematch the Budget quote you have and if you have not already prepaid you could just walk to the Avis counter and save lots of time.

Thanks. I am going to go with Budget with the Cosctco code. I checked and the "pay now" option saves me a further $17 or so dollars depending on the car I choose. I'm thinking fullsize. The pay now saves me money and gives me peace of mind that I know what I'm paying. It makes getting my car faster too. My only concern now is what if I find a substantially lower rate? Any chance of that or should I just book Budget and be done with it?

 

[gmeh1]

No, it wasn't a capacity error.
I think it was saying something about validation.
I was logged into my Insiders acct, and it was putting the Insiders code in for me automatically.

I have tried it more times than I can count with no luck, then suddenly, tonight it worked.
No clue what changed; everything I put in has been the same every time!

Oh well, it works now. That's the important thing.
Thanks!

Glad that it worked, finally!!! That site is a mess and a lot of people have a lot of problems with it. It is proof positive that if something works, you don't fix it. IE: the old site.

 

[Belle599]

Heads up that Contract ID CARSLAND works for 15% off on alamo.ca (wasn't working on alamo.com). Many other contract ID (ie: Insiders, Costco, Southwest) are 10% for comparison.

 

[westcoastgal]

I would recommend not using the pay now option unless you are a fastbreak member. Budget lines are notoriously long and if you have already paid and are not a fastbreak member you will waste lots of time (an hour is not uncommon) standing in the budget line. Avis often will pricematch the Budget quote you have and if you have not already prepaid you could just walk to the Avis counter and save lots of time.

I am a fastbreak member as it saves me time.
As for Avis pricematching, you mean once I am there at the airport, and not in advance? I don't think I would do that once I had a reservation but it's good to know.
My price through costco has gone up about $30 today (Sunday) so I will wait now for it to go down again (hope it does) and then book it. I guess if I don't pay now, I can easily make a reservation and then cancel the higher one if a lower one appears.

There is a good chance it's going to go down again right?

 

[kermitman18]

I have a reservation through Avis for $150 Full size between 9/17 - 9/24. My brother just got down to MCO today and had a reservation for $116 through budget.

However, he opted for the insurance which raises the cost to $228! It made me think, am I the only one who religiously declined the extra insurances?

I would be interested to know everyone's thoughts.

 

[val1234]

I have never opted for the extra insurance and never had an issue. I even had an accident with a rental and paid absolutely nothing additional OOP. My credit card covered everything. Most if not all credit cards have rental car coverage. There is really no reason at all to opt for the additional coverage unless you just have the money to waste...

 

[westcoastgal]

I waive the insurance as both my Visa and MC offer car rental insurance as well as my car insurance. I'd use my cc over my personal ins tho.

 

[ktate82]

Just rebooked my Alamo reservation with the Double upgrade code and price went down $15! Now sitting at $174.45 for 9/16-9/25 for a Standard at MCO. I used Contract ID 7015360 and Coupon Code AU4224FDC for anyone who wants it.

 

[westcoastgal]

I just booked with Budget through Costcotravel.com for Sept 21 to 29 for 9 days at $156 for a full size. The price last week was $166, on the weekend, $190 and now $156. I will continue to look.
I am a fastbreak member and was able to put in my fastbreak number. I assume this will save me time once I arrive at MCO? I put in 2pm as our pickup time as our flight arrives at 1:06pm. If we are a bit early, there shouldn't be a problem right? I don't know how long luggage claim takes at MCO but here in Toronto and other places I've been, I've waited a half hour or more.

I am a Alamo Insiders Member and wonder if it's worth checking with them too today? Is there a difference between Alamo and Budget at MCO?

The price with Alamo with Costco is $183. What swayed me to use the code was a free second driver that IS NOT a family member. I read that Alamo Insiders get a free second driver as well but is it spouse or family member only?

Does it make a difference if I booked with Costcotravel or on Budget directly? Would I have been able to put in a coupon code if I did it on Budget? This sounds dumb but I don't know the contract ID for costco to do it on the websites directly.

Another great site I think is carrentalsavers.com and Southwest seems to offer good rates with BCD code U072700 with Budget. Probably has good rates for other companies too.

 

[westcoastgal]

Just rebooked my Alamo reservation with the Double upgrade code and price went down $15! Now sitting at $174.45 for 9/16-9/25 for a Standard at MCO. I used Contract ID 7015360 and Coupon Code AU4224FDC for anyone who wants it.

I tried this today and ironically, the price for a compact and the "free double upgrade" is only $1 less than if I were to just book the full-size anyways.

I also tried booking directly through the Budget site putting in the costco contract id and various coupons and the price is higher than if I just book on costcotravel directly. Anyone else experience this? Anyways, unless prices drop by at least $15, I am done. $155 inc all fees and taxes for 9 days for a full size is pretty good to me, with a free additional driver. I will just check the costco site for any changes and this board and leave it at that.

Thank you everyone for your help. This board has been wonderful...and to think, I started it 50 pages ago. lol!

 

[SAT887]

Just rebooked my Alamo reservation with the Double upgrade code and price went down $15! Now sitting at $174.45 for 9/16-9/25 for a Standard at MCO. I used Contract ID 7015360 and Coupon Code AU4224FDC for anyone who wants it.

Where did you get this code? I just want to make sure it's ok for me to use

 

[gmeh1]

I just booked with Budget through Costcotravel.com for Sept 21 to 29 for 9 days at $156 for a full size. The price last week was $166, on the weekend, $190 and now $156. I will continue to look.
I am a fastbreak member and was able to put in my fastbreak number. I assume this will save me time once I arrive at MCO? I put in 2pm as our pickup time as our flight arrives at 1:06pm. If we are a bit early, there shouldn't be a problem right? I don't know how long luggage claim takes at MCO but here in Toronto and other places I've been, I've waited a half hour or more.

I am a Alamo Insiders Member and wonder if it's worth checking with them too today? Is there a difference between Alamo and Budget at MCO?

The price with Alamo with Costco is $183. What swayed me to use the code was a free second driver that IS NOT a family member. I read that Alamo Insiders get a free second driver as well but is it spouse or family member only?

Does it make a difference if I booked with Costcotravel or on Budget directly? Would I have been able to put in a coupon code if I did it on Budget? This sounds dumb but I don't know the contract ID for costco to do it on the websites directly.

Another great site I think is carrentalsavers.com and Southwest seems to offer good rates with BCD code U072700 with Budget. Probably has good rates for other companies too.

Insiders can have a free additional driver, it does not matter who they are. They just need a valid license and be the correct age. Look on the Alamo page, it explains it all.

 

[westcoastgal]

Where did you get this code? I just want to make sure it's ok for me to use

It's on http://www.edvantage.ca/Aubaines/Travel-Entertainment/Alamo.aspx. I have read of people using it on tripadvisor and other forums and it works just fine.
I recommend checking carrentalsavers.com too and trying the destinations tab. I found that there is a rate difference at times if you specify the destination. That site has pretty much every coupon and code out there.