One-day car rental - I'm getting overwhelmed - please talk to me like I'm stupid;)

[MommyRobin]

This trip, we'd like to go off-site for one day to visit the beach. I'm finding lots of info on here about multi-day rentals, but not so much about one day. I'm pretty overwhelmed with how a seemingly simple thing works and have some questions.

-What is the best car rental to go through? Alamo is Disney's "official" car rental, but does that mean it's the best to use there?

-I know that Alamo will provide some sort of a shuttle from your resort to their rental office and back. Will any other companies do this as well?

-Looking around on Alamo's site, there are different insurance add-on options (Collision Damage Waiver Full; Extended Protection; Personal Accident Insurance) - do I need these? I have no clue how insurance works in the States (I'm from Canada). I want as much coverage as possible in case anything happens, but I don't want to buy insurance that provides the same coverage as my own. I'm sure that dh will call our own insurance company to confirm, but I'm trying to work out how much this will cost me.

-I have a 20% off code through work. Checking off all of the insurance possibilities, a compact car's total for the day is $92. Does this seem reasonable or too expensive?

-We are travelling in a party of 8. I am assuming that the cheapest way to go is to rent 2 compact or economy cars - am I correct in my assumption?

Any other advice in addition to answering some or all of the questions would be appreciated! I'm not sure if we can swing $92 for a car rental...

TIA!

 

[goofy4tink]

There is no one 'best' car rental company. It all depends on your particular needs on this particular trip. I have used Alamo, National, Budget before...all for trips while at WDW.
You don't need to add any other 'coverage' unless your own car insurance doesn't have that coverage. It tends to be redundant....and a nice money maker for the car rental companies.
Alamo/National will send a shuttle for you, but it has to be asked for prior to arrival. And it is only good for use when renting at the Car Care Center.
I prefer to head to Epcot on my car rental day (of DHS if you don't want to use a day of park pass). Then I can just walk over to the Dolphin, do the paperwork and get my car. You may find it to work better if you choose to pick up the car the day before. BUT..the rental counter for Alamo/National at the Dolphin closes at 4pm..so you would need to be there prior to that to do the paperwork and get your keys. You can have valet bring you the car at any time after that.

Or, you can rent from other companies...there are a lot located in the DTD resorts. Budget, for instance, is located at the Doubletree. And some will send a car to pick you up.

As to what car you should rent and what a good price is.....you will see a lot of variation. I would try to get a full sized van that will accommodate the entire group. It may be cheaper than two smaller cars. You need to go to various rental sites and just play around with times and locations. You can make a reservation as soon as you see a price you can live with. But don't pay for it then. You can continue to look, right up until your travel dates, and if you see a better rate elsewhere, just cancel the first one.

 

[leebee]

Goofy4tink makes some good points, especially about car sizes and playing around with reservations. Go to mousesavers.com and go to the rental car section. Mary has a great outline of how to stack codes and coupons, as well as actual codes, to help bring the cost of a rental car down. I currently have a reservation in Cleveland for 4 days for a midsize car through National's Emerald Aisle, for $88, tax included. Yes, prices vary from location to location and day to day, but this is a bargain anywhere, as far as I can see, especially if something larger than midsize is available.

Alamo is at the Car Care Center at WDW. Arranged in advance, they will pick you up at your resort and take you to get your car. After you return the car, they will drop you off at a Disney location. This is pretty easy, and if you made arrangements for an 8am pick-up/drop-off you'd get a full day at the beach and still not have to be up screamingly early to return the car... and probably make it to rope drop at whatever park you will be headed to.

I haven't used them, but Enterprise sometimes has very good rates and they will pick you up to get your car and drop you off after the rental period.

Car insurance through the rental company is a scam. Check your personal policy to see if it covers rental cars, and then check your credit card agreement; many offer car rental coverage as a benefit. It's also easier if whoever is the credit card holder is the driver; otherwise you might have to pay for a second authorized driver. I always bring a copy of my insurance card (do you have those in Canada?) with me when I rent, just in case, but nobody has ever asked to see it. If you don't take their insurance when you reserve, be prepared for them to try and sell it to you when you pick up the car. Just say, "No, thanks, I'm covered" and that should do it.

Prepurchasing gas- don't do it. The agents will tell you how much cheaper their rates for gas are than at area gas stations, but don't fall for it. They can compare their rate to the highest one around and not be lying to you. There's a Hess station right near the Epcot resorts that is always cheaper than what's being quoted by the car rental companies.

One other thing to remember: Car rental rates change at the drop of a hat. If you see a rate you like, BOOK IT- but don't pay for anything, like a pre-purchase; in fact, don't even enter a credit card number when making a reservation (you don't need to at 99% of the companies). Check sites frequently looking for a better deal; book that, then cancel the original reservation. I had about 11 different reservations for my trip to Cleveland before finally finding this one.

Good luck!! Car rental can be confusing but I always get a great rate, once I spend the time to juggle and search. Seriously... start at mousesavers.com under the "transportation for your WDW vacation" section. IME, that's always the best place to start!