Rental Car Expertise

[Cant wait for Disney]

So who can teach me how to be good at this car booking stuff?
I take great pride in my ability to plan our Disney vacations down to the very last detail. This is our first time needing a minivan and I have no idea what I am doing! For those of you who get the best rates-how do you do it? There are so many companies and codes and car rental savers.com is awesome but overwhleming! Can someone give me a crash course in getting the best minivan deal for nov 2012? What can/should i be doing to grab the best price? Thank you!!

 

[schoen]

The first thing I always do is reserve a car with autoslah.com. They will check codes and discounts for you, so if you get busy, or miss a code they will do the work for you.

I always do my own work too, I start at mousesavers.com they have an excellent list of codes. When I find something I am alright with, I book it, and I continue that process until i find what I think is the very best price possible. I also follow the dis boards threads on my month, and see what other people have gotten. It can be tedious, and mind numbing, but it is not so bad, and i can usually get a good deal.

If you make multiple reservations, don't forget to cancel your old ones!

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

great advice, thank you!

 

[tms295psu]

The first thing I always do is reserve a car with autoslah.com. They will check codes and discounts for you, so if you get busy, or miss a code they will do the work for you.

I always do my own work too, I start at mousesavers.com they have an excellent list of codes. When I find something I am alright with, I book it, and I continue that process until i find what I think is the very best price possible. I also follow the dis boards threads on my month, and see what other people have gotten. It can be tedious, and mind numbing, but it is not so bad, and i can usually get a good deal.

If you make multiple reservations, don't forget to cancel your old ones!

I plan on canceling our "duplicate" rentals out of common curiosity... But how far in advance do you/should you cancel. Week, 2 days. ???

 

[rwdavis2]

Cancel at any time that does not cost you anything.

 

[wdwrich]

OP: It's a bit early for the best deals for November. Generally, you will find the best rates/discounts about a month or so prior to your rental date. Not to say you can't find something good before that window, but most deals are found in that timeframe.

 

[Classickat]

I was happy to see this question (I've always used ME)! We are taking a Disney cruise and will need to get a rental car at MCO. Our plan is to spend the day at Blizzard Beach (we get to MCO at 9:20 a.m.), stay over night & drive to Port Canaveral the next day. I would like to return the car at Port Canaveral and then when we return from the cruise, get a car (again!) and drive to Downtown Disney to spend the day before heading to MCO for an evening flight.

I have no idea what I should expect to pay for this...any ballpark figures so I know if I'm getting a good rate?

Thanks in advance!

 

[backyardponder]

I recently got a really good rate through the Costco web site in Tucson. I used to get good rates with the Entertainment Book, but haven't had one of those for a few years now.

 

[wdwrich]

I was happy to see this question (I've always used ME)! We are taking a Disney cruise and will need to get a rental car at MCO. Our plan is to spend the day at Blizzard Beach (we get to MCO at 9:20 a.m.), stay over night & drive to Port Canaveral the next day. I would like to return the car at Port Canaveral and then when we return from the cruise, get a car (again!) and drive to Downtown Disney to spend the day before heading to MCO for an evening flight.

I have no idea what I should expect to pay for this...any ballpark figures so I know if I'm getting a good rate?

What type/level of car (compact, mid size, full, SUV, van,...) are your looking for? Note that from your plans, you most likely will be doing two 1-day (24hr) rentals. The vast majority of discounts do not apply to 1-day rentals.

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

OP: It's a bit early for the best deals for November. Generally, you will find the best rates/discounts about a month or so prior to your rental date. Not to say you can't find something good before that window, but most deals are found in that timeframe.

thanks, that's good to know! It helps to know I can really start looking closer to the trip than now

 

[pbinn310]

The first thing I always do is reserve a car with autoslah.com. They will check codes and discounts for you, so if you get busy, or miss a code they will do the work for you.

I always do my own work too, I start at mousesavers.com they have an excellent list of codes. When I find something I am alright with, I book it, and I continue that process until i find what I think is the very best price possible. I also follow the dis boards threads on my month, and see what other people have gotten. It can be tedious, and mind numbing, but it is not so bad, and i can usually get a good deal.

If you make multiple reservations, don't forget to cancel your old ones!

What is autoslah.com? I tried to find it but it didnt come up.

 

[LWQuestie]

What is autoslah.com? I tried to find it but it didnt come up.

It's a typo. Try AutoSlash.com