Rental cars $70 a day!

[emmababy]

I am pricing a rental car for our trip and they are outrageous!!! It was $300 for Thurs-Sun. I am used to them being about half of that...

Is it because of the airport?? Is there somewhere near the airport that would be better? We are a family of 5, so we need at least a full size car. When I price on Hotwire, its better but I was shocked to see the prices at the websites for Enterprise and National...

 

[pigletto]

When are you looking for?

My first tip would be to find the thread in here that corresponds with the month you are looking for and follow it daily. People are great about posting and sharing the deals they have found. Rates will fluctuate and it's important to hop on them when they go down. You can always cancel and rebook with the car rental sites as long as you didn't prepay.

That being said, rates are through the roof for our dates right now
National was quoting me over one thousand dollars when I followed a link for a special they sent to my email last night.

About a month ago rates dropped for my dates and I found a full size rental for 250 from Enterprise for our 9 days. They may get lower just before we leave, but I am not counting on it and it's nice to know I have this one just in case.

 

[richmo]

You will likely do better.

Even though the rates are bad now, I'd book something non-binding, just in case.

Keep checking as the trip gets closer; I've often found the best rates are anywhere between 1 and 3 weeks away from your date (assuming its not a holiday). Also, keep an eye out for car class deals...for example, sometimes Budget will run a $179/wk for a minivan or SUV.

 

[njmom47]

You will likely do better.

Even though the rates are bad now, I'd book something non-binding, just in case.

Keep checking as the trip gets closer; I've often found the best rates are anywhere between 1 and 3 weeks away from your date (assuming its not a holiday). Also, keep an eye out for car class deals...for example, sometimes Budget will run a $179/wk for a minivan or SUV.

This is what happened with our Dec 2012 rental.
Eight or 10 days before we left, the price (Wed-Sun, pickup and dropoff at different airports) went from $245 to $108.
You can cancel a previous reservation; if you make a new one, just make sure to follow it through to the end and get your confirmation # before cancelling the first one (and get your cancellation confirmation # as well).

 

[travelcoupons]

What dates are you travelling?
IF it's months off, then book the best you can find now, the booking widget at www.rentalcodes.com/florida.html sometimes has better rates for rentals that are wayyy off in the future. You can always cancel & book a lower rate later should they appear (which they should), but if for some reason rates were to stay high or go higher you will be protected from having to pay the higher rates.

 

[RumpleMom]

Look at Mousesavers for a code.

 

[medic5399]

Budget BCD x474200 6/7/13 @ MCO to 6/13/13 @ Cape Canveral
Compact: $264
Intermediate: $275
Full Size:$293
Premium:$300
Mini-Van:$300!!!!
Standard SUV:$300!!!!!