Rental cars and Priceline

[DISNEYandaCRUISE]

I'm planning a trip to WDW for 8 nights the end of Jan/early Feb 2007. I need to rent a SUV, but have no experience with Priceline. Average price on the sites seem to be around $45-50 per day. Can anyone give me any advice to bidding on Priceline. Also, our plan is to rent it at Orlando airport, and drop off in Fort Lauderdale. Does Priceline allow this? Hotwire does not. Thanks.

 

[rdsx28]

Hi,
I'm not sure about the drop off thing but I can tell you that Priceline prices are really no less than the car rental sites themself. I have found that sometimes they are even more. They used to offer great deals but they seemed to have cut back a great deal. They may also give you hertz and you have to take a shuttle which is not a big deal to get there but just an added inconvience.I just booked a mid size SUV for 8 days for 235.97.The compact was more if you can believe that. It is still a little high for me but I will keep checking the web site.We are going Thanksgiving week which is usually higher anyway.You can always book something and if a cheaper deal comes along you can change your reservation.I booked with National I love them, they are so easy to deal with in my opinion.Good Luck!

 

[DISNEYandaCRUISE]

thanks RDSX for the reply. The best price I can find for a SUV is $322 for 8 days, through Thrifty.Most other companies were 20-40% higher. May I ask who you got your rental through. Suprisingly, I have found most companies do not charge a surcharge for dropping off at a different location, within Florida. The reason we're driving from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale is due to the Superbowl being played in Miami the day our cruise leaves.

 

[Maxie86]

You can get discount codes from mousesavers.com. You may be able to get a better rate. They have lots of different codes from all the rental companies. Try different Id's and codes for the best price, also try without a code to compare. Sometimes I have found a cheaper rate without a code.

 

[S'sMom]

I started to try it and wanted to get something for around $30 a day in December. Bt I wonder if they can get it at that price.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Priceline still has a way to go with their rental car system. With the right mix of codes, you can often times beat pricelines quotes by 15-20%. I would continue to hold off until the codes and coupons are released for 07', which should be the start of next month...

 

[JC Butterfly]

I will second the idea of using www.mousesavers.com and trying various combinations of discount codes. I was able to get a rate of $24/day for my November trip for an SUV with Thrifty (of course, Dollar gave me an even better rate on a standard so had to go that route).

I disagree with others about Priceline. I've gotten GREAT deals through them! Earlier this month I was able to get an intermediate car on Priceline for $20 total. That's right, including taxes, fees and what-nots. Now granted it was only a one night rental but I was very pleased. For this November trip, I haven't been able to beat the prices I've found with using mousesavers codes. But I'll keep trying right up until the day before the trip, because you just never know.

A site that is helpful for deciding how much to bid on Priceline and finding others experiences is www.betterbidding.com

Good luck!

 

[seashoreCM]

With the right mix of codes, you can often times beat pricelines quotes by 15-20%. ...

Now that you know that, you could plunge right in and bid still more under their aforementioned pre-quotes (like 30-35% under) and see what happens.

Just be careful not to fall for their counteroffers.

Also, if you see a nice rate but not for the dates you want, feel free to bid a tad under that nice rate for the dates you want.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm