Rental through Priceline question

[Amyg]

Has anyone here gotten a rental car in Orlando from Priceline?

My friend did this 6 weeks before her trip for Las Vegas last December; she bid $14 per day and got a compact. When she picked up the car at McCarren airport, the agent told her they had no compact cars only SUV's and she could pick one...she picked the biggest one!

Soooo...has anyone done this for rental at MCO? I wouldn't even know how much to bid but I'm willing to try this for our July vacation.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Your friend can tell you how to go about bidding for a car on Priceline and/or you can go to www.biddingfortravel.com for Priceline help and/or you can go directly to the Priceline website for information on how to bid for a rental car.

As for the lack of availability of compact cars, well, for starters Las Vegas and Orlando are extremely different destinations. Just because something happened one way once in one of those cities does not indicate in ANY manner that it will happen again in that location, or that it would happen in any other location, or even that your bid (if accepted) would be for the same car rental agency.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

As for the lack of availability of compact cars, well, for starters Las Vegas and Orlando are extremely different destinations. Just because something happened one way once in one of those cities does not indicate in ANY manner that it will happen again in that location, or that it would happen in any other location, or even that your bid (if accepted) would be for the same car rental agency.

Totally agree...

Right now in the industry, compacts are absolutly available, due to high gas prices, many rental companies are giving cheap deals on SUV's and Minivans, sometimes CHEAPER then compacts...My rule of thumb is reserve what you need, if you get upgraded, your all the more ahead!

 

[CarolA]

Actually Orlando is probably one of the places where you actually have a pretty good shot at getting the compact. The fleets are HUGE there.

I once witnessed a very entertaining scene in the National section of the garage at MCO. Dad, Mom and two kids were attempting to pack a TON of luggage into a compact. It was NOT going to fit and there was a HUGE fight going on. Mom kept yelling "I told you we wouldn't fit, but NO you'r cheap" Dad's defense (also yelled) was that "the books all say there won't be compacts and you will get a free upgrade" Dad was also saying " I am NOT paying what they want to upgrade" (I was voting on Mom to win since they were not going to fit!

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Actually Orlando is probably one of the places where you actually have a pretty good shot at getting the compact. The fleets are HUGE there.

I once witnessed a very entertaining scene in the National section of the garage at MCO. Dad, Mom and two kids were attempting to pack a TON of luggage into a compact. It was NOT going to fit and there was a HUGE fight going on. Mom kept yelling "I told you we wouldn't fit, but NO you'r cheap" Dad's defense (also yelled) was that "the books all say there won't be compacts and you will get a free upgrade" Dad was also saying " I am NOT paying what they want to upgrade" (I was voting on Mom to win since they were not going to fit!

haha!! I can just picture my family doing this. AmyG, trust me, its worth the money upfront to pay for a car that will truly hold you and your items. If you need to upgrade at the lot, you will not recieve too good of a rate.

 

[dgaston]

I've bid on rental cars a few times--usually bid for compacts got Alamo once, Hertz 2x. Once we got a Hundai Sonata from Hertz that was very nice. Our best upgrade was either from Budget or Dollar when we had rented a compact. We arrived in the evening and the agent tried to upsell us on an SUV or Town Car. We said no, and he gave us the Town car anyway. We were doing a long weekend to celebrate DH's birthday, and on the way out of the airport, he complained about how how his seat was! There were Seatwarmers! We had a lot of fun with the moon roof too.

 

[CarolA]

haha!! I can just picture my family doing this. AmyG, trust me, its worth the money upfront to pay for a car that will truly hold you and your items. If you need to upgrade at the lot, you will not recieve too good of a rate.

The whole scene was funny. There was another man getting in the car next to me and we both just stopped to watch. Finally the guy next to me said "I think she's going to start hitting him" and we decided to leave before the blows started.

(My bet was on Mom winning and Dad just paying. They weren't going to fit!

 

[Nikel]

Totally agree...

Right now in the industry, compacts are absolutly available, due to high gas prices, many rental companies are giving cheap deals on SUV's and Minivans, sometimes CHEAPER then compacts...My rule of thumb is reserve what you need, if you get upgraded, your all the more ahead!

That's totally the case for us. We're renting a standard size SUV, and it's actually the cheapest offered where/when we're renting. Only $1 than a compact, but still cheaper. Our rule of thumb is the same - to always reserve the smallest that will work for us, and if we get a free/cheap upgrade, great. If not, we're not cramped and miserable.

 

[Amyg]

As for the lack of availability of compact cars, well, for starters Las Vegas and Orlando are extremely different destinations. Just because something happened one way once in one of those cities does not indicate in ANY manner that it will happen again in that location, or that it would happen in any other location, or even that your bid (if accepted) would be for the same car rental agency.

Yup, and since they are very different destinations that's why I have no idea what to start bidding at. I'll probably try reading up on it at the bid site. I just wondered what kind of experiences others may have had with it.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

(My bet was on Mom winning and Dad just paying. They weren't going to fit!

Or dad asking for some bungy cords to tie the luggage to the roof

Classic Vacation Story

 

[maciec]

This was my report of my Priceline experience from December.

Just picked up our car at MCO. We got out full size through Priceline for $166 which was the lowest I could get anywhere lately. Anyway, no wait at the counter. Very slight pressure to get the insurance, but he took the "no" and didn't need to see proof of insurance.

Trekked out to the full size aisle to get a car (it's way in the back of the garage) and there were no full size cars. I found an attendant and he told me to take a MINIVAN!! So we picked a gold Buick Terraza with leather interior. It has 2000 miles on it. Much to our surprise it also had a dvd player in it. It rides very nice and is very roomy, however, it does not have as much storage slpace in the back as our Sienna does, but we just folded down one of the seats in the 3rd row and we were all set.

Anyway, so far so good with Alamo. Just wanted to share our experience before I forgot.

Has anyone here gotten a rental car in Orlando from Priceline?

My friend did this 6 weeks before her trip for Las Vegas last December; she bid $14 per day and got a compact. When she picked up the car at McCarren airport, the agent told her they had no compact cars only SUV's and she could pick one...she picked the biggest one!

Soooo...has anyone done this for rental at MCO? I wouldn't even know how much to bid but I'm willing to try this for our July vacation.