Renting a car in Orlando

[Disneybridein2k3]

On the 1/15/09 email show, Chuck asked about rental cars in Orlando and Kevin offered some great advise about price comparison. I just wanted to add my .02 -- a friend and I are ditching the husbands and kids for a girls-only birthday trip in a few weeks and need to rent a car. I used Priceline, offered $14/day, and requested a car at MCO from 2/3 to 2/7 (Tuesday to Saturday). Although it initially said my bid was way too low, it was accepted. The car is with Avis who is on site at the airport. Now, this bid was for a compact car but I did the exact same thing last June but needed the rental for a full week and rented a mid-size car and also got a $14/day bid. If you know you aren't going to change your ressie, Priceline might be a good alternative to using Magical Express one way because you have the rental during your stay whenever you need it and can leave for the airport when YOU want to.

 

[wilde_oscar]

...and MCO is the rental car capital of the universe. If you ever see price comparisons between regions on rental cars, Orlando is usually the cheapest.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

I got a great deal from Alamo when I went down last weekend. It was $49 for the entire weekend (could have been Thurs --> Sun) on any car. I got a premium car for $51 with tax for 3 days. It was awesome!

 

[ADP]

...and MCO is the rental car capital of the universe. If you ever see price comparisons between regions on rental cars, Orlando is usually the cheapest.

Must agree...I've seen some unbelievable prices out of MCO. More times than not, if you are diligent and check rates constantly, you may be able to get a weekly rental for under $100.

 

[cocowum]

I got a great deal from Alamo when I went down last weekend. It was $49 for the entire weekend (could have been Thurs --> Sun) on any car. I got a premium car for $51 with tax for 3 days. It was awesome!

Alamo's $10 a weekend day deal is fantastic. I was able to use this deal for our Dec 09 rental car. My total for 4 days in a Premium car is $57. MF here we come!

Dave what were your premium car options? Just curious.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Alamo's $10 a weekend day deal is fantastic. I was able to use this deal for our Dec 09 rental car. My total for 4 days in a Premium car is $57. MF here we come!

Dave what were your premium car options? Just curious.

Lame, I got a Buick Lucerne. I actually didn't like it that much. I liked the PT Cruiser we had at Mousefest much better.

 

[cocowum]

Lame, I got a Buick Lucerne. I actually didn't like it that much. I liked the PT Cruiser we had at Mousefest much better.

Thanks Dave.

 

[Bornteach]

Just my two cents....


At Christmas time I was APPALLED at the car rental rates but supply and demand is what it is.
I was diligent and checked EVERYWHERE I could. Shockingly I found a dollar on Jetport drive (it was a 15 dollar cab ride) and got a week rental for $200 bucks! The same car was $1,000 at the airport. The bonus was, when we got there they only had a Chrysler 300 left. Even though I paid for a compact, we had a nice amount of room. I was highly excited at the cost and even the woman behind the counter said, "wow, this is a great rate!"

I also got to return it to the airport (as it was only 2 miles away!) for no extra charge.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I liked the PT Cruiser we had at Mousefest much better.

<---loves his PT Cruiser.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

<---loves his PT Cruiser.

The girls (DD7 and DD11 ) were soooooooo excited to be in the electric blue PT Cruiser. They had a blast with it...

 

[pjhorton21]

Although it initially said my bid was way too low, it was accepted. The car is with Avis who is on site at the airport. Now, this bid was for a compact car but I did the exact same thing last June but needed the rental for a full week and rented a mid-size car and also got a $14/day bid. If you know you aren't going to change your ressie, Priceline might be a good alternative to using Magical Express one way because you have the rental during your stay whenever you need it and can leave for the airport when YOU want to.

A couple of questions...Is that for unlimited mileage? What are the chances of getting an accepting bid from a rental company that is not at the terminal?

$14/day is unbelievable. The best rate I could find for our August trip is $200/week.

 

[chirurgeon]

<---loves his PT Cruiser.

Did you hear they are stopping production on the PT Cruiser? No more after this summer.

Kim

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

A couple of questions...Is that for unlimited mileage? What are the chances of getting an accepting bid from a rental company that is not at the terminal?

$14/day is unbelievable. The best rate I could find for our August trip is $200/week.

Yes, unlimited mileage. As for not at the terminal, I'm not sure. Both times I bid I but in MCO as my preference and I got a rental car at the terminal. I heard recently on another Disney podcast that the cheaper rates were at the terminal so that might why. If you bid and it isn't accepted, your card isn't charged - no harm, no foul.

As for the rate, I was vey pleased. After your bid is accepted, you get an email telling you what your rate is and the lowest published rate for your travel dates - for me, the lowest published price was $280, so with taxes, it said I saved 58%.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Keep in mind that there is an extra per day fee associated with renting a car from an agency on airport property.

This is not true for off property rental agencies.

All are within minutes of the airport and all offer shuttles.

You should consider this when renting. It might still be cheaper to rent on property.

 

[Stroller Boy]

Anyone have experience in taking Magic Express to the hotel and then renting from the Alamo (I think that's what the team said it was)? Our dillema for Nov is that we're going to be on-site for a couple of days and then off-site for a week. I really like the idea of MExpress with the luggage x-fer and all...not to mention dragging the kids AND the luggage... Would like to do the MExpress thing on the way home but our last day we'll still be off-site....I'm guessing that they don't do the xfer back if you're not staying on-site the evening prior...

Does this even make sense? I know, I'm nuts....

 

[cocowum]

Anyone have experience in taking Magic Express to the hotel and then renting from the Alamo (I think that's what the team said it was)? Our dillema for Nov is that we're going to be on-site for a couple of days and then off-site for a week. I really like the idea of MExpress with the luggage x-fer and all...not to mention dragging the kids AND the luggage... Would like to do the MExpress thing on the way home but our last day we'll still be off-site....I'm guessing that they don't do the xfer back if you're not staying on-site the evening prior...

Does this even make sense? I know, I'm nuts....

We have picked up a rental car at the Car Care Center before. No problem. Just call Alamo when you are ready to be picked up and they will send a shuttle for you. Remember they close at 6:00pm so the last shuttle is at 5:40. I learned that one the hard way.

If you are off site ME will not take you back to the airport. You can drop off your rental car at the airport, even if you picked it up at the CCC, so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Keep in mind that there is an extra per day fee associated with renting a car from an agency on airport property.

Interesting point - you made me look. For comparison purposes, I checked Avis at the Hilton Hotel in Lake Buena Vista for the same time/date we are going and a compact with taxes is 270.72. When I changed the location to MCO, the same car, same date/times and car type is 202.87 including all applicable taxes. So it is still cheaper to rent at the airport, but then it blew my great 58% savings But, even at 202.87, I still got a great savings!

 

[sandyh67]

Alamo's $10 a weekend day deal is fantastic. I was able to use this deal for our Dec 09 rental car. My total for 4 days in a Premium car is $57. MF here we come!

Dave what were your premium car options? Just curious.

OK, reading this I am thinking I need to do more shopping for our rental.
DH and I are going down three weeks from today. Have a rental from Sun- wed. to/from MCO with all taxes it comes to around $145 I think for three days.
For Kristen and I our overnight rate for May 9th-10th- dropping off at the port for the cruise is $34, which I thought was pretty good, should I shop some more? Maybe I will try priceline

 

[UrsulasShadow]

The girls (DD7 and DD11 ) were soooooooo excited to be in the electric blue PT Cruiser. They had a blast with it...

I had an electric BLUE PT cruiser for Mousefest, too! It was the brightest color they had left in the lot, so it made it a lot easier to find.

 

[Stroller Boy]

We have picked up a rental car at the Car Care Center before. No problem. Just call Alamo when you are ready to be picked up and they will send a shuttle for you. Remember they close at 6:00pm so the last shuttle is at 5:40. I learned that one the hard way.

If you are off site ME will not take you back to the airport. You can drop off your rental car at the airport, even if you picked it up at the CCC, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Excellent, I knew somebody here would know