Renting a larger SUV at a good price??

[MarylandFamily]

We fly into Tampa on June 25th and then will drive to Disney. We currently have a mini-van reserved at $185/week. Yesterday we learned that an aunt and uncle will be in Orlando the same week, so of course we are planning to doing something with them one day. Which will mean we will be traveling together in one vehicle. We are family of five, so we will need a vehicle to seat seven. The mini-van will work but we thought it may be nicer to get something with a little more room, like an Expedition, Suburban, or Yukon. In pricing those SUVs, the cheapest price I can find is $414/week using Costco at Budget. Avis and Hertz has larger SUVs available but at about $600/week. I know I'm not going to find anything that matches the price of the mini-van but it would be nice to get as close as possible.

Does anyone have any suggestions about renting these type of vehicles out of Tampa?

 

[Linda/MA]

Hi -- I just flew into Tampa in April and rented an SUV for a week and a day. I checked all the car rental companies and Thrifty had the best price. I don't remember using any coupons, etc. We got a Dodge Durango and paid about $500 including a tank of gas. There were five of us and we never used the third seat, but could have fit 2 more back there. Piece of advice -- if you decide to pay up front for the tank of gas, make sure you get a full tank. Ours was only about 3/4 full and I mentioned this when we dropped off the car and got a rebate for that amount. No questions asked!

 

[MarylandFamily]

I was able to find through Travelocity a Expedition or Yukon at Enterprise for $289/week. It has limited miles (1400 for the week), but I don't think I'll be doing that much driving. These vehicles are not listed on Enterprise's website for Tampa, but I called the Tampa location and they said that they do offer these vehicles. They're not sure why they are not on the website.

Anyone every rent one of these vehicle types from Enterprise in Tampa? If so, what condition are the vehicles in?

 

[szymon]

Alamo has an out-of-the-blue special for $191 per week for a standard SUV.

With Alamo you get to choose the car from the lot, so you can pick the largest one that you need.

Using the $25 Entertainment coupon , the total for 1 week including taxes/fees is $213.

Szymon