SW Flight and Rental Car

[Twende]

Has anyone booked their rental car through the SW vacations deals? What are the advantages or disadvantages of doing it this way?

We need a rental car and it seems that the price is a bit better this way.

We have an Enterprise economy car book for 8 days for $178.15 but through SW it looks like the same flights plus rental car from either Thrifty or Budget will be about $42 cheaper.

I would have to cancel one of our current flights and then use the credits to re-book and I guess pay for the rental car now.

I would really like to add an additional driver to the car but so far I am not finding a way to do that without paying some crazy extra fees.

Anyone with experience doing this?

 

[Twende]

Bumping this up because it really concerns me that no one has tried this method to reduce rental cart rates?

I have played with codes before and gotten some great rates but I have never tried to link it to a plane ticket. Come on....one of your budget minded Dis'ers has to have done this!

 

[Twende]

I just got off the phone with SW and I am not sure I understand this but this is what I got so far.

I can not book this deal because I would be using SW credits that I already have. I can pay up front for the deal but they do not allow you to book it using SW credits.


The offer came in an email from SW called Jackpot Deals and it was good for Orlando and Vegas. If you are not using SW credits, and you are flying into MCO and need a rental car then this is a great deal. I got a economy rental car for 8 days for around $115.

Bummer! This was a great deal!

 

[ice cube]

what are your dates.....also arrival and departure flight times? The reason I ask is I always find better prices with renting cars using their websites directly rather than using an outside source.

 

[Twende]

We are headed to Disney in December from the 11th to the 18th.

I just wish I could find a better rate for a rental car for that time frame. I would love the additional driver at no charge also but so far the best I have is $179 with one driver.

DSIL did book the SW Air + Car Jackpot Deal for Orlando and scored an 8 day rental for just over $100. I wish we did not need two cars for our big family!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Rental car rates always decrease as your travel dates get closer. If you booked it with SW I doubt you'd be able to change it on the fly.

It's always better to book directly through the Rental car company sites and use coupon and discount codes to lower your price.

I lowered the cost of my Alamo rental for the end of this month over the course of the past week from $172 for a compact for 9 days to $102 for a midsize for 9 days. Also, keep in mind that renting from the rental companies located IN the airport are much more convenient than using those to which you need to connect by shuttle.

We are headed to Disney in December from the 11th to the 18th.

I just wish I could find a better rate for a rental car for that time frame. I would love the additional driver at no charge also but so far the best I have is $179 with one driver.

DSIL did book the SW Air + Car Jackpot Deal for Orlando and scored an 8 day rental for just over $100. I wish we did not need two cars for our big family!

 

[Twende]

Rental car rates always decrease as your travel dates get closer. If you booked it with SW I doubt you'd be able to change it on the fly.

It's always better to book directly through the Rental car company sites and use coupon and discount codes to lower your price.

I lowered the cost of my Alamo rental for the end of this month over the course of the past week from $172 for a compact for 9 days to $102 for a midsize for 9 days. Also, keep in mind that renting from the rental companies located IN the airport are much more convenient than using those to which you need to connect by shuttle.

I really hope the prices do drop as we get closer. I will keep the one reservation I have and just continue to try different codes as we get closer.

We normally rent from Alamo at MCO but we have used a company where we had to shuttle to the car. We only did it that way once and it really was not to terrible. Right now cost is more important than the extra 15 minutes to half an hour.

 

[SilverMickey]

If you become a member of National's Emerald Club you can get your 2nd driver free. http://www.mousesavers.com/national.html You can join for free through MouseSavers.

Good Luck! Have a great trip!

 

[Twende]

If you become a member of National's Emerald Club you can get your 2nd driver free. http://www.mousesavers.com/national.html You can join for free through MouseSavers.

Good Luck! Have a great trip!

Thanks for that link.