What car rental companies is everyone using now?

[steve_rob]

Going to be renting a car at MCO in September and it's our first time back in Florida for over five years, so was curious to see whether anyone had any preferences of which car rental company they end up hiring from, or whether they're all much of a muchness and it's a case of picking whichever one is cheapest. Note that I'm not talking about which website you book through (e.g. NetFlights, HolidayAutos, Kayak, etc.) but the actual rental company that provides the car (Alamo, Thrifty, Enterprise etc.).

I only bring this up because on our previous Florida trips we usually ended up renting through Dollar and had no complaints at the time. Now when I look at pricing on-line they are usually coming up as one of the cheaper agencies, but their customer reviews are terrible - 5 out of 10 or below, compared to most other companies getting 8's or 9's. Unfortunately it does not tell you why they are getting low scores, so I'm having to guess (long queues, poor car choice?) but it does make me wary as I don't know who is a reliable company any more.

 

[Woodview]

Look up Sixt car hire Or Rentalcars.com Cartrawlers .com

And see which co. come up

 

[Tony Toon]

Alamo through Andy at Discount Florida Car Hire. Booked last September for 2 weeks and then again in January.

Mrs TT

 

[Milycyrus1]

Choosing a car rental company can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many options to choose from. While it is tempting to go with the cheapest option, it's important to consider other factors such as customer service, car availability, and additional fees.

Based on customer reviews and ratings, some of the top car rental companies at MCO are Alamo, Enterprise, National, and Avis. These companies consistently receive high ratings for their customer service and overall rental experience. However, keep in mind that these companies may also be more expensive than some of the other options.

When it comes to choosing a car rental company, it's also important to consider any additional fees that may come up. For example, some companies charge additional fees for things like GPS or adding an additional driver. It's important to read the fine print and understand all the fees before making a decision.

 

[Molyneuxd]

Budget are coming out cheapest currently but shocking reviews. I usually use Hertz but finding Alamo are cheaper currently.
Prices fluctuate all the time so keep checking, or lock in a deal you are happy with but with free cancellation in case it goes up or you find a better deal.

 

[2005f22c]

Budget are coming out cheapest currently but shocking reviews. I usually use Hertz but finding Alamo are cheaper currently.
Prices fluctuate all the time so keep checking, or lock in a deal you are happy with but with free cancellation in case it goes up or you find a better deal.

Warning - do not rent a car from Budget at Orlando Airport. They force you to wait in line to speak with someone at the counter who then has the opportunity to hard sell you on things you do not need. Totally unnecessary as everything can be arranged ahead of time nowadays. Best case, it's a waste of the customer's time. Worst case, it's a predatory sales tactic.

This past January I was there and politely declined all of the extras and then a month later, guess what, my credit card has several hundred dollars worth of extra charges from Budget! I tried to dispute these charges and failed, ended up eating the costs.

 

[cheryl.UK]

Budget really screwed us over last time we used them. first they tried the hard see, then when we dropped off (one way rental) they screwed us for $150 for 'late drop off'. I insisted that we didn't owe this as I'd hired from 3pm on the first day til midnight on the last. I refused to pay but they took it anyway. Then another $250 disappeared from my account 2 weeks later for 'upgrades'. We didn't take any upgrades. The same thing happened to our friends. When they dropped off at MCO, where it's very dark, she read the ticket thing they give you and it had $400 in additional charges! She'd asked the drop off guy if she needed to do anything else but he'd told her she was 'good to go'. It's a good job she looked. It took her 40 minutes to get it sorted but she's one of those people who arrive hours too early. If she had been in a rush she would have been $400 down. (Which co-incidentally is what they screwed me for)

 

[Simba's Mom]

We've been renting from Alamo. DH likes an SUV, even though there's just 2 of us and his golf clubs. Alamo has been giving relatively good prices for their SUVs.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiUK]

We used Alamo in April and definitely recommend.

Decent price, free additional drivers, no up sell, friendly staff.

 

[Kate_45]

Rented from thrifty in January and it was awful. They say you can collect from the terminal if you give them your flight number but no one is there. A sign tells you to take the shuttle bus to the main terminal which takes a while as no room on the first one, then on arrival we queued for well over an hour when none of the other counters had any queue at all. More than two hours from baggage collection late at night with young kids was not fun.
I think the desk was shared with dollar so would avoid that too as we were all lined up together.

Have had very good experience with Avis in the USA

 

[MKay]

We used Alamo in April and definitely recommend.

Decent price, free additional drivers, no up sell, friendly staff.

Did you take it from the airport and drop it off at a different location?
Are there any drop off locations on Disney property? There used to be a drop off at Swan...but I am not finding that now.

 

[ScotScroogeMcDuck]

Just booked Avis (via British Airways) for pickup at MCO and drop off at Hilton Disney Springs. Not sure if we've been screwed on price or a great price, but hey-ho.

 

[Ruttangel]

Just booked Avis (via British Airways) for pickup at MCO and drop off at Hilton Disney Springs. Not sure if we've been screwed on price or a great price, but hey-ho.

I’m not sure if you can still do this but I got a free Avis Preferred card and you could skip lines when picking up

 

[Ruttangel]

Prices seem a lot better now at about £300 per week

 

[gavvy]

Alamo view the Dutch link. Used twice great rates and you can skip the counter

https://ustravel.nl/Amerika-reizen/Autohuur/Alamo

 

[lefoubrew]

We got a great deal from Sixt - picking up the day after arrival from Margaritaville - 13 nights - returning it to MCO
Full size Sedan - £310!

 

[Daniel MacQueen]

I was about to start a thread about hire cars but I'll just tag on this one.

Booked a car through Virgin last year and insurance and everything was included.
Went to Salt Lake City a few months ago and booked through Expedia thinking I'd got a good price only to get hit with a £200 extra charge for insurance.

Some of the terminology for US insurance can be confusing so can anyone recommend a company that includes everything in the upfront costs?
I looked at Budget and it looks like insurance is extra, Alamo appears to include insurance but it's not 100% clear if they do.

I could just get the car through Virgin again but if I can find a cheaper deal elsewhere that'll be a bonus.

 

[nursejackie]

We use Alamo at MCO, and use the Skip the Counter option. I would rather pay a little extra for a decent, stress-free, reliable service. Any that lure customers in with cheap prices will get money out of you somehow. Many examples on the FB forums of UK guests being fleeced, and even non-existent cars.

 

[steve_rob]

The thing I have found is to go through the official site of the various car hire places first to get a good guideline to pricing, but make sure you use the UK version of their site, not the US one that they might default you to, as that way you will get quoted the comprehensive insurance package as standard and not have any nasty surprises. Then go to a reseller to see if you can get a better price, but as @nursejackie says, for MCO you are worth going with one of the higher-end companies on-site (such as Alamo), as you'll get better service.

We were considering Dollar for our previous trip because we'd had a good experience with them a long while back, but now it seems they are regarded as a "budget" brand and having read some reports on the Transportation boards here, we soon worked out why. The reason why their prices are so low is because they've cut costs and corners, especially on staffing. You used to be able to do their "skip the line" at MCO but now they've stopped offering that and so you have to queue up at the counter. When you get there you find only one member of staff at the desk and a queue of about 10 people waiting to be served, all of whom are going to take 10-15 minutes to be dealt with because at every point the staff member is under instructions to give the hard sell on upgrades, insurance, fuel, etc.

So by paying a little extra you can go straight to the car and be on your way in a few minutes, or you can spend your first few (jetlagged) hours in Orlando standing in a never ending queue and haggling with a car rental agent!

 

[kevtlas]

I almost always use Hertz. You can get gold status through a bunch of credit cards, use skip the line and choose your own car if you book at least a compact.