Why are car rentals so expensive Feb 20-28??

[LauraR]

I have been using codes and sites like Kayak and Travelocity to try and find a decent car rental for Feb. 20-28, and the quotes I'm getting are ridiculous! Nothing under $600 except for Carl's for a pick-up at a little under $500. I don't get it. It's the tail end of President's week, but most of it is the following week. We've rented 4 times in the past, twice in December and twice earlier in Feb. and never has our total been over $150. What gives?? Is there something major going on that week I don't know about? I could maybe see Christmas or Easter going that high, but not the last week in February. Any ideas? As it stands my husband and kids may be flying down while I drive our car from Maryland since gas is so cheap right now. We got very reasonable airfare ($580 for four), but I can't stomach paying as much as that for a car rental....

 

[yxe dad]

Check on Southwest Airlines site. Use the link in specials for Alamo and use their directions for booking. From the 20th-28th of Feb I just checked for you and got a car for $230 all taxes in.

 

[Brian Noble]

For what it's worth, no one really knows what's been going on, other than to suspect that the Orlando agencies have been very good at cutting their fleet sizes this year.

 

[LauraR]

Wow, that is amazingly better! Thank you VERY much. I did go ahead and make a reservation there.

 

[LauraR]

For what it's worth, no one really knows what's been going on, other than to suspect that the Orlando agencies have been very good at cutting their fleet sizes this year.

It is very screwy this year. On the Alamo website I compared a rental for two weeks earlier in February (all else being the same) and the base rate was a lot closer to what I was used to---$150, then for my dates it shot up to $650! (That was before I used the SW website suggestion.) Where are all those cars going, I wonder?

 

[yxe dad]

Your Welcome!,
I don't think the car rental companies will lower their rates for the last 2 weeks of Feb until the start of Feb. They will try and suck as much money out of us as they can!

 

[Alexander]

Don't know about fleet size--But it is the end of Presidents' Week, Daytona Speedweek is the week before, and sometime in Feb. is Biker Week at Daytona. I can tell you for sure that Presidents' Week is always the most expensive time to rent a car in FL.

 

[Brian Noble]

Bike week is earlier as well, IIRC.

 

[mommytomy3]

I booked through Dollar and got a minivan for $199 a week...the code was AX07 -- you must pay with an American Express card........ I am picking up in Tampa airport, returning at Orlando airport (getting charged a $50 fee for that) renting for 10 days, so with the fee & taxes I am paying $468... that is the best I have been able to get yet!

eta: ooops.. this offer expires 2/27.. not good for your dates, sorry

 

[jmpellet]

Where did you find the Alamo link on Southwest? I see that the special appears to end 1/31/09? Thanks! I have the $199/week minivan ($268 total) from Dollar booked but I cancelled my Amex a while back - I guess I'll have to re-instate if necessary. You have to pay with Amex for this promotion.

 

[Brian Noble]

It says it ends in January, but it gave me good rates in February. Just follow the directions from here:

http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/cars_alamo.html#25percent

And, when you get to the "select car" stage, be sure to enter the $25 coupon code ID you can find on Alamo's site.

 

[jmpellet]

Unfortunately not good for me. Over $480 for a compact for 2/17-2/23. I used both codes too - 7013855 for corp id and AD6974JDM for the coupon.

 

[Brian Noble]

I noticed that I had to book through the Southwest site to get a good rate. If I tried to enter the codes directly on alamo.com, it was no soap.

 

[jmpellet]

This was on the southwest site

 

[Brian Noble]

Must be because of the P-Week overlap. The rates for the week after (with the $25 coupon) are about $240 for an 8-day rental, which is pretty darn good.

 

[Donna M]

That time is school vacation week for some of the states up in the Northeast.

 

[jmpellet]

Probably the case. Might have to apply for the Amex card

 

[robr]

wow! they sure soak you with surcharges. im looking for 2/10-2/17 and am flying into FLL and driving up from there (stopping in at parents first).

AX07 looks like a phenomenal deal until the surcharges kick in, not to mention I don't have AMEX . I went down last year at the same time and ended up going with priceline at the last minute and got a minivan for around $250 for 8 days.

Here's AX07 for $199/week. The final price is almost double!

Weekly Rate*
$199.00
Total Base Rate*
$238.99
U.S. Dollar (USD)
Rate Details
Facility Charge
$31.60
Concession Fee Rec
$27.80
Energy Recovery Fee
$3.60
Florida Surcharge
$16.24
State Tax
$17.42
Tax Rec Fee
$14.34
Vehicle License Fee
$3.76
Total Est. Mandatory Charges
$114.76
Est. Grand Total
$353.75

 

[mom2mikel]

My early May rate is extremely high too. I'm hoping they come down as we get closer to our trips.

Good luck!

 

[mom2mikel]

My early May rate is extremely high too. I'm hoping they come down as we get closer to our trips.

Good luck!