Wow..expensive cars in May!

[DMRick]

I finally booked my National car for 8 days in May. Full size for 238.53 all taxes etc included. This is the most I have ever paid. Hopefully it will go down as we get closer. This is using the DC coupon and contract rate. I finally booked it, because I couldn't find anything lower.

 

[adisneynut]

I know what you mean. I even tried Hotwire and Priceleine. We will be driving down from GA. and we wanted a convertible. The best Hotwire could offer was $42.00 and that was in JAX. All the airports near me didn't have a convertible. Priceline was offering about 40% chance of accepting a bid of $45.00 per day. I have decided the best thing to do if you are traveling over a holiday is book early. Since we will be returning over the Memorial Weekend period I booked with National back in Oct. and I have a convertible for 9 days for $367.45. That is about $41.00 pr day with taxes. This is beter that either Princeline or Hotwire because their prices didn't include taxes and fees. I couldn't use the DC coupon because it was only for 4 door cars.

 

[DebbieB]

Rates traditionally go up this time of year, usually starting after the holidays. I booked my May trip with National last October, got a week for $139 including tax (full size, EA, DC). I usually book both my December and May trips in the early fall when rates are the lowest.

 

[inkkognito]

I just read an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (Friday) about the ridiculously high rental car rates. They singled out Orlando as one of the worst. Supposedly this is because they cut their fleets and did not get enough new cars in the post 9/11 downturn. According to the Journal, there won't be any relief in sight for a while.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[NHAnn]

Interesting!
We rented for a non-Disney vacation...Feb 21 to March 1 (8 days) Hertz at West Palm Beach airport...it was over $300 - just a mid-size! Almost negated the great air prices we got.......
Never paid that much for a car in FL ever!

 

[AZKathy]

It is almost $200 more this year than last for the same amount of days, same size, and same company. Since there seems no end in site, we are opting for towncar services this trip. We like the flexiblilty of a rental car, but it seems like highway robbery right now with those prices!

 

[DMRick]

I usually book both my December and May trips in the early fall when rates are the lowest

I usually do, but this May trip (our third this year) was a last minute (relatively speaking) trip. Actually, I went in today to see if it has gone down, and it went up another $20. We're paying $238 for a full size for 8 days. When we were there Aug/Sept we paid $135 or so for 8 days..and ended up with a convertible (never again..too small, it was hot, and air isn't very good with the top down..and we just didn't feel safe, when we , ummm..got lost and ended up outside of Disney in the dark).

 

[Madeline]

Another great option is Interamerican. They only have Florida offices. We have used them several times in Ft lauderdale and Miami, but never in Orlando. They were always the cheapest but then again I don't know what their prices are for Orlando.

 

[tinaluis]

We got a full-size through Avis for $17/day for 5/4 - 5/18 through Priceline. With taxes and all fees it comes to just over $300.00. The offer was accepted right away which made me think we might have gotten it cheaper but, if so, probably only by $1 or $2.

 

[ncbyrne]

Have you tried dollar.com? And be sure to check out the codes found on mousesavers.com (ground transportation). We got a minivan with Dollar for $199.00 for our trip coming up in May

 

[DMRick]

Have you tried dollar.com? And be sure to check out the codes found on mousesavers.com (ground transportation). We got a minivan with Dollar for $199.00 for our trip coming up in May

Yes, Dollar was even more. We are too close to the trip time, I guess. The eigth day is a killer! It added quite a lot to the price.

 

[padisneyfan]

After getting the great airfares on southwest, I started to check rental cars and yes they are so much more expensive than last year. In fact last year, we drove to the DCL and left our car in the lot as it was cheaper to do that than take other transportation over from MCO. We had the car for 8 days and 3 days it was just sitting in the parking lot. Not this year, will do the towncar over to DCL, then to disney and back to MCO. Cheaper than any rental car. I will miss the convience of the car as we seldom used the buses. So for this year, back to bus transportation at disney.