Your recommended car rental company at MCO?

[ArielRae]

I maybe renting a car from Orlando international airport (MCO) for the first time this September and like if you would recommend which company you think would be the best.

 

[WiscMomof2]

We have never, ever had a problem with Dollar and their City Special rates for Orlando are typically pretty reasonable. Join Dollar Express (free) and you bypass the main terminal and head straight to the garage to pick up your car. Very hassle free and convenient!

 

[DVC-Don]

I always took the low bidder of the onsite agencies. Not loyal to a brand name.

 

[sam_gordon]

My preference would be National, but for our recent trip we did Budget. Both (and I'm sure others) allow you to sign up to skip the counter and head right to the garage.

Cost is a big factor (which is why we went with Budget).

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We were loyal Avis customers for years...until our last trip to WDW in April. Switched to National. Saved a lot of money, customer service was excellent and would highly recommend. We also signed up for the Emerald Isle. Don't know why we didn't think of National sooner.

 

[FofMM]

National Car. Have used them for years. Once you join Emerald Club (free), you not only avoid MCO counter, you can any pick car from Emerald Isle (at least mid-size) but have gotten n/c convertible choice instead, it includes Spouse (2nd Driver) at no cost. Base rates are competitive, besides MCO they have locations on Disney Property if there were an issue. Oh, you can use discount code and coupon too.

 

[loveswdw]

We tend to use Alamo as we can pick our car and I can use the kiosk in the airport. I don't have to talk to a person at the counter who will try to upsell and/or pressure me to buy insurance. The hardest part is picking out which car we want to drive.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We prefer using an agency that's in terminal and allows us to pick our own vehicle. So Alamo has always been our choice in previous years (plus, we've been able to secure an excellent deal by watching, rebooking, watching and rebooking in the weeks before our trip).

This year we have a reservation with National that appears to be hard to beat. Again, its in terminal and we get to choose our own vehicle.

Once we went solely on price and booked with Budget. Epic fail. While the agency is in terminal we were assigned a vehicle. It was smelly (at first it had a chemical odor, then as the trip went on the chemical odor was replaced by a stench of different kind) and gave my DS an asthma attack every time we were inside it. Budget had one chance to make a good first impression and blew it badly.

 

[caspad]

we've always had good service from Enterprise
but I'll have to take a look at National too

I always give a car the sniff test before committing to a rental.
I hate when a car has that stale cigarette smell with the artificial air freshener trying to cover it up.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

National is my favorite. I love being able to go straight to the Emerald Aisle to pick out my own car. All things being equal, I would use them everytime.

However, on my last trip, everything was very expensive and I was able to get a great deal from Firefly. They are in the terminal, so no need for a shuttle but you do have to use the counter.

 

[disneywlf]

Overall, most of the major rental car agencies we have used have been good. Like other DISers, I would advise you to choose a company at the airport if you can. Avis is a pretty good company, as the service was friendly and efficient and the Ford Focus we rented was in excellent shape. Alamo is another solid choice, as you can use the electronic kiosks to make the process of getting your car quicker and if you have to, their counter service is friendly and efficient as well. The Chevrolet HHR we rented was in good shape, drove well, and was clean. In addition, they had a large fleet. National, which is owned by the same parent as Alamo, was excellent as well with efficient kiosks or the counter (we used the kiosks) and clean, well maintained cars, like the Chevrolet Impala we rented. I would use caution if renting with Thrifty, as our agent Iris, while not unpleasant, was very upsell happy (more so than other companies) as she tried to sell us a larger or sportier car (Mustang) and pressured my mom into purchasing a $34 Sunpass transponder, which we only used $4 of to go to/from MCO. Despite this issue, the Kia Soul we rented was a great car that was clean and well maintained and returning it was fine . Enterprise, with excellent service and well maintained cars is another fine choice. While I have no experience with the MCO branch, despite being off airport, I would also consider Sixt, a German company now making inroads in the U.S., as they have low rates. More importantly, based on experience with Sixt's Palm Beach International Airport branch, we found the service to be efficient and friendly and the Ford Escape we rented was well maintained, clean, and had only 350 miles on the odometer To sum it up, I would use Avis, Alamo, National, Enterprise, and Sixt but exercise caution if using Thrifty. Also, I have used Hertz, but not in a while and not at MCO as they are usually more $, but they were good too.

 

[Bbbethei]

It's been quite a while since we've rented from MCO. Right now I'm finding our best prices through Costco with Budget and Avis. There's only a $5 price difference. Is one better than the other?