Some rent a car help?

[Disneydreamer23]

Hey every one I could use some help! I usually drive down or use the Busses but this time I am renting a car. Any suggestions I asked disney and they have there own rent a car service they are partnered with and it will be around 800.00 for october 29-nov 7th _10 days_ total that doesnt include the underage fee of 300.00 does any one have any suggestions for me? thank you

 

[disney4life2008]

If you do not need to rent a car DO NOT do it. The underage fee is a killer cheap or not. Otherwise, do not use on of Disney recommended services. Dollar and Thrify have cheaper rentals.

 

[Rob562]

$800 for 10 days in Orlando is a very high amount. A rental car is definitely something you can (and should, IMHO) shop around for yourself. I'd never book a rental car through Disney.

First place to start is MouseSavers.com They have a ton of tips and discount listing for various rental car agencies. I'd stick to the major national chains: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar and National.

I plugged your dates into Alamo's website, and I got $645 for a mid-size which, while being cheaper than $800, also seems like an exorbitant amount, especially when I've gotten an 8-day rental in the past for under $200.

So I plugged in the Contract ID# for one of the airlines' frequent flier programs (Delta in this case) that I got from Mousesavers, and it immediately dropped to $237.

The underage driver (ages 21-24) fee is another matter. Alamo's fee is $25/day. So you'd need to add to the earlier total. There isn't a whole lot that can be done to get around that fee, but one possibility would be to check with your employer. Sometimes employers will have their own corporate contracts that waive the underage fee, even if it's a personal rental.

-Rob

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Wow thank you so much! I will have to look those places up when i get home from work today! have a good day!

 

[joannecasey]

We rented through Alamo ... got a mid-sized car with a free upgrade to a standard car and signed up for Alamo Insiders (gets you another 10% off) ... for 15 nights (Oct 28-Nov 12) and got a standard car for $280 plus taxes !!! Incredible deal !

Good luck !

 

[Magical Dreamer]

About a month ago I booked a mini van week rental through Alamo for $243 November 10th to 17th....prices constantly change....keep looking till you find a good deal

 

[Rob562]

You guys brought up another point that I usually make when talking about rental cars: Even after you've booked it, keep checking back periodically to see if the prices go down. The prices are always fluctuating, and many travellers just book it and never check back. And most rental car companies don't charge a fee to cancel a reservation.

So if the price goes down, you can book the new lower price and cancel the original one. I once cut my rental car bill in half by checking every few weeks over the course of 5 months.

This also is a good reason *not* to choose the pre-pay options, even if they offer a discount, unless it's right before your trip. When you pre-pay, you're stuck with what you booked, and can't get it reduced or refunded.


-Rob

 

[Specialk78]

Name your own price

I'd recommend trying Priceline's name your own price offer. I did this the other day and managed to get a mid-sized car for 2 weeks from Hertz for $349, including taxes and fees. I entered in an offer of $15 per day, and on the next page, they gave the total price that it will come to with taxes and fees. Once I confirmed my offer and entered in my credit card info, it submitted it and then said, "congratulations, your offer has been accepted." If it is accepted, your card is immediately charged. Easy as pie. Word of caution though....I wish I had started with a lower bid- who knows if it would've been accepted or not. You'll never know unless you try, but as I recall, if the bid gets rejected, you can't try again for 24 hours, UNLESS you change the car type (like from mid-size to full-size). Anyhow, I had good luck this time, and last year when I rented a convertible for a week at $30 per day. Check it out & good luck to you!

 

[Disneydreamer23]

thank you! every one

 

[Disneydreamer23]

We rented through Alamo ... got a mid-sized car with a free upgrade to a standard car and signed up for Alamo Insiders (gets you another 10% off) ... for 15 nights (Oct 28-Nov 12) and got a standard car for $280 plus taxes !!! Incredible deal !

Good luck !

can you tell me what you get if you have the alamo insider if i sign up online so i book it then even though Im already booked?

 

[420WDW MONSTER]

how do i get a good price? sept 24- oct2 8 days
enterprise and dollar were about the same price-292
for a full size
i wanted a minivan cuz an extra person might be comin
minivan-715!!!
more than double!
and thats the cheapest. alamo and others were over 1000!
what am i doin wrong

can u fit 6 people in a fullsize car, 4 adults, 14 year old and 7?
would it be comfertable to drive 7 hours to key west from disney?

 

[rlm919]

^ seems like it would just be cheaper to rent 2 cars for< $600 than get a minivan.

 

[joannecasey]

can you tell me what you get if you have the alamo insider if i sign up online so i book it then even though Im already booked?

Hi there ! With Alamo Insiders it gives you 10% off your rental plus you can sign up for email deals, etc .... If you haven't already paid for your car rental you can easily just cancel your reservation if you find it's cheaper with Insiders.

 

[iheartarkansas]

can u fit 6 people in a fullsize car, 4 adults, 14 year old and 7?
would it be comfertable to drive 7 hours to key west from disney?

No. That would be horribly uncomfortable even for a 10 minute drive (Key West is REALLY far away).

Try the mousesavers discounts for rental van or try a full size SUV. I looked up National full size SUV for you and it was 604.57 before taxes/fees with Emerald Club membership (free through mousesavers). You can probably do better if you keep trying.

 

[Disney Nut]

Alamo has always been good. getting 10 days with a full size car for under $200 after all the fees. minivans are about $310 for 10 days. keep checking back like mentioned. I think i booked and canceled 5 times now for a better price. also check the difference between MCO and the disney car care center. prices can be very different.

 

[yensid67]

Disneydreamer23:Hey every one I could use some help! I usually drive down or use the Busses but this time I am renting a car. Any suggestions I asked disney and they have there own rent a car service they are partnered with and it will be around 800.00 for october 29-nov 7th _10 days_ total that doesnt include the underage fee of 300.00


DisneyDreamer23:
Another option for you to check into is a flight, hotel AND CAR package deal through Expedia. They sometimes have good deals for the package.
This could be an option to get a better price for all your travel needs. Also, you didn't mention where you will be staying, one suggestion when you are on Expedia, after you put in your info for dates and airport, the next page will show hotels, on the left in the box you will see your dates then it asks for 'NAME CONTAINING' for you hotel...type in ROSEN and look for Clarion Inn LBV. This hotel is very close to Hotel Plaza entrance, less than 5 minutes. or if you are planning to stay on property just type in the hotel ...it may be a little cheaper by bundling ...just an idea...hope you have a awesome time!

 

[Disney Nut]

Alamo has always been good. getting 10 days with a full size car for under $200 after all the fees. minivans are about $310 for 10 days. keep checking back like mentioned. I think i booked and canceled 5 times now for a better price. also check the difference between MCO and the disney car care center. prices can be very different.

We got back last week from the trip. We ended up with a minivan that was in the full size lane. we paid $126 for 10 days for it. I used the costco account info and the alamo inside coupon. If you get there in the AM, there are a lot of upgraded cars in the full size lane.