Budget vs. Avis

[anchorman314]

Has anyone had a recent experience with either Budget or Avis at MCO? We're going to be arriving on a Tuesday (early May) at about 10am. I can get a pretty decent rate through Undercover Tourist from either company, with Avis being about $12 more. Just trying to get an idea of counter wait times, car quality, or overall experience with these two.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We've rented from both in the past with no issues -- both are owned by the same parent company and often share the same fleet. While we observed no differences, Avis is generally considered the "higher end" one, and is usually a little more expensive.

You might expect to receive better service with Avis as the pricier brand so all things being equal I'd choose Avis, but if you're entitled to "skip the counter" privileges with one but not the other (their respective programs are Avis Quickpass and Budget Fastbreak), then I'd tend to lean in favor of whichever one helps you skip the line.

I don't know if our experience was anomalous, but FWIW, when we last visited the MCO rental counters -- a couple of weeks ago, around 8am during a busy day at the end of February break, when they'd canceled dozens of flights -- the only counter that even had a line was the Alamo counter. All others, including National, where we happened to be headed, were running efficiently. We'd booked our vehicle on Priceline and had already filled out all of our payment and drivers license information ahead of time, so we were able to take care of our business and head out to the garage to pick a car in about 90 seconds. Hopefully your experience will be just as quick.

 

[NelleBelle]

We tend to always use Budget (primarily for the discounts through DH's employer) and utilize FastBreak. Never have had any issues with the exception of one time our name was not on the FastBreak sign and had to trudge all the way back to the counter in the terminal--we were totally peeved when that happened as we were toting kids with car seats, stroller, grandparent, great grandparent using a scooter (ugh--you'd think they could just stay put)! But we've always liked Budget.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I don't see much difference between any of the "Big 8." Budget, Avis, Alamo, National, Hertz, Enterprise, Dollar, or Thrifty. If it's one of those, I just take whatever is cheapest.

I would never recommend going bargain hunting with something like Sixt, Ace, or Fox.

 

[DBF John]

DO NOT use Hertz they are in bankruptcy and have Lawsuits for wrongfully reporting cars as stolen and having people arrested.

 

[mkt]

Sixt

They may be price competitive in the US, but they're not one of the cheap upstarts like Ace or Fox - they're a huge car rental company from Europe that's been around for over a century.

 

[Lilofan]

Has anyone had a recent experience with either Budget or Avis at MCO? We're going to be arriving on a Tuesday (early May) at about 10am. I can get a pretty decent rate through Undercover Tourist from either company, with Avis being about $12 more. Just trying to get an idea of counter wait times, car quality, or overall experience with these two.

MCO is the easiest place to rent a car. It is about a 1 min walk to the parking garage where the rentals are picked up and returned coming from the rental counters. I rented an economy car for a cheaper price arriving at 130am. When I went to the parking garage there were hardly any cars, SUVs left. The Avis staff member said " just pick anything in the Avis lot ". I proceeded to select an SUV, bypassing the Mustangs parked alongside.

 

[OrlandoRising]

Having rented from every in-terminal car rental company at MCO except Dollar, the answer is go with whatever option you have to skip the counter and go straight to the car -- if both allow you to do that, go with whatever is cheapest. The only bad experiences were when I had to wait at the counter.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I don't see much difference between any of the "Big 8." Budget, Avis, Alamo, National, Hertz, Enterprise, Dollar, or Thrifty. If it's one of those, I just take whatever is cheapest.

I would never recommend going bargain hunting with something like Sixt, Ace, or Fox.

I have done ok with Sixt.
I use alamo 90% of the time so I can choose the car, though most recently there were no options.l other than a car they presented me with in the garage.

 

[Lilofan]

I have done ok with Sixt.
I use alamo 90% of the time so I can choose the car, though most recently there were no options.l other than a car they presented me with in the garage.

Sixt must be avoided at MCO like the plague. The car lot is several miles away from the airport, shuttles run not so often, and one uses rental cars that are several years old and high mileage as a few examples.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Sixt must be avoided at MCO like the plague. The car lot is several miles away from the airport, shuttles run not so often, and one uses rental cars that are several years old and high mileage as a few examples.

I can't remember if I used them in MCO or Vegas. But I think they are located now at the terminal. I believe Enterprise was one of my rougher experiences with car rental there. As others said, I shoot for skipping lines.

 

[Lilofan]

I can't remember if I used them in MCO or Vegas. But I think they are located now at the terminal. I believe Enterprise was one of my rougher experiences with car rental there. As others said, I shoot for skipping lines.

A few months ago at MCO when I rented a Avis car, Sixt is still a few miles away in their own lot. It may have changed perhaps.

 

[Patcheslee]

Eh Budget charged me an extra $500 after signed paper declining additional insurance. Took an hour to correct first visit. 2nd visit they didn't have the standard size vehicle and wanted to charge me more for a smaller vehicle. 3rd time 2020 visit line over 50 people. Dropped reservation and got Enterprise car in less than 20 minutes. Personally Budget has been a bit shady.

 

[Vacationeer]

Last fall we rented from Sixt and were able to use the new counter in MCO. Before that we used to need to take a shuttle to Frontage Road- usually under 10 min wait (app showed their location) and 5 min ride, followed by 15 mins at the counter. We’ve gotten very good service from them over the years. Always new cars, one time it even only had 10 miles on a Mercedes GLS and they were peeling all the plastic off as they handed it over to us. We used them because nobody else ever came close their deals on SUVs, often it was twice as much for the cheapest elsewhere. Once our vehicle was involved in a documented hit & run (police got the driver) and as luck would have it we showed late up to return the car just in time to make our flight. They took the police report and quickly whisked us away in the shuttle to make our flight, and they handled the damage without needing anything from us. Overall we’ve been very satisfied using them.

But… It seems Sixt has really jacked prices up since getting a counter in MCO. If prices are nearly the same we’re going to pick a skip the line company. I wouldn’t put them in the same category as Fox or Ace though. Going by friends experiences those are not worth the risk of major headaches.