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E-Z rental car!!??
- Thread starter draybook
- Start date
ShookieJones
We need time for things to happen.
Dude...do NOT use Firefly. They're owned by Hertz, but don't be fooled -They must have started it up as an answer to the value car rental companies popping up all over. And whey I started up...I mean bare minimum in vestment. I'm in FL right now (Fort Lauderdale) I used Firefly because it was a great deal. 90 bucks for a standard car for 4 days.
Priceline showed them as "On Airport" - Nope. I had to take a shuttle. I got to the place it was an old Hertz lot and it looked like set from the Walking dead. Like the Hertz team picked up and left some old furniture some outdated computers and gave all the people they didn't hire some stained polos and said...hey some people are going to be showing up to rent cars...figure it out.
To be fair even with those circumstances the guys behind the counter were doing the best they could but they were the B-squad and It took me an hour to get my car.
They told me I would get my car checked before I left..the poor woman at the gate was like..."Do you see any dents" I had to get out and do a walk around...I didn't find any. As an afterthought just before I left she said. "Is the tank full?" I look...there is only an 1/8 of a tank! She marked it down and I hope this doesn't blow up in my face...but man o' man Hertz should be embarrassed.
ShookieJones
We need time for things to happen.
I am huge proponent of renting cars at WDW. We've done it every year we've gone. It's 9 years running and I have not paid more than 180.00 for 8 days.
Have you tried Priceline "name your own price" it takes a little doing and you have to put your credit card in ahead of time etc.
Have you tried Priceline "name your own price" it takes a little doing and you have to put your credit card in ahead of time etc.
Yeah, after some poking around I see that Firefly is owned by Hertz as their own discount brand. So basically, the cars that are in the Firefly lots are the ones that Hertz gets rid of at the 2 year/30k mile mark.
Yeah, I'm going to try that as the day gets closer if the rates don't get better. Right now I have a reservation with EZ and I made one with Firefly. I'd prefer the big names but at $700+ I just can't pull the trigger on that.
HRHPrincessAriel
Well-Known Member
That's the one I was thinking of! I kept looking at hotwire.
anchorman314
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure how May rates compare to September, but I'm in WDW now (yay!), and we were able to get a week with a Fullsize from Alamo for ~$160. If you sign up to be an Alamo Insider (which is free), you save about 10% off their website rates. The part that drew me to them was the fact that you can make as many reservations (through their website) as you want, and can cancel each one. This week before we left, I ended up making a new reservation every day, and then cancelling the next day. It took some effort, but it saved us $50 for the week.
@ShookieJones are you sure you had to take a shuttle? All of the reviews I've read say that it's on the garage past the Hertz section.
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
I am normally a supporter of the small guys - but I have heard horror stories about EZ Car rental. While the rates are cheaper - it seems their staff are poorly trained and calculate additional rates upon return. Have you checked Dollar or Thrifty - they typically are reasonable.
ShookieJones
We need time for things to happen.
So
They clearly had them listed as "On Airport" and got a bit of a surprise. I love renting a car, I loving getting a good price, but I have to say there is nothing that beats the convenience of having the rental being right at the airport. I won't do a shuttle unless I absolutely have to to.
Sorry I was being super confusing. They may be onsite at the MCO. I meant at the Fort Lauderdale | Hollywood Airport, where I flew into this morning.
They clearly had them listed as "On Airport" and got a bit of a surprise. I love renting a car, I loving getting a good price, but I have to say there is nothing that beats the convenience of having the rental being right at the airport. I won't do a shuttle unless I absolutely have to to.
ShookieJones
We need time for things to happen.
Hate Firefly Car Rental. Love Firefly TV Show. Such a shame we only got 1 Season. I guess we have to consider ourselves lucky we got a pretty d*mn good movie too.Saw the word Firefly and I got all excited.
Thanks a lot
BigTxEars
Well-Known Member
No kidding, the movie turned out just awesome.
But when I think of what a couple of more season of the show could have done
Disneymom201
Active Member
We rented from EZ last year and also have a minivan booked for this year. I booked directly on their site. They offer additional discounts for various occupations (my husband is a deputy sheriff). In addition, if you 'like' them on Facebook you can save an additional percentage too.
Our experience last year was seamless. The gentleman working the counter was efficient & didn't try to 'sell' us anything: upgrade, additional insurance, etc. I also had 2 ressies (forgot to cancel one) as I rebooked with a cheaper price & that was the ressie they honored. We also forgot our car seat & he gave us a discounted price (although I could have purchased a new one for the same price as we paid...lol!)
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Our experience last year was seamless. The gentleman working the counter was efficient & didn't try to 'sell' us anything: upgrade, additional insurance, etc. I also had 2 ressies (forgot to cancel one) as I rebooked with a cheaper price & that was the ressie they honored. We also forgot our car seat & he gave us a discounted price (although I could have purchased a new one for the same price as we paid...lol!)
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Yeah, everyone but EZ and Firefly are over $700. I've got a reservation with both of them and I'll keep checking all of the agencies as time goes on. If nothing else, I might try to lowball one of the big names on NYOP and if that sticks I can cancel those two reservations.
Also, I've heard horror stories as well, which is what got me searching. However, I've heard many horror stories about Hertz, which is strange because I've rented from them about 10-12 times without incident. The only time I had an issue with them is when they didn't have the car I reserved, so he upgraded me at no cost. This was a small local branch that literally had like 4 cars on site.
But In the four times that I've rented with Enterprise I've had nothing but issues on three of them. The first time they gave me a hassle about having to have full coverage. The second time they said they didn't have an intermediate car so I waited for about 20 minutes, then they bring me a halfway cleaned Corolla that had it's check engine light on the entire trip. Luckily, we were only going to Atlanta and back. On the third time, they refused to honor my lowest fare by a competitor, which they said they would when I first called them. That was the last time I went to that branch. The fourth time was when I used NYOP and got them at the airport branch. That was flawless and I would use that branch if the price was right.
Wow, that was long winded.....Time for bed, good night folks and thanks for the help so far!
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Disneygrl
Well-Known Member
We used Firefly for a van rental this past January, and we had no problems. Cost was great and everything went smoothly.
Awesome, thanks for the reassurance. I just upgraded to a full size for a total of $473. That's pretty darn good for a 19 day rental.
SAV
Well-Known Member
This doesn't have anything to do with your original question about EZ, but I have been checking rates for months now for my trip on Monday. It started out that my 10 day rental was a little over $300 everywhere I looked. Then about a month ago, I got it down to about $250 on Thrifty using a Mousesavers code. Then a week ago it was down to $230(with a discount Code at Thrifty). I just checked on a whim tonight and I am now down to $180 for the 10 days at Dollar using a Mousesavers code.
I guess the moral is to just keep on checking and the price should go down for you.
I guess the moral is to just keep on checking and the price should go down for you.
SAV
Well-Known Member
Figured I revisit this thread after my recent trip.
Even though they were the lowest price, I will NEVER rent from Dollar again. It was not a good experience. In the past, I was able to get our luggage, go to check in and I was off and driving within 20 minutes. With Dollar, I waited over an hour in line to get our car. While every other rental line in the airport was short. So as I sat there waiting after about 30 minutes, I had an idea...check rates at Thrifty since they were right next to us and had no line and are owned by Hertz, just like Dollar. Hmmm...Only a buck or 2 more expensive. But at this point, I was already over half way through(or so I thought) and figured it wouldn't be much longer of a wait. So I waited...and waited...and waited. Bad move in hindsight. They did start using the Thrifty lines to get Dollar people through. So I finally get up there and get my car paperwork. Of course they tried upselling me and trying to get me to buy their toll service. We finally get out to the garage to get the car and there are 2 compact cars left. A Ford Focus and an even smaller shoebox of some sort that wouldn't even fit 2 suitcases, let alone our cases, and carryons. So we quickly grab the Focus and head out. The car seems fine as we drive from the airport. We make our usual lunch and Wal-Mart stop and head to the resort. Seems good to go.
Fast Forward from the toll road driving to within Disney property. We get our room, drop the luggage and head to the parks. I start noticing the car not really accelerating well and kind of stuttering. I figure it may be due to the mid 90 degrees, so we just continue on. On the way back to the resort that night, a similar pattern. And since it is June in Florida, it is raining and the wiper blades are garbage and I can hardly see. Go to sleep and figure we'll deal with it tomorrow if it still a problem. It was. So I call Dollar about it and what to do. Since the car was drivable, my choices were to deal with it or drive back to MCO and swap it. Not exactly what I want to do, so I have them note it in our record and think about it. Since we were going to drive to Clearwater Beach later in the trip, I decide that it is best to swap it out. So after our EPCOT night, we head back to MCO to swap it out. Drive in and it is pretty empty since it is is late at night now. They direct us up front and without much hassle, they tell us to pick a mid-size for the trouble. Sweet. Go down the line to find one that we like...takes a while because this one has an odor, etc. Finally find one that is good and there is no wiper fluid...no biggie. Just ask them to fill it up. He says, "No, lets find you a better car with less miles". So we head to the full-size row and he starts checking several of them. Too many miles on many of them and finally gives us a very nice Chevy Malibu. I ask him what's the deal with so many questionable cars. He tells me "Since Hertz bought dollar, we get their junk cars". No wonder their prices are so much lower.
The rest of the rental was uneventful and I did end up with a Full-Size car for my 10 day trip for only $180 and an extra trip back to the Airport.
Even though they were the lowest price, I will NEVER rent from Dollar again. It was not a good experience. In the past, I was able to get our luggage, go to check in and I was off and driving within 20 minutes. With Dollar, I waited over an hour in line to get our car. While every other rental line in the airport was short. So as I sat there waiting after about 30 minutes, I had an idea...check rates at Thrifty since they were right next to us and had no line and are owned by Hertz, just like Dollar. Hmmm...Only a buck or 2 more expensive. But at this point, I was already over half way through(or so I thought) and figured it wouldn't be much longer of a wait. So I waited...and waited...and waited. Bad move in hindsight. They did start using the Thrifty lines to get Dollar people through. So I finally get up there and get my car paperwork. Of course they tried upselling me and trying to get me to buy their toll service. We finally get out to the garage to get the car and there are 2 compact cars left. A Ford Focus and an even smaller shoebox of some sort that wouldn't even fit 2 suitcases, let alone our cases, and carryons. So we quickly grab the Focus and head out. The car seems fine as we drive from the airport. We make our usual lunch and Wal-Mart stop and head to the resort. Seems good to go.
Fast Forward from the toll road driving to within Disney property. We get our room, drop the luggage and head to the parks. I start noticing the car not really accelerating well and kind of stuttering. I figure it may be due to the mid 90 degrees, so we just continue on. On the way back to the resort that night, a similar pattern. And since it is June in Florida, it is raining and the wiper blades are garbage and I can hardly see. Go to sleep and figure we'll deal with it tomorrow if it still a problem. It was. So I call Dollar about it and what to do. Since the car was drivable, my choices were to deal with it or drive back to MCO and swap it. Not exactly what I want to do, so I have them note it in our record and think about it. Since we were going to drive to Clearwater Beach later in the trip, I decide that it is best to swap it out. So after our EPCOT night, we head back to MCO to swap it out. Drive in and it is pretty empty since it is is late at night now. They direct us up front and without much hassle, they tell us to pick a mid-size for the trouble. Sweet. Go down the line to find one that we like...takes a while because this one has an odor, etc. Finally find one that is good and there is no wiper fluid...no biggie. Just ask them to fill it up. He says, "No, lets find you a better car with less miles". So we head to the full-size row and he starts checking several of them. Too many miles on many of them and finally gives us a very nice Chevy Malibu. I ask him what's the deal with so many questionable cars. He tells me "Since Hertz bought dollar, we get their junk cars". No wonder their prices are so much lower.
The rest of the rental was uneventful and I did end up with a Full-Size car for my 10 day trip for only $180 and an extra trip back to the Airport.
Disneydreamer23
Well-Known Member
My friend Used them and they said there was damage on the car when she returned it but she took pictures of the car upon renting it so they were speechless.
disney4life2008
Well-Known Member
I am confused - was your dollar experience pleasant or negative? lol
As a side note - you can always check in online and immediately get your car. I encountered the same experience at SFO - the dollar counter was about over an hour wait (I did not do the online check in) while everyone else was little to no wait. But I always use Dollar and never had any problems with any of their cars nationwide.
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