Dollar or Thrifty

[Jezzup]

Will be renting a car on our next visit in October. Best price I could find is with Dollar and Thrifty. Has anyone had any issues with either company?

[VWL Mom]

Haven't used either recently. I have used Alamo a few times and was pleased. You can sign up for their insiders club (free) and get lower rates.

[BrerGnat]

There's always a HUGE line at both of these at MCO whenever I have walked by in the past. I am always glad I use another company when I see those lines at the counter.

[faline]

Out last several rentals have been with Thrifty. We joined their club so can go directly to the car rental location and skip the lines.

[PirateLover]

I haven't used either. We usually use Alamo or Enterprise. A friend of ours had an awful experience with Dollar, though, so we have steered clear of that company.

[Fangorn]

Full Disclosure: SIL works for Thrifty.

That said, I personally can't stand Dollar/Thrifty and avoid using them even though I could get a reasonable discount via my SIL.

As Natalie said, the lines at MCO are always long at their counters, which is probably due to lower published prices. While they may show a lower rate, they have a tendancy to stack on fees, and badger you to death to take their extra insurance coverage. People take it just to be allowed to leave.

Over the years I have done a lot of travel for work and have rented a lot of cars. Thrifty didn't do too badly until Dollar bought them a few years back.Things deteriorated rapidly after that - for both companies. Both companies are now owned by Hertz.

My experience has been that customer service is poor (at best), and the transaction is always very, very slow to complete. If you do rent from them, you might want to take pictures of the vehicle (all sides, all angles) when you return the vehicle. Twice now, they've tried to pull the ol' "you damaged the car and didn't report it" scam on me.

I don't even consider them an option any more.

I've always been satisfied with Alamo/National/Enterprise - especially in Orlando.

Steve

[MargaretMessler]

Will be renting a car on our next visit in October. Best price I could find is with Dollar and Thrifty. Has anyone had any issues with either company?

I had a good experience with Dollar last year, very quick check-in, and we were at our resort within a little over an hour from touch down at MCO.

Just a note on price, are you by chance a member of Costco? My past two trips, I have found the best deal booking within a couple weeks of my trip with them and through Enterprise or Budget. Also they include a second driver free which is a value for us. No cancelation fees either, in case you find a better price as you get closer

[Eric87]

Last year was the first time we rented a car. I used the orbitz app and checked rates everyday. I ended up getting the best deal through Firefly who randomly dropped their price for the day. If you're not comfortable with the two you mentioned just keep checking. Also, there was no line picking up or returning compared to the toy story mania lines from the more popular companies. We went in November and I started my search in April and didn't book until a month before our vacation. Be patient you can find a good price from a good company.

[goofynmd]

It wasn't at MCO, but we had terrible customer service with Dollar last month in Las Vegas and Phoenix. It was so bad, I actuall sent a letter to the company because we had issues at both places. I told my husband I will never rent with them again... I would rather pay a few extra dollars elsewhere.

[yankeesfan123]

Awful reviews for Dollar online. There's a reason they are the cheapest.

[Hammer]

This just goes to show that everyone can have a different experience with the same company. I rent my cars in Tampa, not Orlando, but the cars I have gotten from Dollar or Thrifty have been in good condition. I have had the slow, apathetic service, but I resolved that by signing up for Dollar Express and bypassing the line.

On the other hand, the cars we have rented from Alamo were in poor condition. I was surprised by that as we always receive great cars when we rent from National. It definitely seemed like they had shipped the older cars from National over to Alamo. Enterprise is the company I've had the worst rental experiences.

[Jezzup]

Thank you everyone for the comments. Based on the feedback, we decided to go with Alamo.

We have additional questions about other transportation options but will start a new thread for those. Thanks again.

[PirateLover]

While they may show a lower rate, they have a tendancy to stack on fees, and badger you to death to take their extra insurance coverage. People take it just to be allowed to leave....... Twice now, they've tried to pull the ol' "you damaged the car and didn't report it" scam on me.

Wow, that is EXACTLY what happened to my friend. They kept badgering him to buy the insurance and he declined, and upon return they blamed him for a small scratch and dent that was there at the start. They were really rude and treated him so badly.