Car Rental Woes

[merryc17]

We are spending the first few days of our (Feb 23-Mar 3) vacation at Vero Beach and then ending our trip with a stay at Wildreness Lodge. After flying into Orlando, we need to rent a car to get to and from WDW. Everything I have seen has been CRAZY expensive. Would it be better to just rent a car for the Vero portion and use Disney transportation for the rest of the trip? I can't justify spending so much on a rental car if we only use it a couple times. Ideas/ Thoughts?

[faline]

I'd turn in the car when you no longer need it to get around and depend on Disney transportation. I only occasionally have a car when on Disney property and, even when I do, rarely use it.

[epceddie]

It's always been my experience that rental car prices drop substantially about two weeks out. Keep checking back. You can always make a reservation now and cancel if a better deal comes along.

[MargaretMessler]

I'll second the suggestion of holding off on renting your car until right before your trip. Prices are definitely better.

[LVT]

We drive down an the car stays in the same space for the whole vacation. I love the buses.

[Trev&Ev Mom]

We are big fans of WDW buses. Just so convenient. We are renting a car from WDW to drive down to Miami and had a similar problem. The rates online were CRAZY expensive. I called Alamo through the Car Care Center at WDW. They quoted me a rate that was significantly less. My suggestion would be to call the company directly if you haven't already as apparently their rates are much different by phone than online.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I just sent you a PM with a link for car rental codes.

[WDWFanatic]

We've found the best rates through Costco. Good Luck!

[VWL Mom]

We are big fans of WDW buses. Just so convenient. We are renting a car from WDW to drive down to Miami and had a similar problem. The rates online were CRAZY expensive. I called Alamo through the Car Care Center at WDW. They quoted me a rate that was significantly less. My suggestion would be to call the company directly if you haven't already as apparently their rates are much different by phone than online.
I was just checking into renting a car for a few days in March and the rates were very high. I saw that Alamo had a location at Shades of Green and cut my cost by more than 50%. I probably would have been able to save more but I'm traveling to Winter Park and returning it to the airport.

Can anyone use the Alamo location at SofG or is it just for military?

[MargaretMessler]

We've found the best rates through Costco. Good Luck!

BJs also nets you a very good discount.

[VWL Mom]

I was just checking into renting a car for a few days in March and the rates were very high. I saw that Alamo had a location at Shades of Green and cut my cost by more than 50%. I probably would have been able to save more but I'm traveling to Winter Park and returning it to the airport.

Can anyone use the Alamo location at SofG or is it just for military?

UPDATE: The car rental location at Shades of Green is only good for military.

[azcavalier]

Have you thought about using Priceline for your rental car? I have done it multiple times, and it's always been great. I know that some people are a little "iffy" about using Priceline because of the way they do plane tickets (you don't get to pick what time it leaves, etc), but that's not the way it works with rental cars. You basically tell it when and where, what sized car you want, and how much you want to pay, and it will come back and tell you if you have it or not. Now, if it accepts it, you're locked in. But it will have accepted your price, and you can save a ton of money. And Priceline only uses the bigger car companies, such as Avis and Hertz.

The only problem with doing it this way is that if it doesn't accept your offer, you can't just change your price and try again. They make you either wait a few days, or change something else as well as your asking price...such as the date of your arrival or the size of car. So, basically, if you try to really short-change them (offering a price that's 70% lower than normal, for example), you will have to wait a while to try again using the same dates and car size. So, if you have a while before your vacation, this isn't a bad way to go at all.

[mrte62]

Make a reservation now and keep checking for better deals. We did this for our trip at the end of October of last year, just like we did in 2011.

10 days prior to leaving, we were able to rent a Jeep Liberty for $121 ($206 with all fees, taxes) unlimited mileage two drivers 7 days with Budget.

Prior to that we held a reservations for $275 with Dollar for a mid-size car.

This year we had the same issue. A few weeks before our trip the same deal as 2011. This time 8 days, SUV with unlimited mileage. All in (fees, taxes, etc) $204.

The closer you get to your trip the better your chance for a deal.

[Trev&Ev Mom]

UPDATE: The car rental location at Shades of Green is only good for military.

Did you try Alamo at the WDW car care center? They have location there and at Dolphin. Both quoted me the same rate which was more than half of the rates I saw online. I called CCC first and then called back to change pickup to the Dolphin (we're staying at BCV) and there was no difference in price.

[Tigger68]

Thanks for the info. We are thinking of renting a car for two days to skip away to Universal. National's price online was almost $200 for a two day rental! I will try Priceline and also call a few places tomorrow.

[VWL Mom]

Did you try Alamo at the WDW car care center? They have location there and at Dolphin. Both quoted me the same rate which was more than half of the rates I saw online. I called CCC first and then called back to change pickup to the Dolphin (we're staying at BCV) and there was no difference in price.

I ended up arranging to pick-up at MCO and drop off at the car care center. I signed up for the Alamo insiders club and using that rate I'm now paying $29/day tax & fees included. Thanks so much!

[Roger's #1 Fan]

Good deal! We used Alamo in August and used the Car Care Center for pickup/dropoff since we had ME. We only kept the car for a few days for church and our Universal trips (much cheaper and more convenient than a taxi or shuttle with 6 of us)