October 2014 Car Rentals.

[PatMcDuck]

I'm interested in knowing this as well! I am booked with the code and just joined their flyer program too.

Also, does anyone know if you can add a coupon to Costco's deals? I totally forgot about using our Costco membership to look into a rental but I don't see anywhere to add a coupon (but have read mention of it on other threads)

For Costco, you usually can add a coupon at time of booking, but I can't find one that goes past Sept 30 for my car type and for a weekly rental.

I now will probably use my national ressie using KLM, I have used it a few times before, no issues.

But will keep an eye on the Alamo costco rates.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Just re-booked my October 17th 9-day reservation at Alamo using Costco codes. Went from $247 for a compact to $240 for a standard (which I believe means full-size, since there's no standard row at MCO). Not a huge savings, but a move in the right direction.

Compact was down to $222 (economy was mis-priced at $244) for the same period.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

For Costco, you usually can add a coupon at time of booking, but I can't find one that goes past Sept 30 for my car type and for a weekly rental.

I now will probably use my national ressie using KLM, I have used it a few times before, no issues.

But will keep an eye on the Alamo costco rates.

I just figured out Costco had a code you had to use on the actual rental sites. I thought I had to book through Costco's site. Using Costco's Alamo code plus $15 for using a Visa, I got a full size for $221.94 for 8 days. That's $12 less than using National's KLM and $30 off, but doesn't include the damage waivers.

 

[pixleyyy]

Where do you find Costco codes for use on other sites?

ETA: Nevermind, found it!

 

[nacho113]

Compact was down to $222 (economy was mis-priced at $244) for the same period.

Economy was probably not mis-priced, just starting to sell out.
Quite often you will see a larger vehicle renting for less than the econoboxes, this usually happens when there is a lot of a particular size that isn't meeting the expected sell through ratio. It's supply and demand, if everyone is renting economys and compacts and the full size or maybe SUV's aren't meeting expectations, the rental companies will start to lower the price of the slower movers to try to spark interest and increase rentals of these sizes.

This is the same reason that its hard to get a good deal on a minivan in Orlando in the summertime. Kids are out of school so there are lots of families in the city for there Disney vacations. The minivans are very popular for families so increased rentals drive up the pricing.
Conversely, when the DW and I take our winter vacation in Jan/Feb, the minivans are quite often the cheapest vehicle to rent. When we have rented from National in the winter, we quite often see several minivans on the Emerald Aisle (a whole lot less families with kids visiting in the winter months) Almost never see minivans on the Aisle in the summer months.

A great way one company deals with slow movers is the way National uses their Emerald Aisle. Rent a mid size then you can pick anything from the Emerald Aisle. You can find almost anything on the Aisle depending on what wasn't already booked specifically. Whatever the slow mover for the day/week is, can end up on the Aisle. Could be they have an excess of SUV's or Minivans so they end up on the aisle, maybe lots of Impalas that didn't rent out so they end up on the aisle

 

[txlibrarian]

Saw a great price from Dollar for our Oct. 26-Nov.1 trip so applied for Dollar Express so we could pick up at the garage as recommended by everyone. Took two days to get my Express number from Dollar. Went back to book and the price had doubled! Lesson learned. When you see it book it, don't wait. Now I'm back to checking for coupons, codes, and prices everyday.

 

[MsMinnieMouse246]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed already, but I got a GREAT deal from priceline on our rental car. I was able to get a minivan rental for $19 a day! It took me a couple of months to get it, but I just kept trying to bid my own price every couple of days. Persistance paid off and I saved a ton of money!!

 

[txlibrarian]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed already, but I got a GREAT deal from priceline on our rental car. I was able to get a minivan rental for $19 a day! It took me a couple of months to get it, but I just kept trying to bid my own price every couple of days. Persistance paid off and I saved a ton of money!!

Which rental car company? At airport or shuttle? if you don't mind saying.

 

[MsMinnieMouse246]

Which rental car company? At airport or shuttle? if you don't mind saying.

The rental car company we received is through Hertz. It is at the airport.

 

[aribelle]

I've never used Priceline...is it like those other travel places where they don't tell you what company until after you pay and there is no cancelling or changing allowed?

 

[carimeli]

The rental car company we received is through Hertz. It is at the airport.

How far in advance did you get that price? We're going in November so I am going to try and find this deal if I can! Thanks!

 

[MsMinnieMouse246]

I've never used Priceline...is it like those other travel places where they don't tell you what company until after you pay and there is no cancelling or changing allowed?

yeah, it does work that way where you don't know who it could go through unless they accept the offer. We definitely aren't changing our dates so it was great for us because we will not be cancelling it. It does show you a list of companies that it could be though when you enter your price, none of the companies were any that I haven't heard of before.

 

[MsMinnieMouse246]

How far in advance did you get that price? We're going in November so I am going to try and find this deal if I can! Thanks!

I was able to get this a couple weeks ago. Our trip is the first week in October, I was trying for a couple of months before I was able to get a decent price. I was going in very low and knew I had a slim chance. I just kept trying for it and hoping maybe.

 

[carimeli]

I was able to get this a couple weeks ago. Our trip is the first week in October, I was trying for a couple of months before I was able to get a decent price. I was going in very low and knew I had a slim chance. I just kept trying for it and hoping maybe.

Thank you - Sounds like this may be just in time if I start now. Wish me luck!

 

[babesboo99]

Thanks.. I booked a mini van rental through Enterprise with my husbands discount I got it for 2 weeks for $507.00 the only thing is we are unlimited in NY and Pennsylvania after that we get 200 miles a day which adds up to 2800 miles all together, but if I can do this I might just try it for the unlimited miles

 

[Yellowjj]

Saw a great price from Dollar for our Oct. 26-Nov.1 trip so applied for Dollar Express so we could pick up at the garage as recommended by everyone. Took two days to get my Express number from Dollar. Went back to book and the price had doubled! Lesson learned. When you see it book it, don't wait. Now I'm back to checking for coupons, codes, and prices everyday.

Why didn't you book it and then apply your Dollar Express number when you got it

Lesson learned indeed.

 

[kiver]

Just got a midsize from Alamo from Oct 25-Nov 8 (14 days) for $375. Using Contract ID 7015504 and Coupon Code AD2338FDF. It is for Visa Card holders

Fingers crossed it will continue to drop

 

[sheri236]

Just got a midsize from Alamo from Oct 25-Nov 8 (14 days) for $375. Using Contract ID 7015504 and Coupon Code AD2338FDF. It is for Visa Card holders

Fingers crossed it will continue to drop

just tried that coupon code and it told me it was no longer available at that location. I hate alamo!!! their website is ridiculous

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

I just changed our departure flight to a little bit later one (same day though) and went to modify our res on Alamo and National (I have 2 res just in case). Anyway when I went to modify on Alamo, I got an error message saying the coupon used is no longer accepted at that location (it was $15 off for using our visa). If I leave the res alone, will they still accept the coupon? Does it matter if we pick up the rental 3.5 hrs later than what the res says? Oh and the KLM code is no longer working on National so I don't want to change that one either.

 

[Yellowjj]

I just changed our departure flight to a little bit later one (same day though) and went to modify our res on Alamo and National (I have 2 res just in case). Anyway when I went to modify on Alamo, I got an error message saying the coupon used is no longer accepted at that location (it was $15 off for using our visa). If I leave the res alone, will they still accept the coupon? Does it matter if we pick up the rental 3.5 hrs later than what the res says? Oh and the KLM code is no longer working on National so I don't want to change that one either.

For Alamo - Yes. As long as you pickup on the same date of the reservation with-in reason the rate and any coupon will remain intact. I believe the cut off time is 12 hours after scheduled pickup.

For National - The KLM code is once again working.