Budget MCO

[Cal-Pie]

I actually started this thread before our trip in July. I did rent from budget through Costco for that trip. They let you add your fastbreak number but it didn't matter because my flight was 15 minutes early and my paperwork wasn't ready so I had to wait in line about 15 minutes. I was surprised because this was last July and the airport was EMPTY. I was a bit spoiled because Alamo lets you pick your own car but the car waiting for me was in my car class. It wasn't terribly clean but otherwise okay. When returning the car the attendant was busy and after waiting for quite a while, he said just leave the keys and go. While sitting at the gate 30 minutes later I get an email with an extra $20 charge for fuel. I returned the car full. I called and gave them the name and address of the gas station (at their request so they could make sure I fueled close enough to the airport). They eventually credited me back part, but not all the fuel charge.

I am taking a quick, last minute trip in Feb. and again, budget is the cheapest by far (though still very pricey for 4 days), but I refuse to rent from them again. Anyone have a decent mid Feb. rate anywhere else?

I had the same experience, but noticed while sipping Starbucks in the Atrium. I ran back downstairs and the counter was not busy. It was taken care of.

Frustrating!! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[CarolynFH]

We rented from Budget via Costco for our Nov. 15-22 visit. We weren't sure whether we could go straight to the garage for our Fastbreak pickup, so we went down toward the counter until we saw a sign telling us we could. When we got to the garage, our papers were in the kiosk and our pre-assigned car was in the designated spot. We didn't have any issues leaving. When we returned, there was a backup of vehicles, but the attendant got to us reasonably quickly. No unexpected charges. We have another Costco/Budget rental in early March and hope it goes as smoothly.

 

[Spartan86]

Just home today.

We had a Costco/Budget rental for last Saturday until today 3PM-3PM. Our flight was terribly delayed and I got to the Budget kiosk about 11:15PM (incidentally I did call their CS earlier in the day and as has been stated they said my contract terms would be honored for 15 Hrs after scheduled pickup). My paperwork was there, but the assigned car was not. I ran into a Budget employee who directed me to another car, wrote some information on my contract and said I was good to go. The exit attendant typed some info into the computer and I left. Pretty easy so far.

Today when I returned, the return attendant was unable to process my return because the vehicle didn’t match the contract. He directed me to the FB kiosk where I waited in line about 15 mins. The agent there was very pleasant and worked diligently to get me processed for quite some time, yet was unable to get the price matched with my original contract and directed me to the “return” line at the main counter “for a manager“. I found that line, but the rental line had probably 45 mins or more of customers and they were obviously not going to work me so I left.

As it stands my new receipt is only $16 more than my Costco quote. I believe the issue is a “less than 75 miles” surcharge, whatever that is - I presume an assumption I did not fuel it, which is not correct and I have a receipt. I am going to wait for the charges to hit my card, probably overnight and call to see if I can get it adjusted.

Anyway, I wouldn’t necessarily say to outright avoid Budget at MCO, But, it wasn’t too smooth and their lines at the Fastbreak kiosk and inside seem the longest.

We used Avis/Costco last time and I was unable to get the price adjusted to my Costco quote -about $8 more and just sucked it up. We have had dozens of Costco rentals go perfectly so I guess/hope we are just dealing with a short spell of issues.

 

[Evita_W]

I actually started this thread before our trip in July. I did rent from budget through Costco for that trip. They let you add your fastbreak number but it didn't matter because my flight was 15 minutes early and my paperwork wasn't ready so I had to wait in line about 15 minutes. I was surprised because this was last July and the airport was EMPTY. I was a bit spoiled because Alamo lets you pick your own car but the car waiting for me was in my car class. It wasn't terribly clean but otherwise okay. When returning the car the attendant was busy and after waiting for quite a while, he said just leave the keys and go. While sitting at the gate 30 minutes later I get an email with an extra $20 charge for fuel. I returned the car full. I called and gave them the name and address of the gas station (at their request so they could make sure I fueled close enough to the airport). They eventually credited me back part, but not all the fuel charge.

I am taking a quick, last minute trip in Feb. and again, budget is the cheapest by far (though still very pricey for 4 days), but I refuse to rent from them again. Anyone have a decent mid Feb. rate anywhere else?

If this happens, contest the charge on your credit card in the future.

That being said we got 10 days of a van from Dollar for about $400 for a van at the end of Feb.

 

[staceyj2]

If this happens, contest the charge on your credit card in the future.

That being said we got 10 days of a van from Dollar for about $400 for a van at the end of Feb.

Thanks for the info. I just checked dollar and they don't have any smaller cars (their cheapest larger car is $480). We are going next Thursday and staying for 3 nights. Prices are extremely high. Maybe because of President's Day weekend and Valentines??? I booked at $260 with budget but those prices are now over $500. I would really prefer to use anyone but Budget but no other prices come close except Hertz and I can't decide if I want to waste the time traveling via shuttle when it's such a short trip. I'll keep checking but I think I may have to stick with Budget against my better judgment.

 

[Evita_W]

Have you tried using Kayak to search for a rental deal? They also have options to compare with priceline and hotwire. It's how we found our deal and they check all the rental companies, including Budget.