March 2013 Car rentals

[Redarrow5150]

I just reserved tonight from Dollar (MCO) an Economy Car from 3/8 - 3/12 for $90.99. I did drop down from compact to economy but don't care as I will be traveling by myself and probably will be better on gas mileage anyway. I was hoping to get something mid $80's so I'm getting closer!

Dollar $90.99

Enterprise $102.15

Alamo $109.32

 

[dis2cruise]

I just reserved tonight from Dollar (MCO) an Economy Car from 3/8 - 3/12 for $90.99. I did drop down from compact to economy but don't care as I will be traveling by myself and probably will be better on gas mileage anyway. I was hoping to get something mid $80's so I'm getting closer!

Dollar $90.99

Enterprise $102.15

Alamo $109.32

For dollar are you using any code?

 

[Redarrow5150]

No. Just was cruising around the rental car sites and saw the rate for economy and jumped on it. When I saw it was $14ish before taxes and everything else they charge these days.

For dollar are you using any code?

 

[richmo]

I just reserved tonight from Dollar (MCO) an Economy Car from 3/8 - 3/12 for $90.99. I did drop down from compact to economy but don't care as I will be traveling by myself and probably will be better on gas mileage anyway. I was hoping to get something mid $80's so I'm getting closer!

Dollar $90.99

Enterprise $102.15

Alamo $109.32

Interesting, and congrats! I plugged in your Dollar dates and got the same results. And that $91 is total, not base. You've done very well.

My dates are almost the same as yours, except I go to the 13th instead of the 12th. That one extra day at Dollar pushes me into weekly rates and a total just over $180. I'll stick with my $114 total at Alamo.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Yeah I hedge myself with base because the website says estimate total. I would prefer to go with Alamo as I'm a member and just showing my reservation and getting my car without the counter is appealing. If Alamo comes close to matching I will switch over to them.

Interesting, and congrats! I plugged in your Dollar dates and got the same results. And that $91 is total, not base. You've done very well.

My dates are almost the same as yours, except I go to the 13th instead of the 12th. That one extra day at Dollar pushes me into weekly rates and a total just over $180. I'll stick with my $114 total at Alamo.

 

[richmo]

This one doesn't do anything for me since I'm going with a compact anyway, but...

Just got an email from Budget for $149/week base for a full size car (it even works with my dates that start tomorrow). The BCD is U030094. I'm not sure if you can stack with coupons, but I s'pose you can try.

 

[robinb]

This one doesn't do anything for me since I'm going with a compact anyway, but...

Just got an email from Budget for $149/week base for a full size car (it even works with my dates that start tomorrow). The BCD is U030094. I'm not sure if you can stack with coupons, but I s'pose you can try.

That code is blacked out between 3/21-3/31 in Florida .

 

[trstno1]

Just saw this on another travel site, and I'm not sure if it is a good value or not. I have a minivan reserved, so I have not been comparing prices on full size cars.

Get a Full Size car for $119/week airports or $109/week off airport from Budget! (Total cost is $178.66 with taxes and fees when reserving at MCO.)

Use Budget BCD U030094. Valid for rental pickup by 3/31/13 at participating locations. Blackouts apply in AZ (3/12 to 3/31) and FL(3/21 to 3/31), not valid in New York Metro, Martha's Vineyard, Salt Lake City. Five day minimum rental with 14 day maximum. Must book by 3/14.

Combine with coupon MUWZ020 for $30 off weekly. Coupon requires Saturday night keep and is applied during booking. It may not be applied at all locations.

Other coupons may also be combined.

(Original source is http://www.carrentalsavers.com/budget.html)

 

[spideyspence]

This thread was amazing. It really saved me. Thanks everyone.

Quick question, what if I have two reservations & forget to cancel the one. Is there anyway I can get charged?

Thanks

 

[travelcoupons]

The post above & your own post just noted this code as being blacked out for Florida rentals....

Just saw this on another travel site, and I'm not sure if it is a good value or not. I have a minivan reserved, so I have not been comparing prices on full size cars.

Get a Full Size car for $119/week airports or $109/week off airport from Budget! (Total cost is $178.66 with taxes and fees when reserving at MCO.)

Use Budget BCD U030094. Valid for rental pickup by 3/31/13 at participating locations. Blackouts apply in AZ (3/12 to 3/31) and FL(3/21 to 3/31), not valid in New York Metro, Martha's Vineyard, Salt Lake City. Five day minimum rental with 14 day maximum. Must book by 3/14.

Combine with coupon MUWZ020 for $30 off weekly. Coupon requires Saturday night keep and is applied during booking. It may not be applied at all locations.

Other coupons may also be combined.

 

[trstno1]

The post above & your own post just noted this code as being blacked out for Florida rentals....

Yeah, but it's good until 3/21/13. I tried it for my dates (which are pickup 3/16/13 and return 3/23/13), and got a total of 178.66 for a full-size car.

 

[Pembo]

My trip is 9 days away and the only movement in rates is up. Guess that is the nature of spring break pricing?

 

[robinb]

My trip is 9 days away and the only movement in rates is up. Guess that is the nature of spring break pricing?

Yes.

 

[maurene]

This thread was amazing. It really saved me. Thanks everyone.

Quick question, what if I have two reservations & forget to cancel the one. Is there anyway I can get charged?

Thanks

I don't think so unless you prepaid or set up a profile with them that has your credit card information. Its pretty common for car rental companies to overbook - knowing that some won't keep their reservation.

 

[ReginaPhalange]

Yeah, but it's good until 3/21/13. I tried it for my dates (which are pickup 3/16/13 and return 3/23/13), and got a total of 178.66 for a full-size car.

So, I just used the same code to book from 3/16 to 3/24 and it gave me the $179 price also. It's not going to charge me more once I get there since the end is past the 3/21 blackout date, right?

I just decided *today* that we should get a rental car. Our lodging just started charging this month for shuttle fees, so I'd rather pay for a rental car and be in charge of my own time schedule!

Thank you so much for your help on this thread!

 

[robinb]

So, I just used the same code to book from 3/16 to 3/24 and it gave me the $179 price also. It's not going to charge me more once I get there since the end is past the 3/21 blackout date, right?

Nope, they won't charge you more. The black out dates are for pick ups and you are picking up your car before 3/22.

 

[richmo]

Back home...wound up using the Alamo reservation I had, which was a compact for about $114 total for 5 days (was a weekly rate).

A few comments:

The Alamo compact aisle had several Nissan Versas; I also saw a Ford Fiesta and even a Fiat 500. Almost went with that, but I wound up taking a Mazda 3, which I was happy with. Pickup was about 10:30 at night; I'd say there were a total of about 10 compacts to choose from at that time. Sorry, I didn't observe what were in the other category aisles.

Gas prices: I think many of you already know this, but just as a refresher: there are some gas stations practicing what I would call predatory gas prices near Disney. For example, on SR 535 (Apopka-Vineland Rd.), I saw one station that was $3.689...that's fair, but they had a 90 cent surcharge for credit cards ($4.589). There's also a Mobil station at the intersection of I-4 and SR 535 (near Crossroads Plaza and the Hotel Plaza Blvd Disney entrance) that was charging $4.899 a gallon. The worst I saw, as usual, was the Shell station on Vineland Ave (near the Marriott complex and Orlando Premium Outlets) at $5.999 a gallon. Yes, 6 bucks a gallon. These are all rip offs, obviously.

The Hess stations inside WDW were $3.589 yesterday, a Shell/7-11 at Palm Parkway and SR-535 was a few cents more. The lowest I saw was a Hess on SR-536 (World Center Dr - that's the way you would return to MCO if you're leaving from Epcot, using the Greeneway (SR-417)) was $3.569.

I didn't get to the US 192 side this trip, so I don't know what they're charging out there. Just be careful and watch out for surcharges for credit cards. Frankly, I'd stick with the Hess stations - no surcharge at all.

Tolls:
This may be unchanged, I don't remember. On the Greeneway (which you would access if you use the South Exit from the airport...which I would recommend if you're anywhere near rush hour), it can vary where you exit, but in my case (exit World Center Dr. 536 to 535) there were two $1.50 tolls.

 

[patchs]

Back home...wound up using the Alamo reservation I had, which was a compact for about $114 total for 5 days (was a weekly rate).

A few comments:

The Alamo compact aisle had several Nissan Versas; I also saw a Ford Fiesta and even a Fiat 500. Almost went with that, but I wound up taking a Mazda 3, which I was happy with. Pickup was about 10:30 at night; I'd say there were a total of about 10 compacts to choose from at that time. Sorry, I didn't observe what were in the other category aisles.

Gas prices: I think many of you already know this, but just as a refresher: there are some gas stations practicing what I would call predatory gas prices near Disney. For example, on SR 535 (Apopka-Vineland Rd.), I saw one station that was $3.689...that's fair, but they had a 90 cent surcharge for credit cards ($4.589). There's also a Mobil station at the intersection of I-4 and SR 535 (near Crossroads Plaza and the Hotel Plaza Blvd Disney entrance) that was charging $4.899 a gallon. The worst I saw, as usual, was the Shell station on Vineland Ave (near the Marriott complex and Orlando Premium Outlets) at $5.999 a gallon. Yes, 6 bucks a gallon. These are all rip offs, obviously.

The Hess stations inside WDW were $3.589 yesterday, a Shell/7-11 at Palm Parkway and SR-535 was a few cents more. The lowest I saw was a Hess on SR-536 (World Center Dr - that's the way you would return to MCO if you're leaving from Epcot, using the Greeneway (SR-417)) was $3.569.

I didn't get to the US 192 side this trip, so I don't know what they're charging out there. Just be careful and watch out for surcharges for credit cards. Frankly, I'd stick with the Hess stations - no surcharge at all.

Tolls:
This may be unchanged, I don't remember. On the Greeneway (which you would access if you use the South Exit from the airport...which I would recommend if you're anywhere near rush hour), it can vary where you exit, but in my case (exit World Center Dr. 536 to 535) there were two $1.50 tolls.

Thanks for the info, we're going in 2 weeks and I'm renting from Alamo for 1 day to go to Cocoa Beach.
I was wondering where was a good place to get gas before returning the car at the Disney Car Care Center. Looks like the Hess there is the best place. Thats a surprise, I'd think they'd be higher, being on Disney property.

 

[puffkin]

Thanks for the info, we're going in 2 weeks and I'm renting from Alamo for 1 day to go to Cocoa Beach.
I was wondering where was a good place to get gas before returning the car at the Disney Car Care Center. Looks like the Hess there is the best place. Thats a surprise, I'd think they'd be higher, being on Disney property.

Nope, they are almost always the cheapest. We usually fill up at the one by the MK/car care center before heading back to the airport.

 

[richmo]

Thanks for the info, we're going in 2 weeks and I'm renting from Alamo for 1 day to go to Cocoa Beach.
I was wondering where was a good place to get gas before returning the car at the Disney Car Care Center. Looks like the Hess there is the best place. Thats a surprise, I'd think they'd be higher, being on Disney property.

I'd definitely do the fill up at the CCC. Very convenient, especially since Alamo is right there.

Nope, they are almost always the cheapest. We usually fill up at the one by the MK/car care center before heading back to the airport.

Yes, my experience has been that, surprisingly, the Hess stations inside WDW have always been very competitive, pricewise. And thats exactly what I did, filled up in the morning at the CCC Hess, (spent the day in Epcot), then returned the car to MCO.