I snagged some really good airfare (on American) for 3/9-3/15. Took a peek at car rates and, as I expected, they are sky high this far out...not even going to bother putting a hold on anything yet. It's way, way too early to bother with frequent checking unless some unusual special comes out.
For those of you that are new to the car rental game (and yes, it's a game), a few pieces of advice:
- Car rental rates can be more volatile than airfares, especially close to your arrival
- Never, ever do any kind of prepay on car rentals. What you think may be a great rate crumbles as the trip gets closer. Very often, the best rates are found within the last 3 weeks before your arrival date.
- Since its still mid-October, I wouldn't bother with putting a non-binding hold on something, but around the end of the year, it would be a good idea to do that. Rates will likely still be high for March, but you'll have a worst-case scenario. Non-binding reservations at the major rental agencies do not require and will not ask for a credit card during the reservation process.
- If you have an idea of what agency you would like to use, it wouldn't hurt to sign up for their frequent rental program (Alamo Insiders, National Emerald Club, etc.). They're usually free, sometimes will have discounts and often make the process of picking up the car easier. For example, if you're an Insider at Alamo and do an online checkin from home before departure, you can skip the counter, skip the kiosk, skip the garage desk and just go out and pick a car. Very easy.
- Some rental agencies in Orlando (MCO) are in/at the terminal and some are offsite and require taking a shuttle to an offsite location. Sometimes the offsite agencies are a little cheaper, but the onsite much more convenient. Personally, my opinion is to wait for the onsite agencies to get competitive and not deal with the shuttles.
- Speaking of onsite agencies, I'm referring to Alamo, Avis, Hertz, National, Dollar, Budget, Firefly, Thrifty, Enterprise, Advantage and E-Z-Rent a car. There may be more; those are the ones I can think of. I've seen less than stellar reviews for Advantage and E-Z, but I'm sure many do fine with them, since they're still in business. You will find that a good portion of folks on this board rent from Alamo. Usually their rates are fairly competitive and pickup is very easy.
- If you're staying onsite at Disney, perhaps you don't need a car for your entire stay. You could use Magic Express either or both directions between Disney and MCO. Alamo/National has a rental location at the Swan/Dolphin and the Car Care Center (located on the exit road out of Magic Kingdom). If you rent at the Car Care Center, they will pick you up anywhere on property if you let them know the day before and their shuttle will drop you off after you return the rental. Also, there is no reason you couldn't pick up the car at Disney, then return it to MCO, or the reverse. Rates are not necessarily the same renting from those locations. Plug the numbers in and see what you get.
- There are also a few agencies on Disney property at non-Disney hotels. For example, Budget is at the Doubletree ,Dollar is at the Wyndham and I think Avis is at the Hilton. Some have obtained really good rates at these locations. (You can get to them by taking a Disney bus to Disney Springs, or a dedicated bus that does the Disney Springs hotels loop).
- You're going to see codes posted here and elsewhere for discounts. The agencies at MCO are usually pretty lax about accepting them, but that could change at any time. My opinion, and thats all it is, is that you should be able to document any code that you use. For example, if you're using a Costco discount, I would say you should be a Costco member. I already see something called a Brazil Vegas code listed (7016427 at Alamo). I would bet that was discovered by someone transposing two digits in the Costco code (7014627).
- I do emphasize that more important than finding the right code is finding the right time to book. That tends to be much closer to March than we are now.
I've gone on long enough...let's hope for some good rates once the year changes!
