Rental Car Question

[jstaff]

Hello!

We are coming down in the middle of September and flying into MCO. We are planning to rent a car for the 1st time in several years. We would probably either pick it up at MCO or at the Disney Car Care Center. I know prices have gone way up, but is there any company consistently inexpensive? We are not looking for a high end car just a simple sedan for the week.

 

[rwdavis2]

Go to Expedia to compare prices for most all rental car companies. It is the easiest way.

 

[jstaff]

Go to Expedia to compare prices for most all rental car companies. It is the easiest way.

Thanks I'll try that.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Hello!

We are coming down in the middle of September and flying into MCO. We are planning to rent a car for the 1st time in several years. We would probably either pick it up at MCO or at the Disney Car Care Center. I know prices have gone way up, but is there any company consistently inexpensive? We are not looking for a high end car just a simple sedan for the week.

We consistently get our best deals with Costco but for September we were able to add a rental car through Spirit when purchasing out flights and it was much cheaper for us.

 

[wdp]

Also check out autoslash.com, which uses publicly-available coupons, plus any discount codes you might be eligible for, to search all of the major companies

 

[_19disnA]

I would never rent from one of those no-name brands when trying to save a couple of bucks. Make sure the rental company has a location AT the airport or you waste a lot of time going to/from some offsite location. The cut rate brands also try to stick you with extra fees. Search around online for comparable prices of similar cars from the name brands.

 

[EACarlson]

www.autoslash.com is the way. You enter your affiliations and they look through all of the options and send you a list. Agree with PP that I would only rent from one of the 10 companies on site at MCO, in the last 4 years I've rented from 6 of them and never had a bad experience. If you rent from the CCC you're limited to National, Enterprise and Alamo. Do not book a pay now rate from a third party. If there are any issues it's almost impossible to get any kind of timely customer service.

 

[Mle8308]

www.autoslash.com is the way. You enter your affiliations and they look through all of the options and send you a list. Agree with PP that I would only rent from one of the 10 companies on site at MCO, in the last 4 years I've rented from 6 of them and never had a bad experience. If you rent from the CCC you're limited to National, Enterprise and Alamo. Do not book a pay now rate from a third party. If there are any issues it's almost impossible to get any kind of timely customer service.

I agree on Autoslash, I heard about it a while back from @EACarlson and have used them many times since. I have always found the best prices with them and no problems at all when picking up the car I rented. I really like how you do not have to pay or even provide a credit card in advance, and Autoslash will alert you if the price decreases so you can rebook.

 

[jstaff]

Thank you @APiratesLifeForMe2 @wdp @_19disnA @EACarlson @Mle8308 I went with Dollar and found a discount with Triple A (via Autoslash) so I booked it since it was the cheapest thing I could find. I liked it had a no cancellation fee which not every company has these days. Also, price was cheaper than all of the pay now rates so I'm happy.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Thank you @APiratesLifeForMe2 @wdp @_19disnA @EACarlson @Mle8308 I went with Dollar and found a discount with Triple A (via Autoslash) so I booked it since it was the cheapest thing I could find. I liked it had a no cancellation fee which not every company has these days. Also, price was cheaper than all of the pay now rates so I'm happy.

Just a suggestion - if you're not actually renting for another 2 months, check back and "shop" again over the upcoming weeks. Often, as the dates get closer, rates will adjust and will often go down a bit - you might save enough to pay for gas!

 

[EACarlson]

Just a suggestion - if you're not actually renting for another 2 months, check back and "shop" again over the upcoming weeks. Often, as the dates get closer, rates will adjust and will often go down a bit - you might save enough to pay for gas!

Or have Autoslash check for you. You give them your rental information and they keep checking multiple times a day and let you know if the price goes down. During the Car Rental Apocolypse of 2021, I started with an $800/week rental out of MCO, by the time I actually got there, it was down to $240. All through Autoslash.

 

[jstaff]

Or have Autoslash check for you. You give them your rental information and they keep checking multiple times a day and let you know if the price goes down. During the Car Rental Apocolypse of 2021, I started with an $800/week rental out of MCO, by the time I actually got there, it was down to $240. All through Autoslash.

Wow! Now I will definitely check to see if it goes down! That was quite a big savings!

 

[Mle8308]

Wow! Now I will definitely check to see if it goes down! That was quite a big savings!

I've experienced the same. A rental went down from $380 to $175 a few days prior. And a slightly better class of vehicle.

 

[meggiebeth]

I also say keep an eye out for dropping rates as you get closer. Last summer when we went to Disney World, the car of our choice halved about a month before our trip.

We are heading to the West Coast this year but I have found that the principle is the same - I’ve booked and cancelled and rebooked a few times already.

 

[jstaff]

I checked again today and the price of mine went down $20 from yesterday! Hopefully it keeps going down!

 

[prashidzada]

What made you want to rent a car after so long? I'm in a predicament of renting a car vs just ubering since I am staying on property. When I visit I like to go to the local shops off property and off property food, but cars are so expensive, essentially the price of another night... :/

 

[rdrjj5]

What made you want to rent a car after so long? I'm in a predicament of renting a car vs just ubering since I am staying on property. When I visit I like to go to the local shops off property and off property food, but cars are so expensive, essentially the price of another night... :/

We always use to rent a car but 2-3 years ago with the rental car price increase and disney charging to park at the hotel we did the uber route. That worked fine for us but the rates that fluctuate during surge times (you never know when this will happen) and the resorts stopped there fees to park a car we either rent for the time we will be there if cheap enough for us or we get a 1 day rental from the airport and drop off the next day at the car care center and then pick up a car the day before we leave from there to return to the airport. This option gives us the chance to get groceries and visit local stores. I also like being in control of getting back to the airport not depending on uber and their prices at the time we need to leave (yes I have encountered $100 fare at that time no choice.)

 

[jstaff]

We decided to rent this time because we got cheaper airfare to MCO because it is in September.. We cost compared uber vs rental car to and from MCO. We also like to get our own groceries for the room. We enjoy going to the premium outlet mall near Disney and surrounding stores. There have been times in the past we've needed medical supplies at Walgreens and pickup over the counter meds.

Plus a real advantage for a rental car is you can use it to go to any of the parks, hotels and restaurants, and Disney Springs without relying on Disney transportation which can be extremely slow.

It also depends on how big the travel party is (size of Uber cost or Mears shuttle cost).