Car Rental Question

[corpcomp]

First time in years I would need a car rental for 6 days in Orlando.
Naturally I was stunned at the rates at MCO for even a compact car. ($400+ and it kills me the fees are 40% of the rental cost).
Anyone have advise on a more economical rental? And it seems car rental at the Dolphin is gone. That was always a great choice but this time I'm not staying in a DVC resort.

 

[Sweettears]

I’m not sure that they are a better value but some of the larger hotels at DS have rental offices

 

[spiders]

Off airport will always be cheaper but there is obviously a cost associated with getting to the off airport location. For the major brands, you can return directly to the airport.

No airport concession fees or customer facility daily charges.

 

[Akck]

I always check Costco, making a reservation at the current rate. I then check all the time, making a new reservation if/when rates drop. Lately, I’ve used the link above for Undercover Tourist. When you buy a ticket (I get an AMC drink ticket), you can get a 40-50% discount. The only issue is that it’s a prepaid rate.

 

[EACarlson]

I always use www.autoslash.com to find a rate and then have them watch it for better deals. I was in MCO in January for a week, original booking was $650. By the time I got there it was $145.

 

[_19disnA]

You tend to get what you pay for with any of the no-name rental brands and I would avoid them. They try to ding you will dubious extra fees, have limited counter hours and inconvenient off-site locations. Then they might pull a stunt about asking to see your actual insurance policy paperwork or else make you pay an extra fee for their 'insurance'. Since covid, the cost of car rentals has gone up for a number of reasons. I think as things return to normal and once covid is clearly behind us, you will find prices going down. However, I would still recommend you only rent from one of the major brands.

 

[corpcomp]

Thanks for the advice. It's all about the chip shortage and the low inventory of rental cars I believe. Definitely sticking with a named company.

 

[ilikecarrentals]

Check carrentalsavers.com - they often have good prices.

 

[Geomom]

We did the undercover tourist car rental deal (this board has the link above--discount tix and rental cars) Add any type of ticket to your cart (including AMC beverage ticket) and then click on car rental to see discounted rates for Budget and Avis. You do have to pay now, but there is free cancellation. We're paying $543 for 16 nights in June/July for an intermediate car with Budget from MCO. It was going to be over $1300 without the discount.

 

[EACarlson]

Thanks for the advice. It's all about the chip shortage and the low inventory of rental cars I believe. Definitely sticking with a named company.

The chip shortage is part of the problem, but the bigger issues are how far down the fleets were drawn and the huge fire at the facility the companies were holding many of the vehicles at. Now the chip shortage means there are no replacements for the vehicles that were lost.

 

[koncra]

I always use www.autoslash.com to find a rate and then have them watch it for better deals. I was in MCO in January for a week, original booking was $650. By the time I got there it was $145.

OMG Thanks for this link! I had been searching for weeks trying to find a decent price for May 8-12 from one of the big name rentals(in terminal) and this site found me an Intermediate rental from Hertz for under $200. Will definitely use again in the future.

 

[EACarlson]

OMG Thanks for this link! I had been searching for weeks trying to find a decent price for May 8-12 from one of the big name rentals(in terminal) and this site found me an Intermediate rental from Hertz for under $200. Will definitely use again in the future.

You're welcome, make sure you sign up for alerts and then modify those alerts to only include the companies you are willing to rent from.

 

[corpcomp]

One year later and the same problem, rates are through the roof. Did sign up with Auto slash so hope that will help. Thanks again for the recommendation. For 10 days everything for a full car was running between $800-900.
I bought a place in Orlando last year and tried to get my 2017 Ford Explorer registered until the insurance agent said it would be $1800 per year for insurance. I asked why so high and she said because everyone down here sues everybody. Yikes

 

[nekonekoneko]

One year later and the same problem, rates are through the roof. Did sign up with Auto slash so hope that will help. Thanks again for the recommendation. For 10 days everything for a full car was running between $800-900.
I bought a place in Orlando last year and tried to get my 2017 Ford Explorer registered until the insurance agent said it would be $1800 per year for insurance. I asked why so high and she said because everyone down here sues everybody. Yikes

 

[1420Elexismc]

I have used carrentalsavers and Costco this year.
I currently have a minivan for 8 days through Hertz for $354 and one through Alamo for $430
We are going in May so I’ll most likely be canceling the Alamo(Costco) one soon if the prices don’t drop(they seem to be going in the wrong direction) Autoslash gave me a slightly lower price, but it was off airport and we have 13 people all trying to rent cars so that could be much more complicated.

 

[leebee]

Reserve thru autoslash, have them track the rental, and keep tracking. About a month ago I started the process for a car for this weekend. I rented a car for Saturday to Tuesday (not at MCO, but thru autoslash) and tracked it. Price dropped once or twice while I was waiting for my trip, and then again on Friday night and Saturday morning for a 10am pick up. Checked my email just before going to the rental car desk and it'd dropped again. The vehicle that started out at $175 ended up being $107. I was looking for a cheap rental for a long weekend so rented a compact, but when "manager's choice" prices came thru at the same price as a compact, I reserved that instead. Ended up with a Honda Accord (which is considered a full-size car).