Is the car rental situation any smoother at MCO? Budget in particular?

[Brett Wyman]

Does Budget have a skip the counter option? The counter is the worst holdup.

They all do. And its usually a free option for joining their rewards program. Based on the insane lines at MCO to pick up a car, most people don't know this.

 

[MillauFr]

They all do. And its usually a free option for joining their rewards program. Based on the insane lines at MCO to pick up a car, most people don't know this.

Agreed. Given the choice between a root canal and waiting behind a line of people at the rental car counter I think I would choose the former.

 

[EACarlson]

They all do. And its usually a free option for joining their rewards program. Based on the insane lines at MCO to pick up a car, most people don't know this.

But many of them require you to go to the counter before you use it the first time to check your DL and CC if you aren't already in their systems. And to have not booked with a third party. How many of those people do you think booked with Expedia or one of those? Or aren't people that have rented cars in the last 5 years?

 

[holyrita]

But many of them require you to go to the counter before you use it the first time to check your DL and CC if you aren't already in their systems. And to have not booked with a third party. How many of those people do you think booked with Expedia or one of those? Or aren't people that have rented cars in the last 5 years?

this thisand this. People out here thinking we want to spend hours in line (we only do this IN Disney )

 

[Brett Wyman]

But many of them require you to go to the counter before you use it the first time to check your DL and CC if you aren't already in their systems. And to have not booked with a third party. How many of those people do you think booked with Expedia or one of those? Or aren't people that have rented cars in the last 5 years?

Do it in your home town or departing airport then, just to add your info. Anything to avoid the MCO lines.

 

[holyrita]

Do it in your home town or departing airport then, just to add your info. Anything to avoid the MCO lines.

I can go in to a local Budget or Avis rental and have them verify my info before a reservation??

 

[Brett Wyman]

I can go in to a local Budget or Avis rental and have them verify my info before a reservation??

Yes they just need to see your DL and put your CC on file.

 

[EACarlson]

I can go in to a local Budget or Avis rental and have them verify my info before a reservation??

Maybe, depends on the management and employees of your local place. I know some folks that tried that previously and were told that they couldn't do it. Some have had success. None of it helps if you book with a 3rd party and can't or don't enter your loyalty number on the reservation.

 

[Leigh L]

This is so discouraging on so many levels. 500 people at 2am? 150 at 9am? Hours just to return a rental car? Unfortunately I think most people are using third parties to book car rentals, because the price to book direct is so prohibitive, and aren't eligible to use the kiosks.

This is all so stressful and I just want to return to the magic after the last year and a half

DH returned a rental to Budget last night with no problems or delays. He had a 6 p.m. return time and an 8 p.m. flight.
I know there are huge issues, and we were super stressed but pick up at 10 a.m. went smoothly too, even with a third party reservation. I'll need to check my CC when I get home, but DH seems to think all was in order with no extra charges.

 

[holyrita]

DH returned a rental to Budget last night with no problems or delays. He had a 6 p.m. return time and an 8 p.m. flight.
I know there are huge issues, and we were super stressed but pick up at 10 a.m. went smoothly too, even with a third party reservation. I'll need to check my CC when I get home, but DH seems to think all was in order with no extra charges.

I'm so happy everything worked out for you! I'm still so torn on what to do as it seems like its the luck of the draw whether its smooth and easy or nothing but issues

I saw on disboard's dvc fan Facebook group, someone got into MCO in the evening, alongside 4 or 5 delayed SW flights all landing at the same time. Budget and Avis had lines of hundreds of people with reservations and they both ran out of cars and turned everyone away.

 

[dres40]

We booked our Budget reservation with Under.....Cover.... Tourist and cannot link my husband's Fastbreak account. I called UT and they could not do it and after many calls with Budget with LONG waits, I was told finally by the 3rd Budget rep that it was a prepaid reservation and cannot be changed. So it looks like a long wait in the terminal for us. I always get my tickets with UT, they have great customer service, but will not rent a car with them in the future. My husband said we could take a taxi and he would wait on line for the car but we might as well have paid for a more expensive reservation after doing that. Hopefully it's not too bad a wait.

So my husband took a chance and went straight to the Fastbreak counter in the garage with his member number and was able to get a car! The employee was not totally happy and could tell we booked through with a 3rd party but processed the reservation anyway. So we got lucky because the line in the terminal was very long.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Saw on the MCO Facebook page that rental cars are now being processed on both the A side and the B side. Hopefully this will ease some of the lines.

 

[zilp]

We've rented many cars over the years. I can confirm that having a loyalty membership attached to your booking will not guarantee that you can bypass airport counter service. The last time we were turned away was in April 2021. The third party booking is the issue. Booking directly through the car rental company is the only way to guarantee that you can use the skip the line feature or the garage kiosk. I never used to have this problem in either Orlando or Tampa, but I've noticed they've been enforcing this rule in the last few years.