Orlando Airport car rentals

[luckyman_apd]

So we had to cancel our trip in July since Disney won't be opening until after our planned dates. We have friends within a 90 minute drive that live down in Florida so we are still taking our flight to visit them. I need a rental car but have never rented from MCO before. Normally when I visit my friend down there, we get flights to Fort Myers and drive up. I typically rent from AVIS or BUDGET and get deals through the internet. But when I look at MCO there are TONS of companies I've never heard of, all use a shuttle and are SUPER cheap compared to the big 5 (AVIS, BUDGET, HERTZ, DOLLAR, NATIONAL,etc).

Does anyone have experience with any of these companies? Are they reputable? Online reviews seem to say negative things (but lots of online reviews are usually negative not positive).

 

[kaytieeldr]

Company names? I mean, you could Google X car rental complaints to see at least which are the least disreputable.

 

[Heather07438]

We've used Sixt 5 times now. They use a shuttle but they are prompt and reliable. They even have a shuttle tracker app
https://www.sixt.com/magazine/news/shuttle-tracker-airports/Usually the shuttle is already there or comes within 5 minutes. For the return shuttle back to the MCO we've never waited.

We started using them because for the prices of of average vehicle rentals from the companies inside MCO we can get a awesome BMW or Mercedes thru Sixt. One year the Mercedes GLS suv we rented only had 7 miles on it. Brand spanking new and was $45/day. We need a high capacity car and the prices at the terminal are horrendous. Might as well get a premium vehicle and still pay less. Just have to take a 2 or 3 mile shuttle ride.

 

[Heather07438]

For Sixt I just looked up July 1-7
https://www.sixt.com/#/reservation/offerlist?campaign=5-en-us-longterm79-us-sixtrent
Toyota Yaris, VW Jetta, Chrysler 300, and more are around $30/day.
If you just need a car there are some great options. Or splurge a little and get the Mercedes CLA sedan for $34/day.

Jeep Cherokee is under $40/day. Range Rover $50/day.

Mercedes GLS $57 or GMC Yukon $58/day.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Is sixt reputable? I never heard of any of those places on there. Ezrent, Ace and advantage have google horror stories

 

[SteveH]

If you are are a costco member check the rental rates through costcotravel.com

 

[_19disnA]

Is sixt reputable? I never heard of any of those places on there. Ezrent, Ace and advantage have google horror stories

I agree. Some 'no name' rental brands only have offsite pickup/drop-off locations so you have to take a shuttle bus to get there. Varies by airport, but the convenience of walking directly to your car is worth something when traveling. Some are also not 24 hr operations, so you need to check their website and see if their hours of operation work for your travel plans. Be sure to look around online for reviews since some of these are rather sketchy operations. They also try to push a number of needless extras so if haggling with them is worth your time/frustration, good to know what your lower price is paying for.

 

[Capt_BJ]

SIXT is BIG in Europe .... and when folks from over there come to US they like to use a company they know ... hence you see SIXT now in major markets ... and a greater use of cars folks from over there are more comfortable with ....

 

[staceyj2]

So we had to cancel our trip in July since Disney won't be opening until after our planned dates. We have friends within a 90 minute drive that live down in Florida so we are still taking our flight to visit them. I need a rental car but have never rented from MCO before. Normally when I visit my friend down there, we get flights to Fort Myers and drive up. I typically rent from AVIS or BUDGET and get deals through the internet. But when I look at MCO there are TONS of companies I've never heard of, all use a shuttle and are SUPER cheap compared to the big 5 (AVIS, BUDGET, HERTZ, DOLLAR, NATIONAL,etc).

Does anyone have experience with any of these companies? Are they reputable? Online reviews seem to say negative things (but lots of online reviews are usually negative not positive).

I have always found alamo with the costco code to be the most reasonable at MCO not including the "budget" companies.

 

[OKW Lover]

If you always rent from Avis/Budget and are happy then stick with them at MCO.

 

[blobula]

I renewed my Costco membership in order to rent a car through them. They have the best rates by far. I orginally booked an intermediate SUV through Alamo via Costco for $630 for two weeks in July, but I was able to score a standard SUV for $480 today via Costco. Felt really good about that. I've been told on the boards to rent at the airport vs off site.

 

[mmouse50]

Just a warning - if you plan on using BUDGET don't use a sunpass transponder, use theirs or the loaner transponder that they have at the airport. BUDGET will charge you and Sunpass will charge you. It is a mess to sort out in the end. Budget calls the toll plaza a different name than Sunpass and won't acknowledge that you have a Sunpass transponder. I have never had any problems with Alamo or Dollar but did when I rented from BUDGET.

 

[tamu91]

Is sixt reputable? I never heard of any of those places on there. Ezrent, Ace and advantage have google horror stories

Sixt is a pretty reputable company. I've rented from them before in Europe. They have a much bigger presence in Europe, just not as well known in US

 

[SteveH]

...I was able to score a standard SUV for $480 today via Costco...

Keep checking back, I ended up booking and cancelling 5 reservations before I stuck with my last one. Booking for about a week from Tampa to Disney the price was out of control, but about 3 weeks out it hit an all time low and I snagged it. So keep checking, you might score more!

 

[ricosuave]

We only use Alamo through Costco. I like being able to pick out my own car.

 

[DisMommyTX]

Worst experience we have ever had was with Sixt. We had a minivan reserved for 1pm. It was after 2 by the time we got there (little flight delay, waiting for luggage, waiting for the shuttle, etc.) They only hold reservations for 30 minutes, so our vehicle was no longer available. They offered us a midsize car for twice what we reserved the minivan for. No way we could fit 5 people and luggage. So they eventually found a full sized van for $900 (3x our original quote). We relunctantly agreed but when she rang it up, the total (without gas, insurance, etc.) was over $2000. She said the price changed in the 30 minutes it took her to update the reservation.

We took a Lyft to Enterprise and have stuck with the big names ever since. We've used Advantage occasionally, but avoid Fox, EZ, Payless, and all the others with terrible reviews. It isn't worth the stress to start a vacation that way.