September 2015 Car Rental Watch

[houseofduck]

Where do I find the dollar express id?

If you are a member of Dollar Express, you will have an id. You use it to login.

The 25% off link is not working for me this morning. I tried it last night and it worked after I used the express id, but today, I get an error message asking for a valid promo code.

Edited to add:
I posted something similar in a related thread. After several attempts, I was able to get the rates to appear. After I got it to work, the promo code appears in the details of the reservation. The promo code was 100478. Then, I tried again with different dates and the promo code, got the error message, deleted the promo code and re-entered it, tried again and it worked.

Clearly, there is something strange going on with the Dollar web site!

 

[n2mm]

I'm still 3+ weeks out, but I was able to lower my Alamo for 5 days to $65.31 base/$88.62 total for a compact (Costco discounts) from $74.88/$104.48. Perfectly content with that, but those of you getting close are seeing even better.

Guess they missed me then. I'm 9 days away and my rate has stayed the same since making it months ago. Still weekly base rate is $114. I check several times a day. My price is $226 for 13 days standard using Alamo. National is almost double that.

 

[Boardwalk Gal]

Congratulations, that's a great rate! We're seeing some nice price drops very close to departure date and I'd expect that to continue.



If your Priceline isn't a prepay, do you have the right to cancel if you find something better? Boardwalk Gal has an equivalent rate with Alamo, which has the HUGE advantage of onsite at the airport. I'm not sure how Economy works, but you're looking at getting a shuttle to the rental location from MCO and doing the reverse on the way back.

thank you...I agree...I am not sure about those car rentals and I do not have the patience to take the shuttle to off site car agency. I want to be able to go right to the car, bypassing the counter!! I dont' do prepay or price line because it a done deal. you just have to do more research to get what you want. It paid off with me!

 

[lovingthemouse]

Just got the price of our 8 passenger van down to $256. for 9 days with Alamo. Feeling confident it will come down again. Used the Costco ID and the Visa coupon

 

[n2mm]

Just got the price of our 8 passenger van down to $256. for 9 days with Alamo. Feeling confident it will come down again. Used the Costco ID and the Visa coupon

Wish I was a Costco member. My best rate is with the Passholder code and the $30 coupon. I'm at $226 13 days standard size car.

 

[richmo]

Wish I was a Costco member. My best rate is with the Passholder code and the $30 coupon. I'm at $226 13 days standard size car.

You're not doing badly at all. That's essentially two weeks, so you're at $113/week, which isn't bad at all for a standard. Keep looking though...

 

[garris3404]

If you are a member of Dollar Express, you will have an id. You use it to login.

The 25% off link is not working for me this morning. I tried it last night and it worked after I used the express id, but today, I get an error message asking for a valid promo code.

Edited to add:
I posted something similar in a related thread. After several attempts, I was able to get the rates to appear. After I got it to work, the promo code appears in the details of the reservation. The promo code was 100478. Then, I tried again with different dates and the promo code, got the error message, deleted the promo code and re-entered it, tried again and it worked.

Clearly, there is something strange going on with the Dollar web site!

Now we know where the Disney IT staff moonlights?

 

[auger]

Anybody know how things work at FLL?
Trying to figure out whether they will assign me a particular car, or if I will be able to choose the one I want, like at MCO.
Also, do they tend to move the bigger cars into the smaller aisles like MCO when they run low on the small cars?

 

[emilymad]

Anybody know how things work at FLL?
Trying to figure out whether they will assign me a particular car, or if I will be able to choose the one I want, like at MCO.
Also, do they tend to move the bigger cars into the smaller aisles like MCO when they run low on the small cars?

I think FLL assigns cars.

 

[emilymad]

How long do rental places save your reservation? I have an arrival time of 1pm but it might end up being closer to 2pm. Should I change my reservation?

 

[richmo]

How long do rental places save your reservation? I have an arrival time of 1pm but it might end up being closer to 2pm. Should I change my reservation?

If you can change it without a rate increase, I would modify it to match your arrival time. Also, if you attached your flight information to your reservation, they won't penalize you for being late. But, if the modification results in an increased rate, you should be fine leaving it alone.

I think most people, including myself, use the scheduled arrival time as the reservation time. In reality, I think that arrival time is wheels on the ground, totally ignoring time to taxi, pull up to the gate, get off the plane, wait at baggage claim and walk to the rental agency. All that can really add up...so people are often quite late for their rentals.

The one case I can think of where it might get dicey is if your lateness causes a weekly rental to reclassify as a daily. A multiple of daily rentals can easily cost more than the weekly rate and could even invalidate some promos or coupons. If you are late because of airline delays and your flight info is attached to your reservation, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[n2mm]

We were 5 hours late a couple of weeks ago and National honored our rate.

 

[emilymad]

If you can change it without a rate increase, I would modify it to match your arrival time. Also, if you attached your flight information to your reservation, they won't penalize you for being late. But, if the modification results in an increased rate, you should be fine leaving it alone.

I think most people, including myself, use the scheduled arrival time as the reservation time. In reality, I think that arrival time is wheels on the ground, totally ignoring time to taxi, pull up to the gate, get off the plane, wait at baggage claim and walk to the rental agency. All that can really add up...so people are often quite late for their rentals.

The one case I can think of where it might get dicey is if your lateness causes a weekly rental to reclassify as a daily. A multiple of daily rentals can easily cost more than the weekly rate and could even invalidate some promos or coupons. If you are late because of airline delays and your flight info is attached to your reservation, you shouldn't have a problem.

Thanks. I will rebook as the price is about the same. I was confused on what time our flight got in and made the car rental for an hour too early.

 

[houseofduck]

Budget was down today for mid-September. It's still not better than what I have currently. But, I have a one-way rental and taxes and fees are higher than the base rate!

 

[Jarmo]

Budget also has $35 off a weekly rental with coupon code MUGZ165. This code is great because it doesn't require a Saturday night stay like most weekly coupons.

 

[kmermaid]

Using my Costco (just the savings on the car rentals have more than paid for the annual fee) and code my reservations went as follows for 6 day rental of standard car: $159.84 to 139.88 to 115.28 to today $77.90! DH can't believe it $13.00 a day for this car.

 

[richmo]

Using my Costco (just the savings on the car rentals have more than paid for the annual fee) and code my reservations went as follows for 6 day rental of standard car: $159.84 to 139.88 to 115.28 to today $77.90! DH can't believe it $13.00 a day for this car.

Yeah, none of this is surprising. As I (and others) mentioned back on page 1 of this thread, you have to be patient and pay attention as time goes on, especially in that last three weeks before the trip. September is, relatively speaking, a very quiet travel month in Orlando and once Labor Day weekend passes, it'll be even quieter...which should translate into some good rates.

A favor (and I'll try to do this as well): Since we're in our travel month now (Yay!), when you quote a rate, please try to remember to put the start date and length of your rental, along with the agency, car class, base rate and total. Rates don't go down all at once like a sale, they're mostly timed to when your trip occurs. That will help us see better when the rates are coming down for our own trip.

 

[richmo]

I'll start:

Beginning 9/22 for 5 days (weekly rate); Alamo compact with Costco discounts $65.31 base/$88.62 total.

 

[n2mm]

Beginning 9/10 for 13 days; Alamo standard with annual passholder discount and $30 coupon AD2338FDF $226 total ($109 base weekly rate). The price is currently higher now @ $238. (My price has been higher for over a month since I originally booked). I'm 9 days away from pickup.

 

[kmermaid]

Beginning 9/24 for 6 days (weekly rate); Alamo standard with Costco discounts & code ad2338fdf $70.70 base/$77.90 total.