Discounts for Car Rental

[Dream'nDisney]

Well, we found $74 each way airline tickets through SW, so we are officially flying! Woo Hoo! Now, we need to rent a car. I would like to rent from either Alamo or National since they are at the Dolphin (right next to YC where we are staying). I called them both, and they suggested purchasing the Entertainment book and using a coupon. Does anyone currently have an Entertainment book that you can look at to see exactly what the coupon is? I hate to spend $20, and only save $20 on the rental. I doubt we would use any of the other coupons. Also, if anyone has any other money saving tips on car rental, they would be greatly appreciated. (Also, we want to utilize ME, so renting onsite is what we want to do. Also, we really only need the car for 4 days, but if cheaper, we could do the week rate.) Thanks!

[faline]

I'd look at other discount options. Do you belong to AAA? BJ's or Sam's Club? Have you joined National's Emerald Club? As of a couple of weeks ago, they were offering that for free.

[laprana]

We use Alamo every time we go to WDW and have had good luck finding discounts! I don't have any experience with National, though, but I can offer some tips for Alamo.

You can find lots of Alamo coupons online and you don't have to pay for them! You can just do a google search for something like "Alamo Discounts" or "Alamo Coupons" and you should get lots of results.

Also, try looking on the Mousesavers website. There is a section on that site just for rental cars and they have lots of coupon codes and ID rate codes that anyone can use. I found a code on there that's saving us quite a bit for an 11-day rental of a full size car!

Another place you could look is right on Alamo's web site under the "Hot Deals" tab. I'm not sure when your trip is, but right now they have a few coupons for $25 off a weekly rate, free upgrade, etc. Some of those are only good through April 30, but once that date gets closer, they will probably come out with other coupons for later into the summer.

And one other thing, be sure to check the Alamo website very frequently. Their rates can change from one day to the next, and sometimes even change the same day. I've noticed that they seem to have the lowest rates on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but I don't know if that's an actual pattern or just a fluke. Just as an example, I checked the rates for our rental on a Monday a few weeks ago and the total price (including fees, taxes, the whole shebang) was just under $500. I checked back the Wednesday of that same week and the total price had dropped almost $200, down to $301! I booked right then, but I keep checking to make sure it doesn't go down more. That's the great thing about Alamo - you can book and if you find a better deal, you can just cancel that reservation without any problems or hassle and then book the better price.

I hope this helps and have a great trip!!

[bkfree]

Since our next trip will be our 4h we are looking at doing it a little different.
We are usually onsite, fly, no car and DDP.
Our favorite location is Epcot and YC, but just cannot spend that this time.
I checked on Hotwire.com and got a great package deal for a week that includes flights, hotel (Dolphin) and a car rental. Since we will visit Sea World and Universal this time and have a car, we are foregoing the DDP.
Check Hotwire for car rental, they seem to have some really good prices.

[Dream'nDisney]

Thank you! I did join the Emerald Club a couple weeks ago and it was free. I will keep checking on-line for coupons. As stated in the earlier post, they expire at the end of April, so maybe if I wait a couple weeks, they will have other specials during June?? I appreciate all the advice.

[MidnTPK]

Also, if anyone has any other money saving tips on car rental, they would be greatly appreciated. (Also, we want to utilize ME, so renting onsite is what we want to do. Also, we really only need the car for 4 days, but if cheaper, we could do the week rate.) Thanks!

I was a bit obsessive with my car rental last time. The best prices I found were at Alamo, using a Costco discount. I booked a reservation six months out, and watched all the companies' prices obsessively for months. It wasn't until I was around d 21 days out that the prices dropped significantly. So keep watching...but don't expect the real deals until close to your trip.

Also I found an interesting loophole for savings on that trip. To see how much it would cost, I priced a car rental for 8 days even, plus half an hour. Because of my flight schedules, I might have been a little late in dropping off my car at MCO, unless we chose to depart the parks early, solely for the reason of not incurring any extra time on the car rental. So I priced out how much returning the car half an hour over 8 days flat...mostly to see if a grace period would be included automatically.

It turns out that by adding half an hour to my rental, I must have moved into a new rate category, so by returning the car 30 minutes later, my total charge dropped by 10%. So instead of paying $205 for Saturday 11 AM to Sunday 11 AM, I'm paid $180 for Saturday 11 AM to Sunday, 11:30 AM.

Anyway, it's worth look for anybody renting a car. Now-a-days, car rental prices make as much sense as airline prices. My prices were for a mid-size at Alamo, using a Costco discount and e-coupon.

I'd also suggest not being wedded to Magical Express. Picking up the car on-site at WDW...or at one of the nearby places that offer shuttle services...was about 30% more expensive than at the airport (though there were periods while I was price shopping where that wasn't true). Though it's nice not to pick-up bags at the baggage claim, you don't really save anytime with ME (so long as you rent on-site at the airport). Remember with ME you have to check-in, wait for a bus to fill, and possibly stop at other resorts.

If you rent from Alamo, you can go straight to a kiosk and then straight to your car.

And remember that on the way back to the airport, you can still use the resort airline check in service...that's separate from ME. So you can check your bags and get your boarding passes at your resort...and then get in your own car on your own schedule to get back to the airport....no need to be out front 150 minutes before your flight for ME.

[MidnTPK]

Since our next trip will be our 4h we are looking at doing it a little different.
We are usually onsite, fly, no car and DDP.
Our favorite location is Epcot and YC, but just cannot spend that this time.
I checked on Hotwire.com and got a great package deal for a week that includes flights, hotel (Dolphin) and a car rental. Since we will visit Sea World and Universal this time and have a car, we are foregoing the DDP.
Check Hotwire for car rental, they seem to have some really good prices.

Side note: I'm a fan of Priceline and Hotwire for car rentals for most places, but not Orlando/MCO. Having once rented at an off-airport location, I learned the hard way that I don't want to do that ever again. With Priceline/Hotwire, you can't be sure you'll have an on-airport location.

[Dream'nDisney]

Thank you for all the good tips. That is a good point about renting at the airport. However, how much gas would you spend traveling to and from the airport, as opposed to the savings?

[MidnTPK]

Thank you for all the good tips. That is a good point about renting at the airport. However, how much gas would you spend traveling to and from the airport, as opposed to the savings?

The airport is 20-25 miles from WDW...all highway miles...so about 1 gallon of gas in even the most inefficient SUV. So a round trip from the airport might cost as much as $6....depending on gas prices.

[Dream'nDisney]

Thanks. My DS wants to ride on the ME bus, so I guess we will be renting on site at WDW.
What is this Costco membership?

[faline]

What is this Costco membership?

Costco is a warehouse shopping club. Others are Sam's and BJ's. It's possible there aren't any in your area.

[princess0511]

Alamo is great! We always use them. It is usually cheaer to rent from the Alamo site near the MK. Costco gives a deal as well as the entertainment book. Costcos rates are cheaper. Google alamo coupon codes and everyhting will come up,.

[Dream'nDisney]

Thanks again for all the tips.

[doombuggygal]

I would Priceline for it. Snagged a mid-size for our upcoming trip for $10 a day!

[Dream'nDisney]

Wow! Do you think I should hold off until closer to June to attempt doing Priceline? I assume once you book, you can't change or cancel??

[snowblack]

Thanks for the tips, I tried the costco coupon and I got my car rental for $60 less than the original price they gave me. So I cancelled my other reservation.

[doombuggygal]

Once your bid is accepted through Priceline your credit card is charged and you are unable to cancel. When I bid I usually start with a bid that I think is so low they will never accept it. Just so happens that my first bid was accepted. If my first bid is not accepted I go up a dollar or 2 and keep bidding until I'm at a point that I don't want to go over. If I don't get an accepted bid I just try again later. I think when I bid and won the $10 per day bid we were about 70 days out so you definately do not have to be last minute to get a good deal. With Priceline you can pick the car class but not the rental company but they only deal with major carriers. Ours ending up being with Hertz. I have never been disappointed with any of my dealings on Priceline. Good luck!

[faline]

Ours ending up being with Hertz. I have never been disappointed with any of my dealings on Priceline. Good luck!

Great rate but not overly convenient as you need to take a shuttle to get to the Hertz rental location.

[doombuggygal]

I'm okay with taking a shuttle but do you or anyone else happen to know how long that shuttle ride is? Thanks!

[faline]

About half an hour to 45 minutes depending on the order of the resorts at which you stop. This will be after you wait to load on the bus and wait for the bus to depart. That could be very quick or up to 45 minutes in my experience.