Rental car prices

[mudpuppysmom]

We're going in October and are looking for our rental car....I do have one booked already thru National Emerald Aisle, but I feel it is still pretty pricey.

When I look around it seems that ALL the places have really high prices for this time period (Oct 14-20) -- but I can't seem to figure out what the heck is going on during our time period! We're going after a holiday, so it's not that.....and I know the demand vs. supply thing, but I cannot imagine that there is that much demand in October! An economy car is even over $320 for a week!!!!

Anyone have any ideas as to why the prices are so high and also any ideas on how to get one less expensively!

[It'sWDW4me]

I don't usually rent a car while I'm in WDW but I did read this gem of advice once:

Keep your reservation but keep checking prices OFTEN. If you find a cheaper price offered from the company you already have reservations from, maybe they'd update your ressie to the cheaper price or maybe you'd have to cancel and rebook (make sure there aren't cancellation fees). If you find a cheaper price with a competitor, maybe you can get a price match from your current company but, if not, cancel and rebook with the cheaper company.

I'm sure that you'll be able to find a better price over the upcoming months - just keep your eyes open. The rental companies are just hoping to cash in on early planners like you but hope that you're also a "once and done" /reservations made kind of person.

Good luck and have a wonderful trip!!

[MidnTPK]

You're not missing anything. Prices are way-high for fall rental right now. My reservation for the same week in late September is about 150% more than what I paid last year. And prices are about 33% higher now than when I booked, so I have a relatively good deal.

There's lots of explanations, like much smaller inventory at the rental agencies. But all of them are pretty useless to me since we can't control them or go elsewhere for a better deal. The best rates I've found were using Costco discounts on Alamo.

Anyway, last august was when I saw the prices for fall rentals drop significantly. People usually come on the boards when they see the prices drop. Keep checking and if you see a deal please post here.

[jcvalenti]

That's always a very busy time to rent. It's a large conference month, plus Food & Wine. There isn't a lot of inventory. I remember a few years ago paying close to $800 for a minivan for a week, well over $250 more than the same vehicle for the summer.

Make the best rezzie you can now, and then start checking 2 weeks prior to your trip.

[KylesMom]

We ran into this same thing for our June stay. What cost us $24 per day two years ago during the same time frame is now costing us over $30 per day this year (mid size National Emerald Aisle through my work travel site). In fact, for the 10 people I reserve travel for at work, it's the same deal. I've been told that rental companies have substantially reduced their inventory and are seriously catering more toward the business traveler who must have a vehicle at their destination. They get around the higher rates by offering volume discounts to the larger companies who have corporate rate structures. Note that my family noticed the higher rates last July - so they've been "up there" for awhile.

It's still SO VERY worth it for us to get a car, though!

UPDATE:

Well, I need to thank JC Valenti above - just went to check on prices, and I upgraded to a full-size from an intermediate and saved $120! THIS IS AWESOME - breaks down to $22.33 per day with a coupon I received on-line! Don't give up, Mudpuppysmom!

[Kathy Jetson]

I hope its ok to post this. I just got a mid-size for 10/16-10/24 for $217.00 from priceline.com hope this helps.

[jcvalenti]

Update: I realized I was two weeks out on Tuesday and double checked car rentals. They dropped dramatically for my period (6/15 through 6/26). When I originally booked a few months back, my final rental fee for a Ful Size for 10 days (with child seat) was $457. With little effort on Tuesday, I was able to secure another rental for an out the door total of $260 ... adding an extra day in there.

So bottom line - since it costs nothing to reserve, reserve early and check back often. Just remember if you get a better price, cancel your earlier reservations ... the more inventory they show as the dates get closer, the more the price drops.

[Dracula766]

if you are staying onsite then my advice is to use DME and then rent a car from Enterprise on World Drive @ the Marriot.

I checked the economy rate for your dates and its only about 200 bucks and that is without using any coupons which are easily found online. They'll even pick you up from your resort.

Remember...anytime you rent at the airport, you have to pay the airport fees & taxes.

[LorrieP]

We leave on Thursday, 6/11, and I had originally reserved through Alamo 3 months ago. I got a rate of $306 for a mid-size. I checked back today, $212. That's a $94 savings!!

[MidnTPK]

I hope its ok to post this. I just got a mid-size for 10/16-10/24 for $217.00 from priceline.com hope this helps.

I'm a big fan of Priceline for rental cars at many airports, but not in Orlando. You might get stuck with one of the off-site/shuttle agencies.

[Kathy Jetson]

I used priceline but we are driving from Myrtle Beach not getting the car in Orlando I hope it works out.

[Jodi]

We are seeing the same issues. Prices for a full size car are about double of what we paid last year, for the same time of the year. I do check often, as less than a week before we left last year, the price dropped about $100.00. Keep checking ALL of the agencies. I do use an Entertainment book coupon / discount too, which does help a little. A little more than 60 days till we leave !!

[doombuggygal]

We just booked what I think is a pretty good deal. We booked with Dollar Rent A Car through BJ's Wholesale Club's website. Got a Full size 2 week rental (10/26-11/8) for $512 total taxes and everything. Totally beat the car I had already reserved with Budget through rci.com @ $755. I am going to continue to check prices often but I think this is a good price considering what I have been seeing for quotes.

[AirlineGuy07]

We always rent from Alamo and they always seem to drop their rates a couple of weeks before we leave. If you have a VISA card you can get good discounts from Alamo.

[E-OR]

We have the national emerald club card too. We have rented from them many times and one thing that I found was that the price usually goes down as you get closer to your date. I go on line almost daily when we get about six weeks out. Last year we rented a car from them starting at around 400.00 and by the time we went it was 170.00. We are renting again for end of sept/first of oct. The rate started at 407.00 and now we have it for 369.00. We also bought an entertainment book for 15.00 and use the coupon for 1 free day. It saved us 46.00. I like National and we use them most of the time. We rented from another car rental company in orlando once and had to take a bus to the rental lot and then did the same thing when we left. It was the biggest hassle. Dragging our kids and suit cases on a bus was not fun. Good luck and just keep checking.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I check another website for discount codes then go to National and keep checking the codes to see which gives me the best deal. If I find a better deal, I book it and THEN cancel the old one. I keep doing this until I can't get any lower rates. PM me if you need the other website.

[MidnTPK]

It looks like rental prices are down a bit right now for mid/late September. I'm getting a 10%-20% decrease from the lowest prices I've seen in the past few months. I've re-booked my reservation.

[mudpuppysmom]

Thanks everyone for your advice!

We are staying at SOG, so there is no DME for there -- I wish there was, but when you stay there that is the trade off....

We like having a car anyway -- we are not bus people....I don't like dragging the stroller and the kids on and off the bus plus waiting in line for the bus. We like to go out, get in, buckle up and go. I will say that on days we go to Epcot or MK we walk over to the Poly and catch the monorail though!

I do have a rental already for $217 for the National Emerald Aisle.....so we will get at least a mid size car for that and i do keep checking and the prices keep going up, not down! At least we are going on vacation and that is the bottom line!

[disney100%]

Last year, we went to Disney Oct 18th to the 25th. We ended up renting a minivan through dollar for about $300. We did the same thing everyone mentioned above - made our reservation and kept checking. The minivan was originally over $500 if I remember correctly. So keep looking for codes, though sometimes the codes gave higher quotes than not using a code. By the way, when we picked up our car, Dollar was very efficient, which was great for us since we had three kids ages three and under!

[KathyMO]

Sign up for Budget Fastbreak and then check their rates. I had National booked for our Nov. trip(4 days)for $161. I changed it to Budget yesterday when I got a rate of $106. Keep checking every week. Rates seem to change a lot.