Car rentals?

[griswold]

To my fellow Junkies who travel quite a bit,

The Griswolds are heading to Orlando this summer and I have booked my flight and beach house, however, I'm stuck with needing a rent-a-car.

Holy Cow! Are these things expensive!!!

Now, having 5 people makes it difficult because I'll need a SUV or mini-van to fit all of the family and luggage.

So far, the cheapest rates are around $65 - $85 per day for 7 days and after you add in taxes and "fees", it's around $80 - $100 per day.

Therefore, my question is....is there a cheaper way, website, discounts out there that I can't find?

Does it make sense to "negotiate" with the various car rentals when I arrive? Or would that be worse? For example, if I go to the Avis booth and say, "Hey, if you give me a mini-van for $50 per day, I'll take it right now, if not I'll go over to Hertz's booth?"

Any help would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks!

[Moonlight J]

Are you a Sams/BJ member? They have coupon codes you can use for as much as 25% off.

Don't bother trying to on-site negotiate - you're better off trying Priceline.

[davidgrey]

I seriously doubt they will negotiate prices with you, but you never know.

Your best bet is to try and find some coupon codes online (Maybe on slickdeals.net). If you are a AAA member, I think some give you discounts. Never tried priceline, but it could be a nice option.

A few years back, my brother and I rented a mini-van from I can't remember which one but it was at the Canton-Akron airport for a week and it was like $300 or $325, which I thought was good for a week and we were driving it to Canada. They usually have deals by week and I believe I booked it online. Good luck.

[hombre]

To my fellow Junkies who travel quite a bit,

The Griswolds are heading to Orlando this summer and I have booked my flight and beach house, however, I'm stuck with needing a rent-a-car.

Holy Cow! Are these things expensive!!!

Now, having 5 people makes it difficult because I'll need a SUV or mini-van to fit all of the family and luggage.

So far, the cheapest rates are around $65 - $85 per day for 7 days and after you add in taxes and "fees", it's around $80 - $100 per day.

Therefore, my question is....is there a cheaper way, website, discounts out there that I can't find?

Does it make sense to "negotiate" with the various car rentals when I arrive? Or would that be worse? For example, if I go to the Avis booth and say, "Hey, if you give me a mini-van for $50 per day, I'll take it right now, if not I'll go over to Hertz's booth?"

Any help would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks!

My "go-to" place for car rentals is Costco.com. As MJ noted w/ Sams/BJ, Costco has deals w/ the "Big 5" rental agencies, and I've almost always found my best deals on Costco. I've found usually the deals w/ Alamo/National and Budget trump those for Avis/Hertz, but YMMV.

Just go to Costco.com, click on the "travel" link, then "rental cars."

I just plugged in a random week in July, pickup at MCO through Alamo (obviously I don't know your exact dates, but I doubt pricing would be different at this time), and for a Jeep Grand Cherokee, it was $395 all-in, or about $56/day. Not tremendous, but sounds like a lot better than what you are encountering. And unless you have a ton of stuff, I'd think a Grand Cherokee would be big enough for a family of 5.

Now technically you are supposed to be a Costco member, I don't know if you are. I can say that I've used Costco.com at least 10 times in the past 3 or 4 years, and not once have they asked to see my Costco membership card at the rental counter. But be advised that there's always a chance they could ask you.

And I would agree w/ the last post- the drones at the rental counter really have no incentive to haggle w/ you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. If they were running the business themselves, then perhaps they'd want to haggle to prevent losing the business; but in reality I'm sure they couldn't care less if they "lost" your business for refusing to cut you a deal- and they'd probably get reamed out by their 26-yr old manager if he discovered they'd lowered prices 30% or whatever. I suppose it never hurts to ask, but I wouldn't hope for much success on that front.

One last piece of advice- especially in a "high-volume" tourist destination like MCO, rental car prices can change almost as frequently as air fares. Check back repeatedly- and unlike airfares (almost always non-refundable), with few exceptions you can cancel car rental reservations with no penalty. So you're almost never "locked-in," if I were you I'd book the Grand Cherokee now for $395, you don't pay until the actual rental. Keep watching to see if rates ever come down further- I'll bet they do at some point between now and the summer.

Good luck and enjoy the trip!

[umjewman]

Borrow Jason's car. He won't mind.

[joncarlos]

One thing to keep in mind - some of these places can be shady about their inventory. They'll rent out 15 vans when they only have 10, and then offer you a sedan when you show up. It's best to call before you show up (before you get on the plane if you're picking it up at the airport, or even the night before) just to make sure they actually have what they promised you.

Most places are OK, but I've gotten burned by this scheme twice. Both times I held firm and forced them to get a van from another rental car company at the airport, so it worked out OK, but it was annoying.

[Fresno Bob]

your problem is Orlando, super high demand for larger vehicles.....another option is to skip the minivan/SUV (which are always in demand) and look at something like a fullsize Cadillac with a three body trunk. Above points are right as well, look at deals from anything you belong to, such as airline or credit card loyalty programs, or AAA.

[BuckyBuckner]

This may be obvious but check to see if your credit card will cover insurance so you don't have to pay for the car rental's insurance. Also, your car insurance might cover you in a rental. Look into that as well.

[griswold]

My "go-to" place for car rentals is Costco.com. As MJ noted w/ Sams/BJ, Costco has deals w/ the "Big 5" rental agencies, and I've almost always found my best deals on Costco. I've found usually the deals w/ Alamo/National and Budget trump those for Avis/Hertz, but YMMV.

Just go to Costco.com, click on the "travel" link, then "rental cars."

I just plugged in a random week in July, pickup at MCO through Alamo (obviously I don't know your exact dates, but I doubt pricing would be different at this time), and for a Jeep Grand Cherokee, it was $395 all-in, or about $56/day. Not tremendous, but sounds like a lot better than what you are encountering. And unless you have a ton of stuff, I'd think a Grand Cherokee would be big enough for a family of 5.

Now technically you are supposed to be a Costco member, I don't know if you are. I can say that I've used Costco.com at least 10 times in the past 3 or 4 years, and not once have they asked to see my Costco membership card at the rental counter. But be advised that there's always a chance they could ask you.

And I would agree w/ the last post- the drones at the rental counter really have no incentive to haggle w/ you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. If they were running the business themselves, then perhaps they'd want to haggle to prevent losing the business; but in reality I'm sure they couldn't care less if they "lost" your business for refusing to cut you a deal- and they'd probably get reamed out by their 26-yr old manager if he discovered they'd lowered prices 30% or whatever. I suppose it never hurts to ask, but I wouldn't hope for much success on that front.

One last piece of advice- especially in a "high-volume" tourist destination like MCO, rental car prices can change almost as frequently as air fares. Check back repeatedly- and unlike airfares (almost always non-refundable), with few exceptions you can cancel car rental reservations with no penalty. So you're almost never "locked-in," if I were you I'd book the Grand Cherokee now for $395, you don't pay until the actual rental. Keep watching to see if rates ever come down further- I'll bet they do at some point between now and the summer.

Good luck and enjoy the trip!

I tried this and one of them said I needed my Costco number and the other looked like it might work and then said the "code" had expired.

I'll keep trying.

Thanks for ther ideas guys....

[griswold]

Are you a Sams/BJ member? They have coupon codes you can use for as much as 25% off.

Don't bother trying to on-site negotiate - you're better off trying Priceline.

I'm a Sam's member, but it said on their website that they don't do travel stuff anymore.

[Gregg]

How much does it cost to be a Costco member? Still might be worth it to join. Plus don't they give some kind of discount on your first purchase to off set the membership fee?

We do not have one by us. I wish we did.

[Gregg]

Will your company let you use their discount?

[griswold]

Will your company let you use their discount?

Already checked...we don't travel enough to have one.

[Catfishkid]

To my fellow Junkies who travel quite a bit,

The Griswolds are heading to Orlando this summer and I have booked my flight and beach house, however, I'm stuck with needing a rent-a-car.

Thanks!

I am more impressed with your ability to find a beach house in Orlando. If it really is a beach house, make sure your rental car gets good gas mileage.

[virgonomic]

So far, the cheapest rates are around $65 - $85 per day for 7 days and after you add in taxes and "fees", it's around $80 - $100 per day.

You should also rent it for a week as opposed to 7 days. I rented cars in LA and Calgary last summer and in Calgary I think I rented for a week because it was cheaper than renting it for 5 days.