Faculty

Well after what seemed like a decade, I finally got something worthy from PRICELINE using the links here.

23 day rental, picking up in Tampa, dropping off in Orlando (July 7 - 30) @ 18.00 per day for a compact from Alamo.

All taxes etc. came to $557.91

Had been trying the cycle as was recommended and nothing was ever accepted. First try today at $18 went through. Perhaps could have got cheaper if I waited longer but it's fine as my next best offer was the back up you guys had me do at $730.00

Thanks once again!

And if someone can edit the title to reflect the pricing, that would be helpful for others.

Hi Faculty, I've been reading your ongoing struggle with car rental prices...which seem to have gone bananas the past year or so. When we travel anywhere in Florida, we use the Orlando Visitor Bureau code with Thrifty which is available to everyone. The code is 004M001010 and goes in the corporate box. This will give you a $148/wk rate. I plugged in your dates and some made up pick up & drop off times, and this is the total it's showing:

Corporate #: 004M001010

TIME & PLACE CHANGE

Pick-up TAMPA AIRPORT, FL, USA Jul 07, 2009 01:00 PM

Return ORLANDO AIRPORT, FL, USA Jul 30, 2009 04:00 PM

CAR & RATE CHANGE Car Class: Dodge Caliber or similar

Rate: $148.00/week Total Base Rate (USD):

Total Base Rate (USD): $540.00 $540.00

Rental Time Charge $540.00

CONCESSION FEE REC (10.5%) $58.36

Energy Recovery Fee ($0.45 per day) $4.50

STATE TRANSACT TAX ($2.03 per day) $48.72

STATE TAX (7%) $46.40

VEHICLE LICENSE FEE ($0.47 per day) $11.28

Total Estimated Mandatory Charges (USD) $709.26

Estimated Grand Total (USD) $709.26

I know it's not much...but every little bit helps, right? Good luck with your priceline search. I have a rental with Thrifty for end of June...but I always keep checking on Priceline.

Thanks for the advice. I put it through as another back up and it came out to $668.70 all in. I tried to combine with other promos but it wouldn't take it. Better than what I currently have. Again not sure why the price of compacts have suddenly jumped to $52 a day o priceline. Who the hell would pay that? Maybe the recession is not so bad after all?

True, just never seen companies asking $52/day for a compact. Christmas/Thanksgiving/Memorial Day, maybe. Oh well, we will see what happens. Thanks.

Hmmm... Something strange happened. I have been increasing the price as suggested daily but tonight when I did the normal search on priceline for my dates etc. the price has drastically increased from $199 per week up to $362!! WTF? That's like $52 a day for a compact? I guess the economy is not that bad after all. Is this normal?

Actually my bad as I forgot to add the extra coupon, so the total as mentioned above is now $730.99.

I will take your advice and start the process. What kind of counter offer would they make? Do I have to take it and if not does it affect my future bids?

Thanks!

Ok. I guess you meant to book directly with Alamo as if I booked with Priceline they would charge me right away? If not, I used the above suggestion (THANK YOU!) and was able to book directly with Alamo with the discount. The total came to $758.43 with all taxes etc. It still works out to about $28.49 per day. The extra time and distance worked out to $33.24 per day and then the discount was $66.47.

So having that as teh back-up, what is suggested course of action with PRICELINE?

Thanks.

Thank you for the prompt response.

Using the Car Rental Checker, the best rate was $199 per week from Alamo, Dollar and Thrifty. Works out to $28.43 per day. But Thrifty and Dollar in the end are more.. I guess they have some extra charges?

Hotwire does not give me the option to select a different drop off location, but the price from Tampa is the same as above. Total price: $835.79, which is the same as above and both with Alamo.

Hello everyone. Thanks to the owner for an amazing site full of information. I have gone over a number of pages and am not clear on a couple of items.

First off, I used PRICELINE last year for a 2 week rental in Orlando during July. I got my first bid and I believe it was $20/day for a compact.

This year I am staying from 07/07 - 07/30. Need the pickup in Tampa and drop off in Orlando, both Airport locations.

I see there is 24 hour wait period between bids for hotels, what about cars?

Shall I start m bidding now (dates are firm)?

Looking for a compact again, any suggestions on what to start the bidding at?

THANK YOU!