MCO Orlando Standard Avis

[doublehelix]

I started my bidding a couple of weeks ago using the PRICELINE link on this board, as always. I started at $10/day for a standard car, and used the 24-hour re-bids to get up to $21 with no success. I'm never quite sure what the difference is between Standard and Mid-Sized cars, but I haven't tried bidding for anything but a Standard so far. I don't really want to go more than $35, and definitely don't want an Economy car. Any advice on what I should do from here? I was planning on continuing the 24-hr re-bids between now and the 16th, in increments of $2. Does that seem like a reasonable approach?

Thanks,

~Jen

[thereuare]

This is the start of President's Week when lots of public schools are on vacation and therefore lots of families are taking vacation... many of which, especially on the east coast, will head to Florida for warmth and Disneyworld.

As a result, rates are extremely high for these dates. Your plan of increasing by $2 day is reasonable and the right approach, but at the moment i'm not sure if $35 will even be enough. Do you have a back-up reservation? Is there a point (over $35?) where it doesn't pay to rent a car and you'll be able to get by just taking taxis and/or shuttles to wherever you need to go?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[doublehelix]

I got up to $25/day and found no success. Prices for these dates are just sky-high everywhere -- I couldn't find a rental for less than $200 total at any of the major car companies. I didn't have a backup reservation because the prices were just insane. Taxis proved to be sky high too -- today I used one for a 15-minute drive and it was $40 one-way!! Unbelievable.

So I changed my dates to 2/15 - 2/18 and saw the rental prices plummet. The total price for this THREE day rental was almost half of the price I was seeing for the TWO day rental! I started with the PRICELINE link on this board, as always, and started bidding at $18 for my standard car. The bid was not successful, but I was presented with a promise that my bid would be accepted if I was willing to increase my bid to $24/day. I accepted the offer, and won. And still got the Standard car I wanted.

I'm happy. Even at my targeted $35/day for the original two-day rental, I was expecting the taxes and fees to bring the price up to $100 or so for the whole rental. This three-day arrangement means I will have to pay for an extra night of parking at my hotel ($16), but the total price ($110) isn't too far from my original budget. All in all, it's still way better than the $200+ price tag I'd have paid for a regular reservation.

AVIS

Your Offer Price: $24.00 (per day)

Total Rental Days: 3 days

Subtotal: $72.00

Taxes and Fees: $38.49

Total Charges: $110.49

Thanks, BetterBidding!

~Jen

[thereuare]

Glad to see your rental plans were a bit flexible and you ended up with a substantial discount for this new set of dates vs. the dates you were originally trying for.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Have a great trip.