MCO rental 12/24 - 12/31

[Advait]

Looking to rent a car in Orlando from 12/24 to 12/31. Arriving at MCO at 5:00 PM on Dec 24. The best rates that I am getting are a steep $470 (incl. taxes) for the week. Works out to a hefty $70 per day.

At HOTWIRE, it comes up at $503 for the weekly rental.

Any ideas on how to reduce the rate? Have heard that renting at an off-airport location is significantly cheaper. How do I locate those?

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, advait.

What size car are you looking for?

What is HOTWIRE's daily rate quote for that size of car? (Not the grand total including tax/fee.)

[Advait]

Looking for a Compact car. Hotwire is quoting $53.95/day for a $474 total (incl. taxes and fees).

[Colfax]

This is odd but when I check your dates on Hotwire I don't see any opaque listings now, just retail listings with the name of the rental car company specified. I don't think I've seen that before.

Three ideas:

1) The best airport rate I see now is from Enterprise at $339.96/$434.03, (before and after tax). Not much savings off your $474 on Hotwire.

Enterprise has a couple locations near MCO, that have lower compact rates than the airport:

6418 Hoffner Ave location: $308.74/$378.88

4988 South Orange location: $213.74/$267.77

Both locations advertise "We Pick You Up" service within a zone, but you'd have to call those Enterprise locations to see if they'll pick you up at the airport. The South Orange location with the $267.77 is 6 miles from MCO in one place I look and 9 miles in another. That South Orange location is closed on Sundays. Even if they won't pick up at the airport it might be worthwhile taking a taxi 6 miles to save $200+.

2) Alamo and National offer "Last Minute Specials" on their websites. The currently posted specials are for reservations strarting 12/23 or sooner and you're looking for 12/24. I suspect new specials will be posted tomorrow (Monday) or Tuesday. Check Alamo and National tomorrow.

3) Bid $30 for a compact on Priceline. If accepted that will come to $302.85, a good savings from the $474 you've found, and you won't have to worry about transportation to an off-airport Enterprise location.

PLease let us know what you ultimately come up with. Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links.

[Advait]

Thanks for the detailed response. Unfortunately, the non-airport Enterprise rental locations are closed from 2 PM on Christmas Eve and I only reach MCO around 5 PM. Further, the locations are closed the next day (Christmas Day). So, the earliest I can rent from those locations is the day after Christmas, which means that I will have to rent a car at the airport at the daily rate for at least 2 days.

Separately, I have got a decent rate by booking on Dollar 2 separate reservations -- one reservation from Dec 24 to Dec 25 at a base rate of $86 and then a weekly rental at Kissimmee, FL (close to where I am staying) from Dec 25 to Dec 31 for $166/week. So, with taxes and fees, the total rental costs me $318.

Anyway, will try at Priceline to beat that rate.

[Advait]

Tried Priceline for $21/day and it was rejected.

[Colfax]

With those two Dollar reservations you've chopped your total price from $470 to $318. Not bad.

You can bid as high as $30 on Priceline before your two Dollar reservations are cheaper.

$30/day ----> $315.09 total

$31/day ----> $322.54 total

Alamo and National still haven't posted their Last Minute Specials for the period starting Dec 24. I think they will later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Since your trip is just two days away you don't have time to ratchet up your Priceline bids a dollar at a time.

If you don't find something cheaper before your 24 hour lockout ends I'd suggest bidding $30 on Priceline tomorrow. You might even try $32 or $34 tomorrow, even though that will cost a bit more than your Dollar reservation, as you'll be spared the inconvenience of having two separate reservations and needing to switch cars in the middle of your trip.

If you don't want to wait 24 hours you might try $28 or $29 for a midsize now. It's only compact class you can't bid again for yet.

[Colfax]

This morning Alamo and National posted Last Minute Specials at MCO that cover your dates.

Alamo: $234.89/week

National: $244.89/week

Those prices are before taxes. If interested you'll need to click through to see how the bottom line price compares to your current $318 reservation. Even if Alamo doesn't beat your price the convenience of not having to switch cars in the middle of your trip might make it worthwhile.

[Advait]

Yes, thanks.

While the website lists those specials, those rates are not available. When one puts in the required dates (12/24 - 12/31), the rate comes up as $561. Spoke to a customer service rep at the companies and they were not able to help either. The terms of the specials state that 'the rates are subject to availability' and the customer reps said that the higher pricing probably is an indication that the specials are no longer available at MCO.

Also, have reserved a car from Advantage for the 12/24 - 12/25 period. That rental is about $25 cheaper than the commensurate Dollar rental. So, my total should be a little less than $300.

Also, for Dollar one supposedly gets 10% off the price if paying by America PRICELINE EXPRESS. When I spoke to the Dollar customer rep, he said that the AmEx card special is not valid for the holidays. But while making the initial reservation, the system did accept the rental code for the special. Let's see if that work. Will report on this forum the results.

[Colfax]

When I saw Alamo's $234.89 Last Minute Special this morning I tried clicking through to see what the total with taxes would be. The amount flipped to $561, as you report.

I know Last Minute Specials are "subject to availability" but I'm sure this one hadn't been posted more than an hour or two. It wasn't on Alamo's site last night or this morning when I woke up. I didn't mention the $561 figure to you in my prior post because I thought it was a glitch in Alamo's website and that someone would report it and fix it by the time you got around to looking yourself.

Guess not.

Now, almost 12 hours later, Alamo is still advertising that $234.89, but when I try to click through and purchase the price jumps to $599!

I call it deceptive advertising.

If you're under $300/week now I think you're doing pretty good. Hotwire still wants $53.95/day!

[Advait]

Actually, another offer came up. It is on Enterprise. A weekly rental is available at a base rate of $284, which translates to $358 (incl. all taxes and fees).

[Colfax]

To close out this thread please let us know what you ultimately decided, Advait.

Have fun in Orlando.

[Advait]

Rented a car for the first day from Advantage Rent-A-Car for $64, and then rented from the Kissimmee location for Dollar for $167/week. Total cost for the weekly rental (incl. taxes and fees) was $286.

[thereuare]

Thanks for 'closing' this thread with what you ultimately did for this trip.

If you didn't, please note as per our support page, that we are an affiliate of Dollar Rent a Car and please use our links for your future travel plans.

Hope you enjoyed your trip.