Orlando Dec 23 - 28 car rental help

[glin930]

Our family plan to go to WDW this Christmas from 12/23 to 12/28. We have air tickets & hotels taking care of. Finally we need a rental car (full size or higher level). I prefer on terminal car rental companies (Avis, Dollar, National, Alamo, and Budget) Questions:

1) So far the lowest rate I can find from all car rental site plus promo code (avis B900000) is Avis about $255 for 6 days. Is it true that Christmas is a high season so no promotional code will work or give me big discount?

2) Hotwire shows $26.95 per day for Full size. This is within my budget but is it likely that the rate will drop (or could be up)? I don't want to lock in this rate this early. My target is about $22/day for Full size. Is this too low?

3) Today, I try PL Full size $22 and rejected. Is it true that standard size is equivalent as a free rebid for Full size? Most car rental (with the exception of Avis) companies fleet go from mid or intermediate then to Full size with nothing in between. PL has Mid, standard, and Full size option.

I still have plenty of time to bid. Appreciate any help that can save me $.

Thanks

[thereuare]

I like to check Orbitz for rental cars (and airfare) as they provide their "matrix" which makes it easy to see and compare prices.

Using the Orbitz link at the top of this page, i found Hertz has a full size car for your time period at $180 (no discounts or codes applied, maybe you could find something to go with that rate?)

To know if this is high season (which i assume it is), check the rates for the exact days you want for 1 week before, 2 weeks before, and 1 week after... doing so you'll see rates substantially cheaper for the weeks before yours, so i believe this is a peak time period and you're likely to see higher rates than other time periods.

More on rates: the price of anything is determined by supply and demand. Right now, the car rental companies know exactly how many cars they'll have to offer (ie- supply), but they can only try to predict the demand based upon the data they have from prior years. So right now, they are predicting demand to be at a certain level and pricing cars according. They will keep tracking this demand based upon the unrented supply, up until the day of rental, and continue to adjust prices accordingly.

If they've guessed wrong the whole time and demand is lighter than expected, you 'win' and you'll see prices drop. However, if they're wrong and underestimated demad, you 'lose' and the rates that you rejected previously will seem cheap.

I think you're doing this in the correct manner, picking a price at this early stage of the game and if you see that price, take it and don't look back (unless of course it's cancellable and you can replace with a lower rate).

Check out the Hertz offer thru Orbitz that i mentioned above, maybe you can even combine that with a coupon code from someplace, and get it even cheaper. As well, if this rate is cancellable, might be a good back-up for you for the time being... if rates go up you've got something set, if rates drop, you can cancel and book the lower rate.

I will leave the re-bid question to those with more experience with it than i have, but i would be VERY careful in doing so.... if they have that "quality" listed, they probably offer cars at that level (what if you happen to get a win at Avis, which you know offers cars at that class level?).

[glin930]

Thank you. I also see that Hertz $180 rate. The only concern I have is Hertz os off terminal at MCO. Since I am traveling with two kids so I prefer on terminal than off site. However, $180 is a good rate and if I can combine with other coupon, ... etc that will make it better. I may just book it and cancel at later date iF i find anything cheaper.

Thanks for your suggestion. I will keep an eye on the rate. :)