# February Car Rental prices



## suskey (Jan 5, 2009)

I am re-thinking my trip to Vistana Beach Club in February. Cheapest mid size car I can find is over $600.00 for the week!!!! Can anyone steer me in the direction of a cheaper car rental?  Thanks...

Susan


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## bnoble (Jan 5, 2009)

Alamo has a good deal going on with Southwest.
http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/cars_alamo.html#25percent


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## MoiAl (Jan 5, 2009)

Just rented from Alamo in Orlando airport, Jan 22 to Feb 7, compact car $244.00 total. They always want to upgrade you, but everytime we have rented from them and declined the upgrade, the upgraded car was waiting for us in the parking lot. The nice thing about Alamo is they are located in the airport.


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## suskey (Jan 5, 2009)

For Vistana Beach Club you fly in and out of West Palm. Rates on Alamo for my week(2/21-28)- COMPACT car- $624.89 Base!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ridiculous...

SUsan!


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## rickandcindy23 (Jan 5, 2009)

MoiAl said:


> Just rented from Alamo in Orlando airport, Jan 22 to Feb 7, compact car $244.00 total. They always want to upgrade you, but everytime we have rented from them and declined the upgrade, the upgraded car was waiting for us in the parking lot. The nice thing about Alamo is they are located in the airport.



Did you use specfic codes to get that rate?  I have been trying my Costco codes for weeks and haven't gotten any good deals.  I need new codes!


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## Cathyb (Jan 5, 2009)

My quote was $1046 from Southwest    I guess my dates are high demand (2/12-2/26) for compact car


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## Cathyb (Jan 5, 2009)

Agree with you!  My quotes have exceeded $1000 for Fort Lauderdale pickup


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## UWSurfer (Jan 5, 2009)

April rental prices (11-18) aren't any better.  BEST price is $782 during these dates for a mini-van and they go up from there!!!

It's actually cheaper to rent TWO mid-size cars with Payless, totaling just under $500 for the two!!!  I'm simply beside myself and now attempting to figure out if we even need a car to do the parks from the HGVC @ I-Drive.   We want to do Cape Canaveral so we'd need one at least one day...plus we need to get to/frm the airport (5 adults).

YIKES


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## frenchieinme (Jan 5, 2009)

*start request early &...*

Like timesharing, with proper early planning one can really avoid these last minute atrocities heaped upon car rental people.

I locked in a Feb 15 week rental for my son in March o8 for the sum of $139 for a full size vehicle.  As many of you have mentioned and found out with as of late requests, the price is now over $1000.  That is a rediculous quote regardless of the late date.

frenchieinme


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## slabeaume (Jan 6, 2009)

I just checked Budget for the FEb. 1-8 and got a price of $107.99 for an economy car.  That was with an RCI code y367800.


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## Cathyb (Jan 6, 2009)

Rechecked just now and my 2/12-26 is still $1200 at Budget with the RCI number -- what a difference!!!!     Thank you anyway!


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## rst (Jan 6, 2009)

If you wait till last minute you should get a good deal for alamo.


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## Polly Metallic (Jan 6, 2009)

Have you tried priceline or hotwire?


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## MoiAl (Jan 6, 2009)

I used the $25.00 week discount code that is located in the ALamo web site and prepaid the charge for another 10% discount. Cancellation fee is $5.00 should I need. Alton


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## slabeaume (Jan 6, 2009)

Cathyb said:


> Rechecked just now and my 2/12-26 is still $1200 at Budget with the RCI number -- what a difference!!!!     Thank you anyway!




Wow!  Hard to believe their inventory is that low then!


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## slabeaume (Jan 6, 2009)

I just checked when the Daytona 500 is, it's the 15th of Feb.  That could have a lot to do with the prices.  A couple years ago I was in Ft. Lauderdale at that time and hotels were booked up that whole week even that far away due to the race.


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## mgriff75 (Jan 6, 2009)

*Hotwire*

I normally use Hotwire.com to book my rental car.  Orlando can get pretty cheap 1 month out.  They do have a midsize for your time period for $627 total.  Including taxes and fees.  But I would probably wait a little longer. You can't cancel a hotwire reservation, and rates might drop.  Plus I wouldn't pay that much for a rental car.  I'm use to $200 for the whole week.  

Matthew


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## hajjah (Jan 7, 2009)

I got this today from Dollar.  If you are trying to rent during a high demand week like between *2/14-21/09*, the rates are just as high in *Orlando *as they were during Xmas.  Here is what I just used and it worked.  I thought it was an error.  I booked a minivan for $199 and the total is $274.00. I really don't need a minivan, but the rates for an economy or anything else are well over $500.00.   Check this out before it disappears.  

BTW, I paid $400.00 via EZ Rental in Orlando during Xmas for an economy without power anything.  It was a real problem remembering to lock each door and opening/closing all windows.  I guess we should be thankful for the small things.

_*Fantastic Savings for
American Express® Cardmembers
Whether you need a Minivan for the kids or the golf clubs, Dollar makes sense. Reserve now and get a fantastic rate of $199.00 on a weekly rental of a Minivan when you use any American Express® Card. Valid at all partcipating U.S. Dollar locations excluding NY Metro area from January 2 through February 27, 2009. *_

Just a point of clarification, I started checking rental rates for an Orlando rental during Xmas week way back in April.  The rates were extremely high even then.  When I say that I checked daily, you can believe that I did up until a few days before we headed to Orlando.   The rates didn't come down.  I used all the codes given via Costco, Sams Club, Mousesavers.com and all the other codes.  Nothing works during holiday times anymore in Orlando.  We had the very same experience in Ft. Lauderdale during Thanksgiving.  I did manage to get a compact using Priceline.com a few days before we left for $15.00 per day.  Renting cars has really changed, and not for the better.

*Here is the rate code:    AX07*


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## frenchieinme (Jan 7, 2009)

Cathyb said:


> My quote was $1046 from Southwest    I guess my dates are high demand (2/12-2/26) for compact car



Those weeks are Daytona 500 and President Week.  High demand time for timeshares and car rentals.

frenchieinme


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## Mjpierce (Jan 8, 2009)

*School Vacation week*

For most schools in the northeast, February vacation starts on the 14th and runs through the 22nd.  You have to book early in a place like Orlando or you will be raked over the coals- I've been there!  Luckily, this year I booked my car just before the rates went through the roof.  Actually, I booked too late and the only reasonable rate available was through Thrifty- definitely not one of my first choices.  I got a rate of 242 a week, which was about 500 dollars less than any of the others.  A couple of days later, Thrifty's rates also went through the roof.

Not much that you can do about it, they know when they've got you...

I wish you luck,
Michael


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## rickandcindy23 (Jan 8, 2009)

Keep trying and use Costco's codes for Alamo and the weekly $$ off, too.  I just rented a car for two weeks this month, starting the 10th, for $225, with all taxes and fees included.  Best deal I could find, but not as good as I have gotten in the past.


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## hajjah (Jan 8, 2009)

I just checked with Alamo via Costco.   For the week of 2/14-21, the rates are still over $500 for an economy with the codes in Orlando.  Having to travel during school vacations is pretty rough.


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## Daverock (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi Hajjah,

Saw your post re: AmericanExpress special and called Dollar 5 minutes ago.  The rate of $199 was still available.  I needed the car 2/28 for my daughter who's coming down to Orlando.  I thought I'd get the car on the 27th for her...last day of the offer and then turn it over to her as an extra driver for $10 per day.  So when, all the extra taxes etc were added in plus the 3 extra days at $40 per it came to over $500.  What is a great deal, the $199 week rate, did not work for us.

Thanks for the info


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## Polly Metallic (Jan 8, 2009)

Wow, I really don't know what's up with car rental rates. I decided to run a Hotwire search for what I think is a really off-season week in Orlando, 05/02 to 05/09, and the economy car rates start at $24.95 = $239.76 for the week. Good grief! Don't they know we're in a recession? You'd think they'd be offering bargains to get people to travel. ?????


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## slabeaume (Jan 8, 2009)

Polly Metallic said:


> Wow, I really don't know what's up with car rental rates. I decided to run a Hotwire search for what I think is a really off-season week in Orlando, 05/02 to 05/09, and the economy car rates start at $24.95 = $239.76 for the week. Good grief! Don't they know we're in a recession? You'd think they'd be offering bargains to get people to travel. ?????




Maybe they figure everyone is travelling to Florida now because they can't afford to go elsewhere.


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## bnoble (Jan 8, 2009)

I think it's more likely that the Orlando-area agencies have been even more adept at reducing their fleet size than they needed to be in the face of declining inbound flights.


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## Kola (Jan 8, 2009)

Polly Metallic said:


> Wow, I really don't know what's up with car rental rates. I decided to run a Hotwire search for what I think is a really off-season week in Orlando, 05/02 to 05/09, and the economy car rates start at $24.95 = $239.76 for the week. Good grief! Don't they know we're in a recession? You'd think they'd be offering bargains to get people to travel. ?????



May is way too far ahead ! In my experience and depending on location Hotwire offers some good rates about 3 weeks ahead. I needed a car in LVegas for two weeks last November and checked with Hotwire at least ten times. They were noncompetitive and I ended up getting a good deal with Fox Rent-a-car. Too bad they don't offer service in Florida.

Now I have been checking Hotwire for two weeks in Orlando starting last week of January. So far they remain noncompetitive. I already booked with Alamo but could cancel if Hotwire offers something cheaper.  

K.


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