Orlando Car Rental Question

[topmom101]

My daughter and I are flying to Orlando the first week in March. We are spending one week at the Grand Beach Resort which is 17 miles from the airport. The listed taxi fare is $65 each way. Although we have no plans to visit any of the theme parks I thought it might be more economical to rent a car for the week just for the convenience of doing some shopping and dining around town. I have spent the day looking for a decent rental deal and the best I come up with is in the $300 range for an economy car and that includes Costco. I am shocked at the prices. What's up with Orlando? Anyone have any advice? I really don't need a car but I hate paying $130 for a taxi round trip. Thanks.

 

[matbec]

I, too, have been shocked by the car rental prices in Orlando. On our upcoming trip, I couldn't find a week-long minivan rental for less than $500, and that's through Costco.

One option is to see if your resort has a shuttle service to/from the airport. Mears runs a shuttle service to various Orlando-area resorts. We've never used them, but we do see them at our resort dropping off and picking-up passengers. You can book them online, and a round-trip for 2 will run you about $65 - not sure if there are taxes on top of that, but might be worth checking them out. It looks like they might have a web discount code (WEB10) that you can use when you book online.

Hope that helps.

 

[topmom101]

Yes, Matbec, it does. Thank you. I checked with the resort and they do not offer shuttle transportation. I did check out Mears and your numbers are accurate. For $64 both my daughter and I have round trip transportation. That's a 50% savings, so thanks. I'll wait a week or so before booking them and keep on checking rental cars in case I get lucky. Thanks again.

 

[Dori]

I just checked southwest Airline's car rental site, and costs are running about 350 for the first week in March. We always book well ahead, knowing we can cancel at any time. We often will cancel and rebook at a lower price many times before our trip. I check every day, even the eve of our departure.

Personally, I would not like to be without a car in Orlando. While there are a few places within walking distance of Grand Beach, you would probably need to take a taxi to grocery shop or go to the little outlet mall.

Dori

 

[RuralEngineer]

rentals

it varies widely based on demand. try hotwire.com and carrentals.com.

stephen

 

[ailin]

I found this site recently:
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/01/29/capital-one-car-rentals/

If you have a Capital One credit card, an economy is running about $150 all-in. You do have to prepay, but it can be cancelled. Probably better to pay with cash rather than points, which has cancellation restrictions (check the fine print).

Even if you don't have a Capital One card, this site has other ideas that I didn't know about before.

 

[topmom101]

I have tried all car rental sites. All very expensive. I did find a reasonable rate from Hertz for $190 but it's not at the airport and I am trying to find out the location.

 

[JudyS]

I would guess the problem is that March is high season in Orlando, and the car rental companies don't have much availability.

I've found that www.mousesavers.com is very helpful for finding car rental deals.

Car rental prices often drop at the last minute, so if you decide to rent a car, I suggest reserving something that can be canceled with no penalty (that includes most car rentals) and checking again a few days before you want to pick the car up.

 

[topmom101]

JudyS, thanks for the link. It wasn't much help on car rental rates but boy, I sure enjoyed reading and learning about Disney World. My head is spinning!! In fact, I subscribed to their monthly news letter. I figured by the time grandchildren arrive, I should be a Disney expert. Lol.

P.s. Still checking car rentals but so far, no luck.