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Priceline Rental Car FLL-- Really Cheap

arch53

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I'm new to the timeshare universe. I bought Worldmark credits on eBay recently and just got my II membership.I got cheap Southwest airfares from Manchester, NH to FLL in March a few days ago; so I decided to try for an my first II exchange (going to try for the Keys but in a bit will probably put in a bunch of different on going requests for different locations around FL to increase my chances). After looking up car rentals on Kayak and others sites and seeing pretty high prices, I decided to try Priceline since I had used it on other occasions with good results. Since I had plenty of time, I used an initial lowball bid of $12 per day. What do ya know-- I got a compact from Hertz @ $12 per day at FLL for 3/06 -3/16. Geez I knew the economy was bad but that seems pretty cheap.:whoopie:

John
Falmouth, ME
 

donnaval

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Wow--great deal! I have been getting rates of $24 and up per day for an economy car in FLL from the other sites for our January trip. I try to use Priceline all the time, but for this trip we may need to change our plans and come home early (gotta love Southwest!) and there are no refunds for unused days on Priceline...but I think I'll take my chances at that rate!
 

rsnash

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so I decided to try for an my first II exchange (going to try for the Keys but in a bit will probably put in a bunch of different on going requests for different locations around FL to increase my chances).

Put in your request for the resorts you REALLY want. If you have anything lesser in there, chances are that's what you will get. If nothing comes up as you get closer to the date, increase your search and/or check Getaways. Getting something in the FLL area is much more likely than the Keys if you have both in your search. Next time you want a highly desirable area, try to put in the request more than 1 year in advance, so that when the deposits come in from owners, you already have your request in the system. The highly desirable exchanges rarely appear online as they are taken up by ongoing requests.
 

Cathyb

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Tried for 2/12-26 for $12 but Priceline just laughed at me :( -- changed the car size from compact to subcompact and upped to $15 and still got chastized. Am I doing something wrong?

I currently have two weeks with National at $377.35 incl. taxes and fees ($17) so I am not too far off.
 

arch53

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If you have a deal with National @$17 per day that' can be canceled that's pretty darned good. There is a value to not being locked in like you are with a Priceline deal. The amount that Priceline will accept is date and location specific and changes constantly. I use biddingfortravel.com to get as much information as possible before bidding (be careful about asking questions on that site; you'll be chastised somewhat severely unless you closely follow the site's posting rules requiring your post to have very specific information.)
 

DeniseM

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Tried for 2/12-26 for $12 but Priceline just laughed at me :( -- changed the car size from compact to subcompact and upped to $15 and still got chastized. Am I doing something wrong?

I currently have two weeks with National at $377.35 incl. taxes and fees ($17) so I am not too far off.


You aren't doing anything wrong, but that timeframe includes President's week and you aren't likely to see low prices during a holiday week when more cars are rented. Rental Agencies rent their extra inventory on Priceline and they don't have much extra inventory during a holiday when people are more likely to travel.
 

rickandcindy23

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I am having a terrible time getting a deal for 1/10-1/24 in Orlando. Every code I try, every time I try Priceline, I get really high rates.

Never in our lives have we rented from Ace Rentals, but this might be our first. :(
 

DeniseM

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Cindy - have you tried the Bidding function on Priceline? That's lower than their conventional reservation system, but it is a holiday week so maybe there just isn't any excess inventory.
 

hajjah

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Orlando rentals are off the charts during any holiday. We returned on Saturday from Orlando after finally renting with EZ Rentals at $400.00 w/tax for an economy. The car was a Toyota Yaris with absolutely nothing, not even power windows or door locks. Mind you, I started my search back in April. We usually travel during holiday times and have never paid this much in Orlando for a rental. I'm checkin now for 2/14-21 and the rates in Orlando are still $500.00.

We did get a rental in FLL during Thanksgiving at $15.00 p/day for a compact via Priceline. No such luck using any company or coupons in Orlando. Wow, have things really changed.
 

donnaval

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I couldn't find anything, even at Priceline, for under $24/day for my 1/19 through 2/8 trip with pickup in FLL and dropoff at MCO. After Arch53 started this thread, I rethought my strategy and through Priceline got $12 at FLL from 1/19 through 2/1. It seems the drop off at a different location was skewing the entire rental period. When I offered $12/day with pickup in FLL and return in FLL it was accepted immediately. Darn, should've tried $11 lol. I still need to get a better deal from 2/1 through 2/8 with pickup at FLL and drop-off at MCO since so far the best I've been able to book as a back-up is $23 through Costco. I'll keep hitting Priceline every day.

It will be a little bit of a pain to return the car after two weeks and get another one--but saving more than $400 makes it worth it! Worst case now, I'll have to keep my back-up Costco rental making the three-week total just under $500. The best rate I was able to get on the whole trip with one car was $922.

Also--a tip I picked up here on TUG and have used a couple of times--I got Priceline rentals at $9/day for our trips to and from the airport/home. Total with taxes is about $35. Parking for the entire period would be more than $150. We're close to the airport so it's not too much of a pain to pick up or return the rental car.
 

maddaug

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Arch53 with all fees tacked on then what was your final price if I may ask? What rental co. did you end up with?
We are heading to the Keys May 1st flying into FLL. Wow the prices of rentals is sky high. Yikes.
I have never used Priceline. Thanks
 

donnaval

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Maddaug--I'm not Arch53, but I can tell you that after all the fees are added in the price does go up a lot -- but the fees can be even worse when you book through more conventional channels. Anyway, Our $12/day in a compact ends up being $287.96 for 13 days (1/19 through 2/1) including all taxes, fees, etc. Our Priceline bid was accepted by Hertz.

I'm still working on the second leg of our trip, with pick-up in FLL and drop-off at MCO. I may need to wait until we get a little closer to those dates before I can get a Priceline bid accepted.
 

maddaug

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This really pains me. :eek: We are heading to KW so the car is will not be used as we would like to just pedal around the island. Maybe I should look at airfare from FLL to the keys. Add the car and bike rental and maybe the flight wouldn't be that much more???
 

arch53

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Rental Fees @ Fll

Fees were $70.62; the total rental was $154.62. Some of the fees are a percentage of the base rental fee so the fees escalate as the base rental price goes up. Not sure how much the Priceline fee is of the $70.62; but I've found the local and state l fees in Florida to be very high and they drive the cost of a car rental up considerably.
 

maddaug

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Arch53 I can only hope to get a rental at that price. I think I may just low ball and see what happens. Hopefully our travel date may help. Thanks for the info. I think you fared very well.
 

bccash63

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Has anyone here tried sidestep.com? We used this for the Fort Lauderdale airport last Christmas break for a minivan and the rate for 8 days was 50% cheaper than the next closest price--I believe t was around $320 for 8 days--a minivan in FL during a holiday week usually runs around $600. Also, used "rent-a-wreck" before--vehicles are 'used' instead of new--the one we had was only 3 yrs old. Dawn
 

Cathyb

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I just now rang up 2/12-2/26 for Fort Lauderdale and got over $1200 :eek: on Sidestep for a compact car. Is there a 'good' day/time to check car rental prices?
 

bccash63

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n intermediate size vehicle/nissan sentra for a total of $490 w/tax or $35/day.
It says to book at u-save.com. Dawn
 

bobby

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You guys reminded me I need an Orlando car 2/22-3/1. I got rejected at $12 and $14.
 
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