National Rates stink for May

[RweTHEREyet]

I am starting on my quest for a rental car for our May trip. So far all I can get for 6 days for an intermediate is $159.64, and that is with a $15.00 off coupon and using Am-ex's contract code.

Dollar was only a few dollars better and that was for a compact and not an intermediate. I tried every Dollar code from mousesavers for my timeframe.

any suggestions?

[ripleysmom]

Do you belong to Costco? They have a $25 off coupon you could use.

[Simba's Mom]

When in May are you going? I've lowered my rate 3 times by checking both Dollar and National every two weeks or so. First I was with National, best rate I got (also with Am-Exp) was $231. Then a couple of weeks later, Dollar beat the rate with $198, so I went with them. Now I'm back with National at $163. By the time we pull into OKW in May, who knows what rental car company we'll be with. Maybe by then, they'll be paying us (yeah, right!).

[RweTHEREyet]

Not going until the end of May, so we have some time yet.

I really want to stay with National. We know their system, love picking out our own car on the EA, and it's always fun to have the mystery of what you might be getting. But I guess I like a good price even better, so I am going to have to learn about Dollar, too. I think I would hate arriving and then having to stand in line at the rental car counter for the first time ever. :worried:

[Stimpy]

Did you try the Priceless code? Also, I usually get a better rate with Costco than AMEX.

You might have a hard time getting a good rate since your going around Memorial day weekend. If they're renting cars already, there's no reason to offer a discount.

Most of the time I get the best rate with Budget. You might want to try them :)

[Colorado Belle]

I'm looking at my receipt for an intermediate with National last year. A week for $115.55 and I got to use Emerald Aisle even.

I'm with you Rwe for this May....nothing!!!!! I want to pick up at Disney and return to Tampa airport, usually free. So far I have a one day rental with Alamo for $35, but I hate to be without car...control freakaziod that I am.

Lets hope something comes through for both of us!

[carolina_yankee]

National rates this year stink, period!!

I can't get a decent rate anywhere, anytime, for any of my 3 upcoming trips around the country. The absurdest rate: $300 from National for pick-up at Ft. Myers airport on Thanksgiving Day and turning in at the Car Care Center at WDW 3 days later!!! The two of us can actually fly from Ft. Myers to Orlando one-way on Southwest for half that cost, at most - maybe even 1/5!!

You can't tell me Fort Myers airport and WDW are too small to handle 1 way rentals.

The cheapest 1 week rate I can get in May is around $160, but I haven't tried the Costco codes. You would think ME would have caused a slight reduction in rental rates. I won't even consider a car at these prices, but I would if they were around $140 for a week.

Dirk

[RweTHEREyet]

Here is what I was able to get. If you go to National's site and click on the "specials to go" you will see a save $25 on an SUV or mini-van coupon. Click that link then read the coupon detail and then click RESERVE. On your ressie page just enter the CONTRACT ID (5000662) number and you should get a better rate for a mid-size SUV than an Intermediate. This got me a Chevy Equinox.

I got 6 days for $137.92 and my dates are May 24-May 30.

I am happy with paying around $20.00 a day for my rental. This is a little more than that, but I am not terribly unhappy with it and I will continue to check every few days to see if anything else is available, any better coupons, etc. At least I have something reserved and know the rate is not too, too bad.

HTH

[RweTHEREyet]

Also, I am not a member of Costco, are their discounts usually really good ones?

[Stimpy]

Also, I am not a member of Costco, are their discounts usually really good ones?

They can be pretty good and they usually have coupons. Off the record, :innocent: they have never checked to see if I am a member (but I am one). I wouldn't say their rates are good enough to justify buying a costco membership for just the travel discounts though.

[CRSNDSNY]

I just booked Alamo a few minutes ago....

May 6 - 12th
Standard SUV/Chevrolet TrailBlazer
Base Rate: $132.52 ($170.85 after taxes and fees)

I used the pre-pay discount plus Rate Code AD14

[RweTHEREyet]

Also, I read over on that Other Board that some people like to use ME and then pick up their car the next day or later at either the Dolphin or the Car Care Center.

I posted to ask why and the only good reason was because they might not need the car the whole time and were going over to the Coast or somewhere else. Others said that they did it to save time :bugeyed: and a day of rental. I guess I feel that with the cost of Park tickets being what they are and with my vacation time being as precious as it is, that the ME scenario would do nothing but cost me money in the long run.

One of the last responses was a woman saying she and kids had taken the ME and hubby went andgot the rental car and he beat them to their resort!!!!!

I am sure there are scenarios where it might make sense to not rent your car at MCO, but to save a day's rental and to avoid carrying your luggage wasn't a good enough reason to convince me to give it a try. Am I :crazy: to see it that way?

[Colorado Belle]

CRAZY? Nah.
Maybe a little NUTZ.

I think there could be lots of reasons why people would rather ME to their resort and then pick up the car later in the week. There is even the rumor that those coming in on ME get room ready....and that they dont' have to wait untll 4 like the rest of us!!!

Picking up a car say at Emerald Aisle National takes about 50 seconds and you are on your way. Doubt ME could beat that! But some people like 'easing' into the World AND the help with baggage. And usually, the first few days are either at the resort OR at the prks , no car needed.

I'm at BWV...so I could just walk over to the Dolphin anytime to pick up my car. I'm flying into Tampa this trip and getting a ride over with friends from Tampa, so I really only need the car for the return to the airport. But I'll miss having a car there for errands, for quick trips to MK, AK and DDT, so I might get a week instead of just a day anyhow.

I haven't tried ME, but I think I wouldn't like it going back TO the airport 3 hours early. Coming from the airport I think would be fine...too bad I can't take it from Tampa!! LOL!!!

[RweTHEREyet]

There is even the rumor that those coming in on ME get room ready....and that they dont' have to wait untll 4 like the rest of us!!!


Really, I had not heard that at all.

I guess our trips always take us from the airport to the Resort and we keep the car for the whole stay, so no need to think about other alternatives. We must be just plain vanilla wrapper kind of folks, same methods all the time. I guess another thing tainting my thoughts is the trip that hubby and son went down with a school group and I flew down. I used Mears (no ME at the time) and it was just excrutiating for me to be sititng on that bus waiting for other passengers to board the bus before we could leave, and then we made a stop of two before getting to my Resort. That was just totally unacceptable to me. I realized at that point that I would have rather paid a hefty cab fare to get me on Disney property quicker.

[cruise-o-matic]

We rented from Thrifty in December. I was able to book a new rate, then cancel the old one the day before we left. Save $2/day.

Moral of story. Book, then watch for lower rates. Bokk new rate before canceling old one. Repeat until you are happy with the rate or until you leave.

[CRSNDSNY]

Moral of story. Book, then watch for lower rates. Bokk new rate before canceling old one. Repeat until you are happy with the rate or until you leave.
ITA with this advice. I do the same thing. :highfive:

[magicalmcwho]

Hi to all,

Posted on another thread but thought I would post here as well.

Just wanted to post I got the following rates with Alamo for 8 days in May with pickup at MCO.

Midsize SUV = 124.56 total

Standard SUV = 142.81 total

Contract ID = 430710
Rate/Product Code = BYW3
Coupon Code = D24C (printable coupon link below)

http://www.alamo.com/index.do?source=generic&action=hotDealsTemplate.do&msg=entertainment_com_25off_coupon


Jim.

[RweTHEREyet]

I also checked Alamo yesterday and can get my same vehicle for $20.00 less.

I am not sure I want to ditch my national Reserve to go stand in the Alamo line. If it was more than $20.00, then maybe, but I am really spoiled with walking out and having my choice.

[bavaria]

After this past weekeend's fiasco with National I am ready to ditch them. I usually use Hertz as I use them for work, but didn't want to go offsite at midnight. I should have done that, as National had only 6 cars left for abotu 20 families and it was CHAOS!!!

I ended up 45 minutes later getting a car from the Alamo side, and sure enough was charged $265 instead of $123 so now have to dispute the charges.

Last October I arrived on a Friday at 11AM and National had no cars either! I know that ME has had a huge impact on car rentals but recent bad experiences are making me look elsewhere. (Twice in past they woudn't honour an ecoupon, even with a print out, until I lodged a dispute)

[RweTHEREyet]

I am sorry to hear that bavaria. We have never had a bad experience with National, but we don't rent as often as you do, only about 15 rentals total. We have never arrived as late as you either, but this upcoming trip we don't get in until about 9:00 P.M. Why do you think the late arrival makes such a difference?

You would think that the ME impact would mean more cars available to choose from.

[bavaria]

I think that maybe intially ME meant more cars available, but as ME continued the rental agencies cut back on inventory rather than having cars sit around unrented. Thus the higher prices too. (Just my own theory)

What I DON'T understand is that the night I arrived, there were flight cancellations all over; in fact, my flight via Denver was the only US bound flight to leave my home airport that afternoon, all other destinations were cancelled or delayed due to bad weather. In Denver, we left people behind who were still trying to get to MCO that day. I suspect that there will still many people due to arrive after midnight, once they got their flights sorted out.

I can somewhat understand no cars at midnight, but no cars at 11am? Makes me think that there is an inventory and/or reservations issue (maybe they are miscalculating the number of noshows, and bringing in fewer cars?) I really don't know, but all of last year I only saw that happen once at Hertz in Minnesota at around 10pm one night.

At least they CAN pull cars from Alamo, but then they issue a new (Alamo) contract and one has to dispute the rate with customer service.

[Stimpy]

Having worked for one of the major car rental agencies for several years (here in NY), I can tell you they are all infamous for overbooking. They will overbook by 10-20% over their inventory (sometimes more). They figured it out that on average, that's how many people with reservations will not show up....unfortunately it doesn't always work that way! (Similar to the airlines overbooking seats) They also don't take into account that there is also a surprising number of people that do not return the cars when they say they will...sometimes keeping them until a week or more later without even calling.

I had many nightmare experiences where every reservation has showed up to get their rental and we didn't have the cars for them. I felt really bad for the renters and I can't tell you how many times I was almost driven to tears myself because of the treatment from the customers. (Yes, I do understand their frustrations, anger, disappointment, etc and they need to take it out on someone, unfortunately, I was usually the someone standing there at the time. Some people do cross the line though!)

I hated that part of the job and would never work in that field again!

[doombuggy]

I am sure there are scenarios where it might make sense to not rent your car at MCO, but to save a day's rental and to avoid carrying your luggage wasn't a good enough reason to convince me to give it a try. Am I to see it that way?

Sweetie, you aren't crazy. I rent from National when I rent (which is not often), and I use that AmEx rate code all the time. I got an AWESOME rate with it for San Francisco about 1 1/2 years ago. The rate I got last Christams in Philly was not so great. A compact for 8 days at about $230 (plus taxes & pre-paid gas, since my dad lives 35+ miles from the airport). Ouch!

Back in 2000, I came down for a convention. We took the mears to and from the airport (we stayed at POFQ & Coronado), but rented a car for a couple days during the convention. We picked it up at the car care senter & returned it there. No airport tax. Since my friend stayed an day longer than I did, it worked out better for us this way. I think you got some good rates, however, keep your weathered eye open! :earboywav

[magicalmcwho]

Hi to all,

Update: following rates with Alamo for 8 days in May with pickup at MCO.

Midsize SUV = 114.74 total

Standard SUV = 155.40 total

Contract ID = 430710
Rate/Product Code = BYW3
Coupon Code = D24C (printable coupon link below)

http://www.alamo.com/index.do?source=generic&action=hotDealsTemplate.do&msg=entertainment_com_25off_coupon


Jim.

[CRSNDSNY]

You may also want to check out this thread if you are interested in Alamo codes: http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2419

I have a Trailblazer for 6 nights from Alamo for only $115 after taxes. That is down with various codes in the last several months from over $200. :hyper:

[TammyAlphabet]

Just saved another 15 dollars thanks to Mousesavers!! It never hurts to keep checking!!

http://www.alamo.com/index.do?source=generic&action=hotDealsTemplate.do&msg=entertainment_com_25off_coupon

It says something about entertainment.com in the link but there were no restrictions mentioned on the mousesavers site.

[tjkraz]

Thanks for the codes everyone!!!

I just rebooked trimming nearly more off of my reservation. I'm down to $92 for a midsize SUV for 4 days. :D

[RweTHEREyet]

O.K., you reeled me in with this one. I checked and got the same vehicle I had with National for $46.00 less. I am not sure I am going to like standing in the Alamo line. If National's rates go down, I may have to jump ship.

With Alamo, once you leave the counter, do you get to go and pick your own vehicle if you are a QuickSilver member?

Thanks for the code update.

[Blue&Gold]

Wow... Just ran the numbers and came up $75 lower from Alamo, 9 day convertible MCO-MCO 18-27 May.

Emerald Aisle really has been my happy place, but how bad can the line be at 10:00 on a Thursday night?