Rental Car Prices are STUPID!

[WDWOswald]

I don't think I've ever paid more than $150 for a week in a midsize car from MCO. It's usually more like $120. Now the pandemic has created a huge shortage of vehicles and inflation is spiking and for an "on airport" rental car for a week in April the prices are $560 and up! What are you guys doing to avoid these price spikes? Uber might be okay for traveling to and from the airport, but we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and I don't want to pay for like 20 separate uber rides so we can go to the store, the parks, the resorts, Disney Springs, etc. etc.

Should we go with an "off-airport" rental car company? The last time we did this the shuttle was a pain in the butt and the line was ridiculous at the rental counter. After a long day of air travel from Detroit with our 7 year old son, the last thing we want to do is get on another shuttle and wait in a some insane line. In my experience there is no counter on earth slower than the rental car counter because it's a full on sales pitch and most the customers are clueless. After that there's the entire check in process and waiting around at the resort for our room to be ready. I'm exhausted just thinking about this.

Anyway- should we just wait and pray that prices go down? Drive from Detroit in our own car? It almost seems like actually having a relaxing and enjoyable vacation is a thing of the past and the whole experience is just one frustrating and insanely expensive situation after another.

 

[skittles67]

What if you took an Uber or Lyft to the off airport car rental company? Is that a possibility?

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

We are looking into using Turo, because you are right, the prices are insane.
I also have a Costco membership that I can look at prices for several brands all at once and track the rates.

Some people say that once you book your reservation with a company to join their loyalty program and you can skip the lines, go to the front of the line, or straight to the car if they have an app that allows pick up directly.

If you will spend less than $560 in Ubers/Lyfts then you will come out ahead, especially since you won't pay any parking fees also.

 

[neary]

I'm seriously thinking of skipping the rental car for our March trip. It would be nice to have, since my kids are still young enough to need booster seats in the car, and that's a pain with Uber/ Lyft. But at these prices? Even including the cost of buying a couple of inflatable booster seats, there is no way I would spend as much on rideshares as I would for a rental car. If prices go down closer to our travel dates, maybe I'll reconsider... but right now it's $657 for a 9-day rental through Costco Travel for our dates. We could probably use Ubers for everything we need to drive to for half that price.

 

[tvguy]

I don't think I've ever paid more than $150 for a week in a midsize car from MCO. It's usually more like $120. Now the pandemic has created a huge shortage of vehicles and inflation is spiking and for an "on airport" rental car for a week in April the prices are $560 and up! What are you guys doing to avoid these price spikes? Uber might be okay for traveling to and from the airport, but we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and I don't want to pay for like 20 separate uber rides so we can go to the store, the parks, the resorts, Disney Springs, etc. etc.

Should we go with an "off-airport" rental car company? The last time we did this the shuttle was a pain in the butt and the line was ridiculous at the rental counter. After a long day of air travel from Detroit with our 7 year old son, the last thing we want to do is get on another shuttle and wait in a some insane line. In my experience there is no counter on earth slower than the rental car counter because it's a full on sales pitch and most the customers are clueless. After that there's the entire check in process and waiting around at the resort for our room to be ready. I'm exhausted just thinking about this.

Anyway- should we just wait and pray that prices go down? Drive from Detroit in our own car? It almost seems like actually having a relaxing and enjoyable vacation is a thing of the past and the whole experience is just one frustrating and insanely expensive situation after another.

Yes, Florida and Hawaii always had been amazingly cheap rental car markets. I worked at Budget in Sacramento in 1979 and back then were charged $140 a week for our cheapest car, a Toyota Corolla. Oh, and ZERO free miles. 15 cents a mile.

 

[DaveNan]

Can you get access to booking through a corporate account with a car rental company, and pay for for it personally? Those are more reasonable.

 

[Beer Me]

I reserved one for a Clearwater beach trip in July and it’s about $70/day. It was almost as bad last year. I’m keeping my eyes open for a better deal but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll probably just end up paying it.

 

[sandam1]

I rented a car for my Universal/Disney race weekend at the beginning of the month and I found that the prices dropped significantly (by almost half) about three weeks before the trip. I needed the car (I didn't want to depend on getting a ride share at 2:30 a.m.) so I booked what I needed originally. Then I kept an eye on the prices and rebooked as necessary. So decide what you can stomach paying, lock in the rate, and then keep shopping for a better deal.

 

[Dakota731]

The past two years we’ve paid $1800 a week for SUVs for our western US trips!

 

[WDWOswald]

The past two years we’ve paid $1800 a week for SUVs for our western US trips!

$1,800 a week? Are you renting the first ever Lamborghini SUV?

 

[fsjking]

I was kicking around a quick trip to FL in February to use up some CC points till I realized the Car rental was going to cost more than the flight or hotel.

 

[dwonderz]

We just postponed a February trip to end of March (for a few reasons) - the rental car in February was going to be almost $500!!

 

[Sinder]

Was looking last night for our March trip Fort Lauderdale and couldn’t pull the trigger. I don’t have a choice though, we need a car so I’m going to try to find some discounts today

 

[jimmymc]

From your resort, Uber and Lyft rides are going to be $10 most of the time, meaning you can take a lot of them for $500. If you're just doing things around Orlando I think it's worth taking the 20 rides. You can use Disney busses once you're on property.

I tend to avoid the really cheap rental car companies. They can be notorious for adding on extra cleaning or damage fees after you turn in the car that are difficult to fight. My next trip in April I am probably going to try Turo.

 

[afan]

Was looking last night for our March trip Fort Lauderdale and couldn’t pull the trigger. I don’t have a choice though, we need a car so I’m going to try to find some discounts today

I have a car booked for Phoenix in March with costco since they were the cheapest. It started about 470 and as of yesterday is down to 440. Still way more than I want to spend for 4 days but not much I can do. What's driving me most nuts is that the intermediate size is the cheapest and bigger than I need for just me.

I read through some threads on the transportation board and it seems like a lot of the car rentals for MCO eventually drop to closer to normal cost so I'm hopeful it will continue to drop prior to my trip even though it's totally different cities. But mid March also has spring training in full swing, fingers crossed for this year, so I can see how demand could be similar.

 

[mjkacmom]

I paid $800 for a 2 day SUV rental to move my daughter into college in SC in august. Wanted the more expensive minivan but they were sold out months before move in.

 

[mikehn]

Just as stupid as the car rental rates are the stupid taxes and fees - facility charge, vehicle license fee, energy recovery fee, state tax, concession tax. That's potentially hundreds in taxes right there.

 

[Disney_lost_it]

I don't think I've ever paid more than $150 for a week in a midsize car from MCO. It's usually more like $120. Now the pandemic has created a huge shortage of vehicles and inflation is spiking and for an "on airport" rental car for a week in April the prices are $560 and up! What are you guys doing to avoid these price spikes? Uber might be okay for traveling to and from the airport, but we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and I don't want to pay for like 20 separate uber rides so we can go to the store, the parks, the resorts, Disney Springs, etc. etc.

Should we go with an "off-airport" rental car company? The last time we did this the shuttle was a pain in the butt and the line was ridiculous at the rental counter. After a long day of air travel from Detroit with our 7 year old son, the last thing we want to do is get on another shuttle and wait in a some insane line. In my experience there is no counter on earth slower than the rental car counter because it's a full on sales pitch and most the customers are clueless. After that there's the entire check in process and waiting around at the resort for our room to be ready. I'm exhausted just thinking about this.

Anyway- should we just wait and pray that prices go down? Drive from Detroit in our own car? It almost seems like actually having a relaxing and enjoyable vacation is a thing of the past and the whole experience is just one frustrating and insanely expensive situation after another.

And that's what we get by handing them "free" bailout money. Tax payer bailouts are coming back around in price gouging.

 

[elgerber]

I have a car booked for Phoenix in March with costco since they were the cheapest. It started about 470 and as of yesterday is down to 440. Still way more than I want to spend for 4 days but not much I can do. What's driving me most nuts is that the intermediate size is the cheapest and bigger than I need for just me.

I read through some threads on the transportation board and it seems like a lot of the car rentals for MCO eventually drop to closer to normal cost so I'm hopeful it will continue to drop prior to my trip even though it's totally different cities. But mid March also has spring training in full swing, fingers crossed for this year, so I can see how demand could be similar.

I have Phoenix in 3 weeks, cheapest for 5 days is $535, so I am using UR's instead. I just cannot pay that. It's ridiculous, or stupid, as the OP said!

 

[afan]

I have Phoenix in 3 weeks, cheapest for 5 days is $535, so I am using UR's instead. I just cannot pay that. It's ridiculous, or stupid, as the OP said!

It is but I can't justify the cost of the urs for it. I can't earn them as much as others. I have part of my 300 travel credit that I'll use too so even if it only goes down another 40 bucks it's still going to cost me less than 300.