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OK - after a nice 5 year hiatus I'm heading to Orlando in a couple of weeks and need to rent a car for 5 people. I'll throw the floor open for nominations on best deal. AA? Costco?.... My usual old trick is reserve as small a thing as will do what I absolutely need and talk them up a level or two once I'm at the counter.
Alamo has an Impala for $184 for the week..
Use ID 7014667
About $236 w/tax, and no other extras.. That's about $47/day including tax... not great, but not bad..
That's without any sort of coupon... You may be able to combine that with something else, if you can find a coupon code.
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That would do the trick. Boy, I'd be afraid to ask for a free upgrade. Maybe they'd put me in a Venture. :sick:
There's also about 20 different classes of rental cars there, too.
My last rental was a nearly new Focus from Enterprise. Cost under $30/day, no problems.
Use ID: 7014667 (special.. 10% off Florida rate)
Coupon code: AD6974JDM ($25 extra off)
Full size car (Impala or similar) is $398 + taxes and fees ($527 total) for the entire time period.. November 1st-19th.. That's under $30/day including tax..
Those codes are straight off their website... no affiliation needed.
The great thing about rental car reservations... is you don't have to guarantee them... Book that one now, and keep shopping..
regards,
kyfdx
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The trip is 11/ 1 - 11/9 - 8 days. So far I'm at $283 for a Taurus plus all the fees that kick it up to $400. Anyone?
"You have entered a coupon that may be required to be presented at the time of rental. Please read the terms and conditions of the coupon before selecting your vehicle to ensure your coupon will apply to your reservation. If you are using an upgrade coupon, please select the car category you wish to upgrade from."
Where does such a thing come from or is this just standard jibberish?
Now.... where are all the good deals on Disney tickets? :shades:
The best deal going for Disney I've heard of (through a friend) is through some volunteering network. Right now, if you volunteer for a qualifying organization, you can turn 8 hours of credit in for things like a free hotel room. Disney apparently is coming on board and letting people swap out volunteering credits for day passes. Don't know any other details.
Those codes came straight from the Alamo website.... Nothing hinky about them...
Looks like you did pretty good..
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I may shop the price now. If I could get someone likely to give me a Taurus rather than an Impala for the same money that would be nice - but the Impala will do what needs doing.
You do not want a Grand Prix...
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I drove that car back to the rental place for her and man I didn't think I was going to make it because it shook so bad.
Pickup Location: Las Vegas - McCarran International Airport-LAS/In-terminal/LAS VEGAS, NV
Pickup Location Phone: 866-434-2226
Return Location: Las Vegas - McCarran International Airport-LAS/In-terminal/LAS VEGAS, NV
Pickup Date/Time: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
Return Date/Time: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
Vehicle Type: Full-size ( Dodge Charger or similar )
Promo Code: 815
Currency: U.S. Dollar
Rate Code: RWW55
YOUR RATE IS: 1 Week at $130.90 per week. Unlimited mileage.
The good news here is that Alamo started out as planned. Then they hit me with the $10 per day so my wife can drive as well. Were it not for the fact that it was way late with tired kids I might have shopped every counter....
My equivalent of an Impala IS an Impala. Could have had a Charger but noticed it late. They had some other nice things that were smaller which is too bad because I need the space. Coulda had a Mazda 6.
The Impala is fine for what it is. Didn't hit a curve with it but here in Florida that's not much of a concern.
Today I take my car in to have the bumper scratch fixed, and the body shop has a cheapo deal with the local Enterprise down the street. I wonder what I'll get.
Yes, I know I'm replying to my own message but I figured anyone reading this might want a link to the original.
Anyway, I rented a Dodge Charger for 5 days this past week through Dollar while in Vegas. Although the $130.90 rate was correct by the time they added in all the taxes, airport fees, blah, blah, blah I ended up paying just a few cents shy of $200. That was even without any additional $10/day drivers or their overpriced rental insurance, which I declined.
When I picked up the car the guy behind the counter seemed agitated that I didn't want their ridiculously overpriced insurance coverage. He became even more surly after I explained that my credit card company covers me when I pay for the car rental through them. He said that the car damages will be billed directly to my credit card and I would be responsible for paying it, not my CC company. Do they get a commission or something for getting people to buy that stuff?
I felt that he was implying that he already knew that there would be some sort of damages charged to me. This was before I had even seen the car. I've been through that with another rental company and now I make sure any existing damage is noted before getting in the car. At least one company apparently likes to keep things like a rock chip on the windshield and have multiple renters pay for it before it is fixed. His attitude was about enough to motivate me to file a complaint with Dollar, which I may do later this weekend.
I asked him about any grace period when returning the car. We picked it up at 10:45 a.m. but our flight back home 5 days later wasn't until 2:30 p.m. I didn't feel like sitting in the airport for 4 hours. He said that even if I returned it a minute late I would be charged an additional day's worth of fees and taxes. When I pointed out on my Internet printout that the $130 rate was for a WEEK (not just the 5 days we had it for) he said that didn't include the taxes and other things that I mentioned. He repeated that it would be about an additional $60 if it was even a minute late.
I went to the Dollar website earlier today after I got back home and checked the rates and discovered that he was wrong. It would have only cost me about $5 more in taxes if I returned the car 3 hours past the 24 hour cutoff. His attitude in general and misinformation makes me even more inclined to notify Dollar. I'm sure his name or employee badge number is somewhere on my rental agreement.
Fortunately, the return side went very well. I dropped off the car, the guy barely looked at it, printed out a receipt and I was on my way. I will probably do business with Dollar again sometime because of their low rates; I just hope it's not with the same counter person. Maybe they'll send me a discount coupon for my aggravation.
The Alamo people in Orlando were a piece of work. They really want everyone to just work through their machines. I usually try to sweet talk my way into a nicer car for the same money at the counter but it looks like that may be a thing of the past.
Anyway, I finally end up at one of the machines which locks up on me with my credit card already in there. Smarmy full of himself Alamo guy takes my stuff and we go to another machine. He proceeds to demonstrate how everything I said didn't work on the machine indeed doesn't work again, finally manages through everything and then neglects to give me back my license and credit card. I'm so tired at this point that I drive away without them which resulted in another trip back to the airport the next day....
Next time I'll likely do everything by phone and bounce rates off the different companies until I hit bottom - or maybe just drive down...
Yes they do.
A guy that works for us at the dealership used to work at an Enterprise place and part of their pay plan is commission/profit sharing from up selling insurance and other products.
Well, they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Here's an email response I received today from Dollar CS about the complaint I filed Sunday.
Dear Mr. xxx,
Thank you for notifying us of your recent experience with Dollar Rent A Car in Las Vegas. On behalf of Dollar Rent A Car, please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you experienced.
Please accept my personal apologies for the unacceptable behavior and misinformation exhibited by our employee. I was very disturbed to hear of your experience and want to assure you this is no more acceptable to us than it was to you. We pride ourselves on our employee's ability to provide excellent customer service and to be fully informed. The details of your experience have been forwarded to the General Manager of this location for immediate corrective actions.
We understand there is nothing we can do, short of a sincere apology, to make your recent experience any better, however, we would like your next experience to be more pleasant. As a gesture of goodwill, I have mailed two certificates, which is redeemable at any Dollar Rent A Car location in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean, and Australia.
We appreciate your business and hope you will allow us another opportunity to fulfill your car rental needs in the efficient, professional manner you expect and deserve.
Thank you once again, Mr. xxx, for taking the time to notify us of this situation. We look forward to serving you again soon at Dollar Rent A Car.
Sincerely,
xxx xxx
Member Services Representative
isare redeemable at any Dollar Rent A Car location in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean, and Australia.Shouldn't it be 'are' not 'is'?
Maybe you can get another certificate out of him by pointing out his error. :P
BTW, did they say what the certificates are for? Specific discount? Use instead of AAA? Get out of jail free?
If they're certificates for a free rental of the Lamborghini I saw for rent that normally goes for $1,350/day I'll be very happy. However, that wasn't offered at Dollar.
I'll post the details of the certificates when they arrive.
I received my two "sorry for the trouble" certificates from Dollar earlier this week. Each one is good for $10 off my next rental. I didn't see an expiration date on them.
I didn't file a complaint to try and get any freebies. I just wanted to vent off a little steam from my Vegas rental experience. The $20 is just a bonus.
I was looking for a car rental for 6 mos.Anyone can recommend the best ?and the cheapest if possible?
Do i need to buy their liability insurance?they were saying it protects me from theft,damges.etc.
I'll probably do it that way again the next time.
I've got a Speck right now. My daughter drowned her car on Saturday and while I'm awaiting results (it's probably totaled) they've got me in a rental. the modern Spec is a Hyundai Accent. It's tiny, has crank windows, manual locks and no cruise yet has a USB port and an aux for mp3/iPod. While it is tiny and basic I have to say it's quiet for such a little thing, isn't a slug (don't get me wrong - it isn't a race car either) and further supports the idea that it's tough to get a car that just sucks anymore.
He was recently away for a weekend with his parents, who rented a car - they got a loaded Malibu - moonroof, leather, etc...he said it was amazingly nice.
I'll have my car in the shop for a few days in a couple months for brakes and a general inspection as the warranty is up this year...I'll rent a car for a few days...I wonder what I'll get. I doubt I will have the same luck I had in Germany :shades:
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I think if they had offred taht as an option at teh same price I'd still have taken the Accent....
Speaking of what they offered, they told me I could upgrade on class to a Caliber! How bad is that when a Caliber is considered an upgrade?