January 2018 Car Rental Watch

[Klismania]

Thanks for the advice about Sunpass. I don't have one of my own so I have to go with the rental company's plan. So far Alamo seems to be the friendliest, however I just reserved a Budget car for less than the quotes I've gotten from Enterprise, Alamo, and Dollar, so thanks for the tip about Budget! I'll be keeping an eye on all of these companies and trying to get my rental under $200 for a trip later on this month. Thank you!

 

[wings91]

Only if you DO NOT pay for the tolls in cash do these charges apply
https://www.budget.com/en/products-services/services/e-toll

If you do not pay cash for tolls, you automatically opt into our e-Toll service, pursuant to which you agree to pay us our or our toll program administrator, with whom we will share your credit card/debit information, for all tolls incurred during your rental and all related fees, charges and penalties. Under the e-Toll program, once you pass through an electronic toll, you will pay a convenience fee of $3.95 for each day of the entire rental period, including any days on which e-Toll is not used, up to a maximum of $19.75 per rental month, plus incurred tolls at the maximum prevailing rates posted by the toll authority. You can avoid the convenience fee and any other charges by paying the toll in cash, using your electronic toll device, or avoiding any cashless toll road or passage. Please be aware of roads that maybe “cashless tolls” and drivers on these roads are not able to pay cash once they have entered these roads. You automatically opt into our e-Toll service program and will be charged $3.95 for each day of the entire rental period, including any days on which e-Toll is not used, up to a maximum of $19.75 per rental month, plus incurred tolls at the maximum prevailing rates posted by the toll authority. The charges may take 4-8 weeks after the rental to be billed to your credit card/debit card on file.

Checked my rental for next week, trying to get it down as far as I can-
Budget was 20$ cheaper than my res on Alamo for a higher class of car. Alamo-midsize, Budget-mid SUV-Escape, which is what I drive at home.
But...reading the fine print re tolls...Budget says they will automatically charge a convenience fee of $3.95 per day up to 19$ and change max per month plus any toll if you will be traveling on a toll road even on days that you do not drive on the toll road Alamo’s policy is only if you actually drive through the SunPass lane. You can avoid all toll fees if you pay cash.
I’m keeping my Alamo res.

 

[Gretchen]

Only if you DO NOT pay for the tolls in cash do these charges apply
https://www.budget.com/en/products-services/services/e-toll

If you do not pay cash for tolls, you automatically opt into our e-Toll service, pursuant to which you agree to pay us our or our toll program administrator, with whom we will share your credit card/debit information, for all tolls incurred during your rental and all related fees, charges and penalties. Under the e-Toll program, once you pass through an electronic toll, you will pay a convenience fee of $3.95 for each day of the entire rental period, including any days on which e-Toll is not used, up to a maximum of $19.75 per rental month, plus incurred tolls at the maximum prevailing rates posted by the toll authority. You can avoid the convenience fee and any other charges by paying the toll in cash, using your electronic toll device, or avoiding any cashless toll road or passage. Please be aware of roads that maybe “cashless tolls” and drivers on these roads are not able to pay cash once they have entered these roads. You automatically opt into our e-Toll service program and will be charged $3.95 for each day of the entire rental period, including any days on which e-Toll is not used, up to a maximum of $19.75 per rental month, plus incurred tolls at the maximum prevailing rates posted by the toll authority. The charges may take 4-8 weeks after the rental to be billed to your credit card/debit card on file.

Hmmm...I’m going to check again, because that’s definitely not what I read. The page I read on the Budget site said no matter what, you were opted in to the pass thing, even in days you weren’t driving on a toll road.

 

[DISfirstTimer]

Priceline has some good deals for Budget Car Rentals. I was able to drop mine another $40 today. I'm so close to being under $200 for a 7 day rental.

 

[katallo]

Dollar dropped $48 for us this morning. That's $70 below Alamo. I called about what a previous poster heard about Sunpass. The person I spoke with said to register your Sunpass and Dollar would not charge any other fees. So, I hope that is correct.

 

[andigomeep]

Budget is now $70 cheaper than Alamo, does anyone have any experience with them? I’m willing to pay more for Alamo but $70 is a lot. I’m have signed up for their fastbreak program.

 

[katallo]

We have rented from Budget many times and had no problem.

 

[keishashadow]

Happy thots, happy thots...

Splitting expenses for upcoming trip, attempting to keep things on a dime to accommodate.

I pulled the trigger & booked Hotwire yesterday. Had choice of in terminal MS ($83) or the FS ($90) I booked, since I'll have to do a RT to Daytona.

Wound up with Thrifty, a first for me. I won't even look at the online reviews in order to keep what is left of my sanity

How bad can it be for 5 days?

 

[nascargirl]

My Alamo rate came down today by $12.00.

 

[dahrjo]

I am not finding any codes that work for my dates Jan. 31-Feb. 4.

Can anyone provide any help to me?

 

[nascargirl]

Does anyone know if Alamo at Sanford has both Standard and full size cars? I know that MCO only has full size.

 

[Syndrome]

Rates are dropping again for Dollar .
We are about two weeks away, but keep chipping away at our rates, little by little.
Started out with a best price of about $240 OTD, for a compact for 8 days , renting from Sanford.
Now we are down to just under $200. for a full size for the same .

Keep on checking until its time to pick up the car !

 

[Syndrome]

Does anyone know if Alamo at Sanford has both Standard and full size cars? I know that MCO only has full size.

Seems like the size classifications are getting blurred lately . Full size cars are getting smaller, and standard size cars are getting larger . I think you are safe to rent a standard and still get a "full" size car ......even if its classified as a standard .

We rented a premium car on the last trip from Dollar out of Sanford . Classification says it was supposed to be a Chevy Impala . Dollar was slammed and all they has left was a top of the line Chevy Malibu . We took it, and didn't mind because it was a really nice car , and literally BRAND NEW .
This time we are renting a Full size and will likely get a Malibu, or Chrysler 200 (saw a lot of them sitting at the rental car lots) .

 

[Klismania]

I'm giving serious consideration to just bringing quarters and paying the tolls out of pocket. Will I be able to stop at ALL toll stops from MCO to Fort Wilderness? I really don't want to pay $3.95 a day for the days that my car just sits there (Budget). Thanks!

 

[dina444444]

I'm giving serious consideration to just bringing quarters and paying the tolls out of pocket. Will I be able to stop at ALL toll stops from MCO to Fort Wilderness? I really don't want to pay $3.95 a day for the days that my car just sits there (Budget). Thanks!

Yes. There are manned cash booths and coin only booths at each toll plaza on the 417. Depending on which Disney exit you get off at the further one that puts you on Osceola Parkway is unmanned so the coin is exact change. The other toll plazas that you will cross through have someone working at them or you can go through the exact change coin only lane.

 

[Klismania]

Yes. There are manned cash booths and coin only booths at each toll plaza on the 417. Depending on which Disney exit you get off at the further one that puts you on Osceola Parkway is unmanned so the coin is exact change. The other toll plazas that you will cross through have someone working at them or you can go through the exact change coin only lane.

Thanks Dina! Exact change can be made in quarters, right? No dimes or nickles needed?

 

[MIChessGuy]

I noticed that Budget via Costco has dropped recently for Jan 20-27. An intermediate SUV was $194 all-inclusive for that time period. I'd probably switch from Alamo, except that as a first-time user of Fastbreak, I suspect they would make me visit the counter for verification and so I would lose the benefit of the program. If the gap widens much further, though, I will suck that up in exchange for the better rate.

 

[dina444444]

Thanks Dina! Exact change can be made in quarters, right? No dimes or nickles needed?

Yes Quarters. All tolls are in increments of 25 cents.

 

[dina444444]

I noticed that Budget via Costco has dropped recently for Jan 20-27. An intermediate SUV was $194 all-inclusive for that time period. I'd probably switch from Alamo, except that as a first-time user of Fastbreak, I suspect they would make me visit the counter for verification and so I would lose the benefit of the program. If the gap widens much further, though, I will suck that up in exchange for the better rate.

Right now Budget is about $30 cheaper and 2 class sizes up for my dates with Alamo, January 20-28. Only thing having me wavering is I like picking my car with Alamo.

 

[DISfirstTimer]

I just booked a Full Size for 7 Days through Budget for $180 with BJS Discount and $15 off coupon. I also booked an intermediate SUV for $200.

https://www.budget.com/budgetWeb/html/bridge/coupons/assoc/dollarsoff.html?BCD=V923000&IN=&logo=1