OK, Why is L& M so cheap???

[SuzyQue]

L&M gives me a base rate of $119 for a standard size the end of February, Dollar, the next cheapest (with codes) gives me $203 for a base rate. ~~

 

[Pluto4President]

They are a fairly small comapny in comparison to the "national brands". They do have to pay a big premium for the MCO location but other than that , do not have a large operating expense. Thus, lower prices....

 

[PinMan]

are they in the airport ???

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Yes, they are in the airport.

 

[PinMan]

so gail would you reccomend them ???

 

[Pluto4President]

If you get a rate that is much better than the major companies, I wouldn't hesitate to use them

 

[lawgs]

the base rate may be good .....but the add ons for them may be a killer....so what looks good at first may add up to more....base rate is not a good indicator.....they seem to have "vehicle licence recovery fee" which is much higher than most other companies if i recall correctly (something like 3.00$ or so for that line item when other companies charge something like .50 cents a day)

for example.....my base rate for national for nov 30 - dec 7 is 169$ but when one takes off the discounts ( dc contract and free day) the rate goes down to 116$ for a full size car off emerald aisle...but then there are all those lil "added" extras that fuel the florida economy ( read "convention center" ..tongue in cheek ) on the backs of those who will not complain since we are only there for a short period of time


here is a comparison for full size during my dates

L&M

Weekly Rate $169.95
Rate Total $169.95
VMLR Fee $18.83
Florida Surcharge $14.35
Airport Access Fee $18.50
Local Tax $12.18

Estimated Total $233.81


Now national car using DC contract code/free day...

Time & Distance 1 Week @ 169.95 169.95
Extra - Time & Distance 0 Day @ 28.33 0.00
Extra - Time & Distance 0 Hour @ 14.17 0.00
Unlimited Distance-time & Distance 0 Distance @ 0.00 0.00

Base Rate _____
169.95

Less Discounts:
Discount -33.99
Disney Connection -19.42

SubTotal _____
116.54


Add Surcharges & Taxes: (subject to change)
Concession Fee Recov Chrg 9.8 Pct 13.32
Fl Schrg/tire&bat Fee 2.05 Usd/dy 14.35
Fla License Fee .43 Usd/day 3.01
State Tax (6.0%) 8.83

Total Estimate _____
156.05

doing a comparison

base rate is the same

discounts help with national

fees...here is where there is number manipulation it would seem since percentage are taken off some "number" in this case national's "number is lower do to discounts"

Airport Recovery (concession fee) L&M 18.50 Nat 13.32 5.18
Fl Surcharge tire/battery same for both 14.35
Licence fee L&M 18.83 Nat 3.01 15.82
Florida Tax L&M 12.18 Nat 8.83 3.35


so total difference in add on fees is 24.35 for same car size (bearing in mind we have discounts ) but the point i am trying to make is that there is creative number "incrementation" with an L&M reservation

difference in total cost is almost 78$ for us


to be on the fair side i also did a national reservation without using discounts and found this

Time & Distance 1 Week @ 169.95 169.95
Extra - Time & Distance 0 Day @ 28.33 0.00
Extra - Time & Distance 0 Hour @ 14.17 0.00
Unlimited Distance-time & Distance 0 Distance @ 0.00 0.00

Base Rate _____
169.95

Add Surcharges & Taxes: (subject to change)
Concession Fee Recov Chrg 9.8 Pct 16.66
Fl Schrg/tire&bat Fee 2.05 Usd/dy 14.35
Fla License Fee .43 Usd/day 3.01
State Tax (6.0%) 12.24

Total Estimate _____
216.21

now the add on differences are not as great but there is still about 17$ difference in the final totals and i attribute that to the
Veh. Lic. Reg. Fee of 2.69 a day that L&M charges instead of the .43 cents a day national charges for the same fee plus what we call the "tax on tax" that occurs in florida

so yes the base rate for L&M may be low but they also pad it to their advantage in the Licence Recovery Fee (granted they should be allowed to "recover" this as an expense, but they seem to use a different formula "cost" wise than most car rental companies )

just my analysis...but national using DC and DC coupons have worked for us on most trips to florida

lawgs

 

[PinMan]

that seems to work for a full size but i have 5 people plus luggage so i might need larger than a full size . how does that compare ? i see your point on other charges, but i also don't have your coupons or am i a member of ea, that cost $50.00 right ???

 

[PinMan]

i'm also going 12/15-12/21,which could be a problem

 

[PinMan]

what is l&m's web site ??? and phone # ?

 

[ppiew]

I have rented from L & M on 3 occasions and have been very satisfied. I am a National Emerald Club member , AAA, and DC, but L&M's total rate was less than National on each and every occasion. The first time I rented from L&M I had a small car problem. I called them, they CAME to Downtown Disney with a brand new Van for me and took the other car!! Super service! I wouldn't hesitate to rent from L&M at any time. Go for it!!

 

[Mark P.]

L&M's # is 1-800-277-5171, and here's the link:
http://www.lmcarrental.net/main.html

I plugged in our trip dates (may 14-may 22) on both Dollar and L&M.

On the Dollar site, with all taxes and misc. fees, it was $317 for a 9 day rental($34.99/day), using the KISS code, for an Intermediate.

L&M's rate is $185($16.99/day) for an Intermediate, including taxes and misc. fees. I've also got the coupon off the go2orlando.com site for an upgrade to a full size. Just hoping that the offer is still available when we go in May.

I'm aware of the 'high pressure fees' that L&M sometimes has been applying, such as using thier insurance, and car seat charges.
To avoid these fees, I'll be bringing a copy of my ins. policy, along with a typed statement from my ins. company regarding my policy, stating that I'm fully covered for rentals, etc. And we'll be bringing our own car seat.

So, unless there's something I'm missing, we're most likely going with L&M, as Dollar's rates are ridiculously high at this time.

-Mark

 

[Bill From PA]

Based on advice received here I priced a van for our next trip from L&M and unless there's some terrible news regarding this company or Dollar runs a terrific code, we'll use them.

Bill From PA

 

[lawgs]

pinman....sorry for replying late but have been in florida....

as far as the EA fee it was waived for us through biz rate and i also think DC was doing it too....

so we never did pay the 50$ registration fee ....nor have we been charged any annual fee since we started using EA several years ago..


in the end.....the rate you go with will always be the "best" rate you can find

we probably would use L&M too if their rates were comparable to what we have been able to "achieve" through National