topic Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL! in Travel

NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

qvc chick — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:11:32 GMT

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INSIGHT ON CHEAP RENTAL CARS IN FLORIDA??

PRICES ARE THRU THE ROOF!

TRYING TO BOOK WEST PALM BEACH FOR JUNE. THEY WANT OVER $100 A DAY PLUS TAXES.

ANY IDEAS?

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

CrazyDaisy — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:13:25 GMT

No deals....there is a sever shorage of cars available. Almost impossible to even get a reservation. I would hope on it fast if you find one.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

FLtricia — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:18:15 GMT

During nationwide lockdown rental companies sold off large portions of their fleets. My sister recently came to Florida and multiple companies at airport had consolidated so if you rented from Avis, Enterprise, Hertz everyone was directed to one of those places. Don't know when this will be fixed. She is coming back in June and prices are sky high!

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

shoesnbags — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:24:22 GMT

@qvc chick wrote:
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INSIGHT ON CHEAP RENTAL CARS IN FLORIDA??

PRICES ARE THRU THE ROOF!

TRYING TO BOOK WEST PALM BEACH FOR JUNE. THEY WANT OVER $100 A DAY PLUS TAXES.

ANY IDEAS?

@qvc chick

There have been national news stories recently about the shortage of rental cars due to (what else!) the pandemic. That's all over the country, not just Florida. About 6 weeks ago I had to rent a car while my car had body work done.

I googled car rentals and called to actually talk to the rental places. Picked up a bit of information that way that I couldn't get just by looking online. Turns out that the prices change almost daily.

The first day I called everyone, one particular company had the best deal, but it was still quite a bit higher than the insurance co. allowed. (I was hit by someone else so their insur. co. was responsible.) I waited a few days, and all of the prices had shifted drastically. The cheapest company was now the highest price and another company had the best price. That price was close to my allowed amount, so I booked it. I had the car for 5 days and was out of pocket only $25.00.

So my advice is to keep checking for a few days, assuming this is not a last minute trip. And good luck!

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

deeva — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:30:58 GMT

If you're a Costco member, the have better rates for car rentals.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

qvc chick — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:38:53 GMT

No, I checked Costco. Rates were 95/day. No big savings.

I just got back from N. Carolina. I was able to get $31.99 day there. But it was exausting trying.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

ScrapHappy — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:58:19 GMT

@qvc chick wrote:
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INSIGHT ON CHEAP RENTAL CARS IN FLORIDA??

PRICES ARE THRU THE ROOF!

TRYING TO BOOK WEST PALM BEACH FOR JUNE. THEY WANT OVER $100 A DAY PLUS TAXES.

ANY IDEAS?

It helps if you belong to a car rental service rewards programs. You start getting deals/coupons right away. Also, look outside the airport. The car rental agencies located within the airport and airport grounds go first and are most expensive. Just by going a few miles away from airport, you may luck out. As other posters have mentioned, getting a car rental reservation has been a very difficult and prices have skyrocketed. Florida, in particular, is always in demand regardless of what's going on now. Try going to the DisBoards.com and scroll down the forums section to transportation. It's technically a Disney Forum but there is other threads for people seeking help and advice for car rentals. Discount codes, people post where they've had luck finding a car, etc. A lot of information to be had.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

Vianney — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:03:31 GMT

Look at Car share companies like AVAIL. They might be cheaper.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

Marp — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:05:21 GMT

Something you could try is to get a one way rental away from WPB and drive to your destination. Sometimes if there is a shortage of cars in one location renting in a different location with the understanding that you will be leaving the car in another location can be a big savings.

For example, if you rent in Tampa with the understanding that you will be returning the car in WPB you might get a better rate.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

GusMo — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:06:13 GMT

I've read that people are renting U-Haul trucks!

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

azgal — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:14:36 GMT

Have you tried car dealerships?

When my daughter and her family were here last month they wanted $80 a day at the airport so son in law thought he could do better in town. He couldn't find anything available.

We called our Toyota dealer and they had a car available for $40 a day.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

riley1 — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:54:43 GMT

I had heard there is a rental car shortage. Since the pandamic hit, cars were not being rented and those businesses had large inventories of cars. They sold them off to offset their bills.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

FatCatinCT — Tue, 25 May 2021 18:20:59 GMT

I rented a minivan for $730 for June12-26 out of Orlando, they are now going for over $2k! Two years ago I paid less than $300 for two weeks, a minivan as well.

I was lucky I rented when I did, I kept waiting for it to go down and when I saw that it wasn't, I booked. This was probably in late February!

Scary thing now, I am reading on my resort website that people (some who've even paid in full when booking) are getting to the service counter and there is no car for them! I'm scared to death this will happen to me, I mean why not cancel on me, they'd get another $1300 from the next customer.

As someone suggested using a rental from a different location, I looked here in CT, husband was going to drive down to FL, it was just as expensive.

Good luck!

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

Alter Ego — Tue, 25 May 2021 21:02:02 GMT

@FatCatinCT wrote:
I rented a minivan for $730 for June12-26 out of Orlando, they are now going for over $2k! Two years ago I paid less than $300 for two weeks, a minivan as well.
I was lucky I rented when I did, I kept waiting for it to go down and when I saw that it wasn't, I booked. This was probably in late February!
Scary thing now, I am reading on my resort website that people (some who've even paid in full when booking) are getting to the service counter and there is no car for them! I'm scared to death this will happen to me, I mean why not cancel on me, they'd get another $1300 from the next customer.
As someone suggested using a rental from a different location, I looked here in CT, husband was going to drive down to FL, it was just as expensive.
Good luck!

I've seen this as well (but I'm looking at TripAdvisor for Hawaii.). The recommendation is to not go with a third party - even if you prepay. That you should go via the rental company's website and prepay. But, even then, I guess anything can happen. But, the odds are in your favor a tiny bit more.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

CJC — Fri, 28 May 2021 17:35:06 GMT

Yes there is a shortage of rental cars down here in FL. Daughter's car needs engine work, and she had hard time finding rental. She's in Tampa area. Finally found one for $600 for the week which is absolutely ridiculous. $100 a day?? Most hubby has ever paid for one is $20 a day, but of course that's pre covid. She had to take it because she works and has child to take to and from school and daycare. Only car they had available was one mid size SUV. All small cars had been rented, and large sedans cost more than the SUV. She cannot afford to rent beyond this one week so hoping her own car can be repaired quickly. It's a feeding frenzy zoo here in FL, overflow crowds everywhere because of holiday weekend. Makes me long for the peace and quiet of Ohio.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

sunshine45 — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 21:34:35 GMT

my sister just got back from fort walton beach.

she said that the line for budget was LONG and she was happy that she used dollar rent a car. it was less expensive and no waiting.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

Zhills — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 21:45:32 GMT

Wish I lived closer to WPB. I'd rent you mine!

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

patbz — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 22:28:43 GMT

We may go to Maui in the Fall; we are developing a fallback plan in case rental cars are ridiculous or non existent. We should be able to get hotel shuttle for some trips or the local bus ( most hotel workers live in another community 30mins away ( better grocery shopping and different restaurants). We've taken the bus in the past, especially when we

are on a ship in port and there aren't enough rental cars to go around.

Re: NEED HELP WITH CAR RENTALS IN FL!

lovesrecess — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 23:46:33 GMT

We always go through Costco to rent cars. If you are a member, check them out, we find it is always cheaper and you get a free upgrade. I do see that rental car prices seem to be going way up everywhere though. Since Florida is a tourism state, am sure they take as much advantage of tourist as they can get away with!