Car hire - any deals out there?

Hello all

I've been searching for months now for a good deal on my car hire for September this year (Florida) and i'm really struggling to find anything that is't over £100 more expensive than previous years.

Has the cost of car hire risen so significantly in the space of 12 months (anyone else noticed this?)

Has anyone found a good deal recently, and with whom?

I've tried my normal sources, VH, USRentacar, Hertz, Dollar and Alamo Brits.

If it is what it is then i'll pay, but just wonder if anyone else can recommend a great company who are doing a good deal at the moment.

Thanks

Luke

I normally try Car Hire 3000...... never had any problems.

The exchange rate alone with US would have pushed things up by 6 or 7 % since last year I imagine !

Good Luck

I've just used usrentacar.co.uk
I picked sixt who are off site, but are much cheaper than dollar, Alamo, et al.
Paid £392 for 15 days Luxury Car, (should be a Merc C250, not an awful caddy as per Alamo).
A bargain I reckon. I didn't mind losing the 1000 FC miles for not using Alamo.
Chuck on some dates and see what you think.

Highly recommend Economy Car Hire http://www.economycarhire.com/. Used them a few times and never had a problem.

Hired a mid size car for 12 days in December from MCO for £257. Higher spec cars were only a few £'s more but we aren't using the car much anyway.

I've just used usrentacar.co.uk
I picked sixt who are off site, but are much cheaper than dollar, Alamo, et al.
Paid £392 for 15 days Luxury Car, (should be a Merc C250, not an awful caddy as per Alamo).
A bargain I reckon. I didn't mind losing the 1000 FC miles for not using Alamo.
Chuck on some dates and see what you think.

Thanks Craig - have you used Sixt at MCO? Are they far offsite? I've been used to using Dollar Express/Alamo OLCI so getting the car has always been a straight to the car park job and away in less than 10 minutes - not a fan of the shuttle bus with luggage etc.

I've just used usrentacar.co.uk
I picked sixt who are off site, but are much cheaper than dollar, Alamo, et al.
Paid £392 for 15 days Luxury Car, (should be a Merc C250, not an awful caddy as per Alamo).
A bargain I reckon. I didn't mind losing the 1000 FC miles for not using Alamo.
Chuck on some dates and see what you think.

Thanks Craig - have you used Sixt at MCO? Are they far offsite? I've been used to using Dollar Express/Alamo OLCI so getting the car has always been a straight to the car park job and away in less than 10 minutes - not a fan of the shuttle bus with luggage etc.

Not yet! I decided to chance it based on saving over £100 compared to the on site guys. Found some reviews online suggesting they are pretty good. I don't think they are too far away; we're staying overnight at MCO before collecting car in the AM which makes it easier to collect off site.
If you hang on until 7th May I can let you know how I got on!

This link from flyertalk http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-ca ... dwide.html has given me big discounts in the past, it seems the Cars are Alamo. It works with quidco or topcashback.

Using this method I got an intermediate SUV for £201 for 2 weeks this June. Cheapest elsewhere was £280-£300

Would recommend Thrifty.

Have used them for several years and never had any problems and always come out cheapest when we compare prices.

The car we had last year only had 11 miles on the clock too!

I've been looking for an SUV, pick up from Boston in July for 2 weeks.

Grand Cherokee varies from £862 with Hertz (ouch v( ) to £500 ish with USrentacar.co.uk.

The Car Hire link on the Virgin Atlantic site still by far the cheapest (£405) and you still earn miles.

Thanks Craig - have you used Sixt at MCO? Are they far offsite? I've been used to using Dollar Express/Alamo OLCI so getting the car has always been a straight to the car park job and away in less than 10 minutes - not a fan of the shuttle bus with luggage etc.[/quote]

We used Sixt at MCO in December, they aren't far off site at all, and the bus was with us in a minute of waiting. The quality of suv was also excellent. We booked though Virgin as well so still got our flying club miles.

We've always used USRentacar with no problems and found them cheaper than using Dollar, Alamo or Thrifty on their individual websites. I have noticed that Alamo Brits is better priced than USRentacar now. For the 4 weeks I intend to hire a SUV in October, it is £100 less with Alamo Brits than USRentacar for the same deal.

Katie

Just an update re our experience of Sixt at MCO;

We stayed overnight after getting into Orlando at 1730ish - immigration was over an hour so made more sense than getting the car in the early evening.

So had the car booked from 1000 the following day. Checked out of the Hyatt at the airport, wandered to the Car Hire desks and used the free phone there to let them know we needed transport to the site.
Only took a few minutes waiting outside in the sun - and we were the only people on the mini-bus. The driver will do all the lifting for you if you're that way inclined - I'm not, I don't like watching people struggle with my bags! (And this was a lady driver - it's not sexist - women, generally, have less muscle mass than men - fact!)
Takes about 10 mins to get to the site. Good chat with the driver - she advised not to use the gas station nearby - last one before the airport with prices to reflect!
We were the only people getting a car - a Mercedes C250 Sport. 9000 miles on the clock and pretty clean.
This has been the best car I've had in the US. Well worth using Sixt to get this type of vehicle . Some of the other Hire companies have shocking 'luxury' cars. The Cadillac DTS I had once was a joke. But the Merc was superb.
Did about 1300 miles in total - averaged 27 mpg. Easily got 33 mpg driving sensibly using the Econ mode. However, Sport was much more fun!
Finally an American, (well, German really), car that handles nicely, is economical and nicely powerful - 202hp from the 1.8 turbo. The 7 speed 'box is perfect to - especially in sport mode. And when it gets a bit wet, like over the last couple of days, it's nice and easy to get the back end to step out a bit. ***Warning: doing this with the wife in the car will get you into trouble***

We both spent about 35 hours in the car over the 2 weeks and found it really comfortable too. And we're used to a Volvo - which is a pretty comfy motor!

Only real downside - it's small. No good for a family and definitely no fun for 4 adults. Usually, hiring a 'luxury' model in the US will get you something much bigger, (like the aforementioned Caddy). But it's perfect for a couple.

I'll definitely use Sixt again - via USRentacar too.

Collecting the car the day after arrival is perfect; really quiet and much less stressful.

Oh, and the return was even easier. Out of the car, into the mini-bus - a big New York driver helped with the bags this time. And it was only the two of us in the bus again. 10 minutes and we're at the terminal after an entertaining chat with the driver about the UK scourge of Roundabouts spreading into Florida - apparently, (I've only ever seen a small one at Clearwater Beach). He has Memorial Day off and was looking forward to a damn good grill-up outside!