Rental car to drive from home - anyone done it?

FigmentSpark

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
I've been watching the rental rates from our home town for a vehicle, so we can drive to Orlando. They don't seem to change much. I know when you rent at MCO, it's important to be watching the prices, as they do change, sometimes drastically.

Does anyone know if other cities have that effect with their rentals or is it pretty much a function of Orlando being a vacation destination that we see such varying prices?

It'll still be cheaper to drive than to fly, but I was hoping to see some price movement in the rentals. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Price are based on available stock, if they have inventory they drop the rates to move it.

So if you live in a market that has a stable need for cars you will see less price fluctuation.
 
Mmm... that's what I worried about. Funny enough, the airport location is $400 cheaper than our local location, but the airport is a half hour drive in good traffic, so I'm not sure DH will think the drive is worth that money when he's going to be driving all the way to Orlando.
 
Mmm... that's what I worried about. Funny enough, the airport location is $400 cheaper than our local location, but the airport is a half hour drive in good traffic, so I'm not sure DH will think the drive is worth that money when he's going to be driving all the way to Orlando.
I think that many local car rental locations are going to be higher than airport locations due traffic volume and availability of cars. One disadvantage of some airport locations is the facility charge included in the bottom line rental rates, although it may still provide a significant savings compared to a more convenient local location. For $400, I would check the total cost if you add another day to the rental and pick up the car the day or evening prior to departure. This will reduce the concern about adding to the drive once you depart for Orlando. If the extra day cost is low enough, you might still save a significant portion of that $400.
 


We rented a mid-size SUV from Budget and drove it round-trip from Michigan to HHI over spring break this year. We own 2, high-mileage SUV's so we wanted to save the wear and tear and get better gas mileage. I was able to get a rental through UnderCoverTourist for just over $300 plus there was a rebate offer for using my AMEX which brought the total cost down to just below $300. In addition, we saved a TON on gas since the car we had (a Mazda something-or-other) got almost 30mpg (compared to the 15-18 our vehicles get). We picked the car up on Friday afternoon, packed it up and headed out early Saturday morning. We had it all week and returned it the following Sunday.
 
Assuming you don't plan on using the vehicle while at Disney World, be sure to check the cost of two one-way rentals. Although rare, you may get lucky and discover that plan to be cheaper.

Many people will drive one-way to/from Florida. That means rental car companies need to move cars at certain times of the year. For example, between April and May of this year, Alamo had rates of $4.95/day for compact through full-size cars. Those rates were from Florida to dozens of locations throughout the Eastern third of the country.
 


Assuming you don't plan on using the vehicle while at Disney World, be sure to check the cost of two one-way rentals. Although rare, you may get lucky and discover that plan to be cheaper.

Many people will drive one-way to/from Florida. That means rental car companies need to move cars at certain times of the year. For example, between April and May of this year, Alamo had rates of $4.95/day for compact through full-size cars. Those rates were from Florida to dozens of locations throughout the Eastern third of the country.
I've even found that using one-way rentals to get to and from the airport when we leave home is sometimes cheaper and/or more convenient than driving our own vehicle and paying for long-term parking. I do this a lot when we fly out of Flint or Detroit.
 
I never thought about rentals from home to the airport, but I can see what you mean, if you're going for a long time.

Assuming you don't plan on using the vehicle while at Disney World, be sure to check the cost of two one-way rentals. Although rare, you may get lucky and discover that plan to be cheaper.

Many people will drive one-way to/from Florida. That means rental car companies need to move cars at certain times of the year. For example, between April and May of this year, Alamo had rates of $4.95/day for compact through full-size cars. Those rates were from Florida to dozens of locations throughout the Eastern third of the country.
This is a good idea, but we're coming from Canada, so we'd have to drive over to Buffalo to do a one-way rental. But another feature to what you are suggesting is if you can't get unlimited mileage, not having the car is less extra miles you'll put on the car. Because, if you had it, even in WDW, you would use it.
 
I never thought about rentals from home to the airport, but I can see what you mean, if you're going for a long time.

It's usually a week, but in long-term parking, that can be $50+, so if I can get one-way rentals for under $25 each way, it's worth it to me for the convenience and peace of mind knowing that I don't need to worry about my own vehicle.
 
Well, considering we paid $325 when we parked at the airport for our last (12 day) flight, I see your point.
 

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