Tierom

We are a family of 4 travelling to Ft. Myers on Christmas Day. Any suggestions on inexpensive car rentals? I have seen upwards of $120 per day for a standard car. Your suggestions are helpful. Thanks.
Tierom

clarkgriswold

Too late to find something inexpensive. For how many days do you need the car?

J62

I booked a midsized car at Ft Myers for a few days after Christmas for ~$250 for the week using Kayak.com, and the car is from Hertz. I did this several months ago when I bought my flights.

Unfortunately it looks like you are late, and the laws of free market economics have kicked in - supply vs demand.

Look for a discount code, eg Costco, AAA, or try to book through your airline's website. Anything is better than $120/d.

NeoPatrick

Yes, it's pretty late to get any kind of deal. I rented one at Ft. Myers for 10 days starting the day before Thanksgiving. I first booked (cancellable) about three months before and it was around $400 for 10 days, but I kept at it, until about a month before I got an Intermediate one with Enterprise for a grand total including all taxes and fees of $111.00 for the 10 days! But again -- you can't wait till last minute. Sorry, but they have you now.

Gretchen

Also depends on how long the rental is.

clarkgriswold

Don't pay $120 a day. Average looks more like $90. There are some convoluted ways that you can save probably $300 a week by for example picking up the car in Fort Myers for a day and then trading it in at another city and picking up a less expensive car for the week. But it's impossible to advise without more info about your rental, where you're headed, how many hoops you're willing to jump etc

Do check Alamo on Christmas morning as they tend to lower their rates a bit as pickup-time approaches, especially for instance if airplanes have weather delays and people start cancelling their trips from Chicago, Boston or wherever.

Tierom

You all have been very helpful. I will wait until the end and book, hoping that prices go down. After all, with the Cdn. dollar, traffic is expected to be at least 8% lower than in other years.

NeoPatrick

I'm confused. Today is the 23rd, you need the car in two days, and you're going to wait? Till when?

Nepheline

One more thought:
try autoslash.com
they might find you something better
they got me 12 day rental for $116 from Ft. Myers but, again, it was way in advance.

Tierom

Thanks everyone. Lots of cars available in the end. Got a great deal for a camry at the Dollar in Ft. Lauderdale airport, including empty tank, free tolls, and no additional charges for drop-off at another airport. This was on Dec 26th.