We are visiting Orlando in early November--a very slow time there.

Car rental rates for full size cars from all the major companies seem high at around $230 a week. Is there any small companies that are reliable? Other than the normal (AARP type) discounts are there ways to find lower rates? Other postings indicate that Alamo should be avoided also.

Thanks

I noticed car rental prices seem high in Orlando this year, too. What's up with that? Try Smarterliving.com or Breezenet.com for some additional discounts. If you feel brave, you can wait till just before leaving and try for some last minute sales, but that kinda scares me. Good luck!

Maybe because there are so many car accidents in Orlando - and the locals have to rent cars too.

Check www.biddingfortravel.com

Someone just got a midsize for $17/day on priceline for early Oct. I would think that similar prices *could* be available in Nov.

I've also had good luck with Orbitz. Just checked and Thrifty will give you a full-size for $157.86 Nov 6-13.

Good luck!

Actually, the Thrifty site comes up at $260 per week for that Nov. week. Prices really do seem high for that off peak time. Getting a reservation now and then checking at the last minute may be the best strategy.
Does anyone have good experiences with the lower priced local Orlando companies?
Thanks for the help.

Did search here and found only one comment about L & M rental. Wish I could find more. I'm helping my sister with her budget trip to Orlando and the first weekly car quotes I got were L&M for $89.99; Dollar for $150 and the others for over $200 (plus $50 in taxes and fees). I'll suggest she wait until closer to her trip for specials, but if L & M is a good company, then it would be hard to beat.

I just picked up a pretty good rate using Priceline through eBay. We have a Ranger for $21.00 a day (not including the outrageous taxes, etc. that get tacked on).

I live in Orlando and I have 2 friends who work at the Alamo Airport location. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Alamo. I think 1 person had a bad experience and people are taking it as gospel.

I've had very good luck with hotwire for car rentals in other cities.

As for Alamo, my only problem with them is they try *SO* hard to talk you into upgrades & the insurance extras ... you gotta just be firm ... but otherwise everything is fine.

A few comments.
Car rental prices are up (and not just in Orlando) due to the fact that, following Sept. 11 and general slowdown of the economy, most car rental companies have reduced their fleets. In other words, the decrease in supply was (is) sharper than the decrease in demand. Hence, higher prices. In August 2001 I was able to get a mid-size with Payless Car Rental in Orlando for $84.99/week. Nothing like that is available this year.
Regarding Alamo, I rented with them during my latest trip to Orlando (3 weeks ago). Got an SUV (Mitsubishi Montero) for $35/day. I also read all the negative comments about Alamo, but did not have any problems. We did have to wait 15 minutes for their shuttle, but everything else went fine.
My advice for getting lower prices: do check Orbitz (which includes most of the smaller companies), but also check the companies' own websites. Most of them run weekly specials that are not available on "wholesale" sites (e.g., Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity).

2.

For some really good information, check out mousesavers.com and disboards.com - On disboards.com look under the transportation section. If they can't get you a cheap car - nobody can! These two sites will help you will discount codes and where to get coupons. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions. I used them all to get the rates listed in my post.

My main question is does anyone have experience with L & M?

Stay away from Alamo!! I rented a car (reserved 3 months ahead) there last year and waited in line (I'm not kidding) 1 hour and 15 minutes!!! I've since talked to several others who had the same experience since then.

Your didnt give your dates in November but Payless has a rate for 1 week of $124.99 per week. that was from the 2 november thru the 9 november

Kay,

Be careful with L&M. I once made a reservation with them on the internet (their prices were slightly lower than those of other in-terminal rental companies), but then noticed that, in the "tax and charges" column they added the "recovery" charge or something like that. I can tell you there's no such tax in Florida - that is L&M's way to increase the price/day without actually telling you so.

We rented a car from Americar Rental for five days (unlimited mileage) - the total cost was $110.00. Reserved the car online. Upon arrival at Orlando airport, we called on the courtesy phone, they picked us up in small shuttle bus and took us to their offices (5 minutes away). No problems, no complaints.

Topper

Here's a good reference for car rental savings codes: http://www.pcpages.com/rentalcodes/

Definitely rent from Alamo !!! I rent from them every time I go to Orlando. Never had a problem with service. Cars are better than the other companies, prices are better, etc.

Albert: Thanks for the tip on the website. It saves a lot of searching to have one site consolidate the bargains.