What website to use to rent a car in Florida?
 

Hi! Maybe someone can give advice on where to look for and book a rental car with a pick up in Miami. Need a car big enough to travel with a family of four people. Thanks.

One option:


http://www.hotwire.com/car/index.jsp

Well, all of the major and many of the lesser know car rental companies have multiple "pick-up/drop-off locations in the Miami area. A simple google search using "Car rentals, Miami" will bring up scores of links where you can easily check availability and rates for every size vehicle imaginable.

I like Priceline for car rentals.

Thanks for all your responses)) julieanderson, well I think, to pick up the car at the airport will be the most convenient way))

I usually go to one of the sites like kayak or orbitz or travelocity and compare prices for the size I want and then go to the web site of one or two companies that look good and see if they can give me a better price. Sometimes doing it through the airline's partner gives a better rate too.

You can more easily compare prices on a bit site like Hotwire. For booking you can use the web site of your choice, either the company's own, a big online travel agent like Expedia or Travelocity, or a discount site like Hotwire or Priceline. It really doesn't matter. You'll likely see the same exact rates everywhere but on the discounted bidding sites, or they won't differ by very much. Just realize during high season rates in Florida are really really high. And you should book as far in advance as possible.

We have used Hotwire very successfully for FL rentals. You can limit your selection to within the airport only, and almost any of the companies that come up for in-airport rentals are acceptable. We have gotten Avis all but once, although you choose car size and price, and learn which company after you've completed the process. We've never been disappointed and the cost savings makes it well worth the semi-blind purchase.

Another option: http://www.carrentalsavers.com

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

this is a site for bj's wholesale club members but even if you are not a member you can do some comparison shopping:

http://travel.bjs.com/car-rentals/

Once you make a reservation, check again as you get closer to your departure date to Florida, the price may drop. I did this a few years ago and found that a day or two before my departure date the price dropped.. I then made a new reservation and canceled the older one.

If you have an American Express card you can join for free their car rental insurance program.. when you rent the car in Florida you will be charged $25 for the collision damage insurance which I think is up to one month, and make sure to decline the rental company's insurance.. the coverage is pretty good and far cheaper than a per day charge.. you can find out more by calling american express

if you own a vehicle and are insured, you should be insured for personal injury when you rent a car..find out from your insurance company.and avoid any extra charges from the rental company.

Search on kayak or carrentals.com and see what companies are offering the lowest rate. Book the lowest and then keep looking for a lower rate. There are no cancellation charges.

Register on the car rental company sites to receive their email specials. My last few car rentals have been booked after receiving the specials. It seems that most of the specials now are ending in Jan. 2013.

Hotwire is also good. If you search with them, they will email you when the rate drops. Click "Watch this trip"

You can find car rental discount codes from the Entertainment Book, AAA, AARP, Costco, professional organizations etc.

Are hotwire car rentals like hotwire hotels? You pay in advance and no refunds for cancellations? If so , then it really DOES matter which site you choose to book on.

If you are a Costco member then try costcotravel.com

My strategy for car rental is to look at Travelocity/Expedia for the price of the size car I want. Then I go to Hotwire and see what their price is. The good info from this site (you don't have to take the rental) is that you find out the surcharges and taxes that will be added. Then I go to Priceline and bid, knowing that I'll need to add in those extras. You can string this out to all the other suggestions also--Costco, etc.
Renting sooner rather than later is very important.
If you rent from a set company, you can usually cancel without losing money, if there is any doubt about your times.

Mouse Savers is a great place to get discount and specail code for car rentals in Florida and other places. http://www.mousesavers.com/transport...car-discounts/

There is really no answer. About a month and a half ago I was looking for a 13 day rental in Ft. Myers starting Dec. 3. The LOWEST I could come up with codes, multi discount sites etc, was around $450 total for a mid size. But on Hotwire I was able to get a TOTAL of $238 for a mid size (which ends up being Hertz). So I booked. Just for fun, I looked today and found that using a mousesavers discount for Dollar it was still about the same as before. Then I removed the discount and somehow came up with a "city special" on the regular Dollar site. The grand total for 13 days now for a mid size would be $ 160 -- yep, that's about $13 a day TOTAL!!! But of course I've already booked with Hotwire so I can't get out of that. Oh, and by the way -- the Hotwire rate for that same car is now $278 -- $40 more than I paid, but $ 118 more than the current Dollar rate!

Now I'm looking for a week rental in January and finding NO good prices, so the guessing goes on -- will prices go down or up? Who knows.

Whatever you do, get the rental in advance. With hurricane Sandy, the rental cars available are at a premium because of short supply.

parrothead, are you referring to Miami? That doesn't seem to be the case looking right now, and within the next month, I would strongly suspect it would be even less an issue if it were ever an issue at all. The OP didn't say WHEN, but even now it seems to be no problem.

While rental car availability in the northeast and the NYC area in particular was affected by Sandy, I just don't think that's going to be an issue in Florida. Most of the companies had their cars down in Florida for the high season already. I think this may have an affect on pricing, but not on supply.

If you are a Costco member they almost always have the best prices. Go to their website and at the top where it says travel you can do your own search or just get a car rental pamphlet at Costco and call and give the special codes.