Looking for a car rental discount? On this page I've compiled lots of tips and tricks, plus there are links to pages that provide dozens of rental car codes, coupons and discounts that can potentially save you a hundred dollars or more on a one-week car rental!

Do You Need a Rental Car?

Walt Disney World

At Walt Disney World, if you are staying on Disney property the extensive Disney Transportation System can get you to any of the Disney resorts, parks, water parks and Downtown Disney by bus, boat or monorail. The system for getting people between the Disney resort hotels and the theme parks is quite efficient, though it can be time-consuming. Many people find this one of the most relaxing aspects of a Disney World vacation.

However, if you want to get from resort to resort at Disney World (for instance, to attend a dinner show such as the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, which is at Ft. Wilderness Campground) it can be very frustrating to use Disney's transportation system. In that case, you may well want a car. And if you are staying off-site, a rental car can save you a huge amount of time in getting back and forth to the parks. Remember, you're paying a lot for this vacation -- your time is valuable!

By the way, if you will be renting a car and you own a GPS navigation unit or are considering purchasing one, click here for information that will make getting around Disney World even easier.

Disneyland

At Disneyland, everything is very compact. If you are staying at a Disney resort hotel or one of the many nearby hotels and motels, you can walk or use the hotel's shuttle service to get to the parks. However, if you want to eat off-site or explore other parts of Southern California, you will need a rental car (or you can take a taxi, if you plan to stay local).

Rental Car Location Info

Walt Disney World

At Orlando International Airport (MCO) the in-terminal rental car agencies are Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, National and L&M. All others are off-site at the airport, so you will have to take a shuttle. In addition, there are Alamo/National locations on-site at Walt Disney World, which is very convenient should you wish to keep your car for only part of the trip. There are also rental car locations at several of the hotels in the Downtown Disney area.

Disneyland

At Orange County/John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is the closest airport to Disneyland, the on-site rental agencies are Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty. All others are off-site, so you will have to take a shuttle.

At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), another popular airport for Disneyland trips, there are over 40 car rental agencies, many of which are small and local. Ten are allowed to send their shuttles right to the terminal: Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, Fox/Payless, National and Thrifty.

Renting a Car After You Arrive in Orlando

I am frequently asked how someone can rent a car for one or two days in the Disney World area. A lot of times people plan to use their hotel's transportation system to get to and from the Disney parks, but they are interested in doing something outside of Disney during the trip (such as visiting Universal, SeaWorld or the local Disney outlet stores) and the cheapest and easiest way is to rent a car. Click here to learn more about how to do this efficiently and cheaply!

General Information, Tips & Tricks for Rental Cars

Best and Worst Agencies in Orlando

Based on my experience and reader recommendations, I recommend Budget, Dollar or National in Orlando. Their service, car quality and speed of pick-up/drop-off seem to be better than average, and they are all conveniently located on the airport property.

The Orlando rental agencies that get the most complaints from MouseSavers.com readers are L&M and Payless. These are sometimes the least expensive agencies on first glance, but if you can find the right combination of codes, coupons and other discounts, I think you'll usually find you can go with a more dependable agency at a similar price. I've received many complaints about these agencies, including: car type reserved was not available at pick-up, aggressive selling of insurance, overcharging, poor car quality, etc.

Understanding Rental Car Company Relationships

Many rental car companies have divided their business between two different brands. The brands are owned by the same parent company, but generally speaking, one brand is intended for business travellers and the other for leisure (vacation) travellers.

The "business" brand often has newer, better-equipped cars and a higher service level than the "leisure" brand. (A significant exception exists: Budget, while marketed as the "leisure" brand of Avis, offers excellent vehicles and service -- equivalent to many "business" brands.)

If you make an effort to shop around, use discount codes, etc -- you can often rent from the "business" brand for the same cost as (or even less than) the "leisure" brand.

Insurance

Did you know that you probably do not need to purchase the extra insurance offered by rental car companies (i.e. Loss Damage Waiver/LDW, Personal Accident Insurance/PAI) on your rental car? Skipping the extra insurance can result in a savings of $15 or more a day, so be sure to check this out with your own insurance and credit card companies before you go!

Most US residents are covered by their own auto insurance policies unless they are renting an unusual vehicle. (Note that some policies may exclude rented SUVs, luxury cars or convertibles.) Call your insurance company to confirm what type of coverage your policy provides for rental cars.

Many upper end credit cards and charge cards, such as Gold and Platinum American Express and some MasterCard and Visa cards, also include insurance benefits when you use them to rent a car. Credit card benefits differ widely, so call to get specifics before choosing whether or not to purchase the insurance.

• Some only offer "gap insurance" that covers your personal auto insurance deductible. The better cards give you "secondary coverage," meaning you must first submit a claim to your personal auto insurance carrier (if any), and then the credit card company will cover whatever is left over.

• The very best is "primary coverage" -- offered only by Diners Club -- which means you would not have to make a claim with your auto insurance company in the case of an accident, so your rates would be less likely to increase.

If you've determined that you don't need the insurance offered by the rental car agency, be sure to check very carefully and make sure they do not add insurance to your paperwork! A number of people have reported that even after they repeatedly and emphatically told the rental agent that they wanted to refuse the insurance, when they returned the car, they had been charged for the insurance. In some cases this nearly doubled the cost of the rental. It turned out that during the rental process they had been instructed to initial a space that indicated they accepted the insurance. This has been reported at almost every agency. Be sure to read what you're initialing!

Another misleading insurance sales ploy that has been reported is this: the rep refers in passing to "basic coverage" and implies that this is something included or standard. Rental car companies do NOT include any basic insurance coverage in the US, unless you have some kind of specially-negotiated corporate contract with them (i.e. if you are traveling on business, your company may have some kind of insurance included in its master contract with the agency). Statements like "okay, so you just want the basic coverage" are a way of misleading you into buying insurance you don't need or want. Again, if you have determined that you don't need additional insurance from the rental car company, it is very important to examine your paperwork and make sure no insurance has been added.

If you have determined you don't need extra insurance, the easiest way to avoid having insurance added during the rental process is to sign up for the rental car company's frequent renter program. This allows you to do almost all of the paperwork in advance (and usually you get to avoid the check-in line, or stand in a special line). Because you have already chosen "no insurance" in advance, the issue shouldn't even arise.

Beware of Suggested "Upgrades" at the Counter

Among the various misleading tactics car rental companies use is the "upsell" or "suggested upgrade." You show up at the rental counter with your confirmation in hand, and the rep offers to upgrade you to a bigger car for "just a little more" money. (Alternatively, sometimes they will look at your family and say "The car you reserved isn't going to be big enough for all of you and your luggage. You need a bigger vehicle." Then they offer an "upgrade" for a few dollars more per day.)

This is a scam, pure and simple. 99% of the time, if you turn down the "upgrade," it will turn out they don't actually have any cars left in the category you reserved. They know this, and they know they are going have to upgrade you into a larger vehicle without additional charge. But first they'll try to get you to pay for the upgrade. Don't let them.

Prepaid Gas Option

When you pick up your rental car, most companies will offer you the option of prepaying for a full tank of gas, often at a temptingly low per-gallon rate. The pitch is that this is "convenient" and will "save you money."

Well, it may be convenient, but I don't think it's a good idea. When I'm in Orlando I usually drive across Walt Disney World several times a day and visit multiple off-site locations -- and after 5 days, I'll still have a half-tank of gas left.

Even if you're able to use a whole tank of gas during your trip, to make the prepaid tank worthwhile you'd have to return the car on fumes. Personally that would make me very nervous!

(Click here to see information about good places to buy gas near Walt Disney World.)

Useful Tips and Tricks

I can't stress enough that it is worthwhile to check the rental car web sites periodically for new rates. Like the airlines, rental car companies change their rates constantly. However, unlike the airlines, there is no penalty for canceling or making changes to your car rental reservation. I have saved as much as $150 on a one-week rental by rebooking my reservation when the rate dropped.

Always print out your confirmation when booking online, or request that one be faxed or mailed to you, if you make your reservation by phone. Take the confirmation with you on your vacation. It can be a lifesaver if the amount the car rental agency tries to charge you doesn't match the amount you agreed to when you made your reservation, or if they question a discount code, etc. This happens more frequently than you might think, because of errors in the rental car companies' computer systems or even because one of their agents is not aware of a particular promotion. If you have a printed confirmation, it will be very difficult for them to charge you a different amount.

Stay over a Saturday night if at all possible. Like the airlines, most car rental companies offer the lowest rates (and almost all of their coupon specials) only to those who stay over a Saturday night. I learned this the hard way when doing a rental from a Sunday night through a Friday afternoon -- none of the coupons seem to apply.

Don't get stuck on size. If you're not finding any good rates for a compact or economy car, try pricing a larger vehicle. Sometimes the smaller cars sell out first and the agencies have a glut of midsize or fullsize cars. It's not all that unusual to find a fullsize for LESS than a compact!

Rent for 5 days or more (if it fits your travel plans). Usually weekly rentals require a 5-day minimum. Weekly rates are almost always cheaper than daily rates. Note that you cannot turn in the car early and still get the original rate, so this only applies if you can extend your stay.

A few of the rental car companies have a "grace period" before they charge you another full day's rental rate. For instance, the "grace period" at Budget seems to be about 2 1/2 hours. Here's an example of how this could help you save: let's say you're arriving on a Monday and picking up your car at 4:00 pm. You're leaving the following Monday evening. Turning your car in at 6:15 pm might not incur any additional charge, but turning it in at 6:45 pm might cost you another full day! If your departure time is later in the day than your arrival time, it's worthwhile to play around with the return times when you are reserving the car online. Thanks to Dan B for the info.

If you have an American Express card that participates in the Membership Rewards program, be aware that the rental car rewards usually cannot be used with other discounts. You'll have to pay the standard rates, less the dollar amount of the reward certificate. For that reason, the rental car rewards are not usually such a hot deal. Thanks to Cathy D for pointing this out.

Child Safety Seats

If you need safety seats or booster seats for your kids, be sure to check with the car rental agency about whether there is an extra charge for them, since that can add a substantial amount to your costs. Some, but not all, rental minivans include integrated child safety seats.

It definitely pays to shop around if you need car seats with your rental. MouseSavers.com reader Cathy D reports, "We have a 3 and 1 year old so we need two car seats. Most car rental companies charge between $7 and $10 a day per seat. National also charges $7 a day but they have a maximum rate of $49 per car seat per rental. Other companies like Budget would charge me the daily rental rate for the entire period. For a two week stay, it's a $100 savings combined for the 2 seats."

Of course you can take your own car seats along, which is the safest option but can be a hassle.

Other Ways to Rent a Car

Travelocity has a page devoted to its current rental car deals, and it's a good place to compare rates, since it lists all the major (and many minor) rental car companies.

Expedia is a great site to compare deals on the rental car companies, and sometimes has special rate offers.

Hotwire offers an interesting service. You pick your dates and pickup/drop-off location and times, and they tell you the best deal available -- often well below the going rate. However, you won't know exactly which car rental agency you're getting until after you've accepted the deal. Some people have done well with getting bargains through this service.

Priceline offers rental cars through its "Name Your Own Price" option, and it's possible to get a very good daily rate if you've done your homework and know how much to bid. Keep in mind that you cannot pick the rental agency (in Orlando, it's usually Alamo or Budget, sometimes Hertz) and once you place your bid, it's no refunds, no exchanges.

CheapTickets.com offers great rental car deals in addition to discount airfare.

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