Cars at MCO
May 15, 2014, 2:55 pm
#451
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 3,461
This may be a silly question, but I am booking with Chase Reward points for 6/26-7/2 and the luxury price is cheaper than the minivan price (prepaid). We need the room for kids/luggage so we'll probably want to grab a minivan, but on the off chance that there is a nice large SUV or something that will fit 7 people I'd love to grab it vs the standard Chrysler or whatever minivan option du jour might be.
Is there any reason NOT to book the luxury option? If there are no good options in that class can I easily grab whatever is available considering I'd have paid less than the minivan reservation to begin with?
Is there any reason NOT to book the luxury option? If there are no good options in that class can I easily grab whatever is available considering I'd have paid less than the minivan reservation to begin with?
Two reasons
1. The Luxury Aisle is something like "two cars" pick one Chance of you having the choices you expect are slim
2. This is PRIME vacation season. They could easily be sold out of the minivan large SUV options meaning you can't have one. The fact that luxury is cheaper leads me to think that the minivans are in higher demand meaning a much bigger risk of being told "sorry but no way"
Having watched families have hysterical fits at both MCO and John Wayne my advice is always book what you need. It's not a good way to start the family Disney vacation discovering you won't fit in the car.
MCO does not let you just upgrade and downgrade at will. Seems like every time I am there we have a big production while they back us all away from the exit gate so the "self changer" can get out of line after being told the daily walk up for that minivan/SUV/Convertible (I always ask if that is what happened and I am always told yes)
I have to go there a lot for family issues (No, my screen name has nothing to do with Orange County Florida!)
May 17, 2014, 9:29 pm
#452
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: na
Posts: 104
I'm a little bit confused? While you made the above statement, you posted the following on 15 April 13.
agero2k5
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: na
Posts: 100
Quote:
thats fll airport for you they greedy like that instead of serving executive elite members like me and you that rent over 100+ days a year they rather upseel those rentals than offer it to people like us.go to miami airport instead and beleive me everything they upsell at fll they have it at the executive aisle there and if you don't see it the greeters are super nice to get it for you from alamo or in the back getting washed.
agero2k5
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: na
Posts: 100
Quote:
thats fll airport for you they greedy like that instead of serving executive elite members like me and you that rent over 100+ days a year they rather upseel those rentals than offer it to people like us.go to miami airport instead and beleive me everything they upsell at fll they have it at the executive aisle there and if you don't see it the greeters are super nice to get it for you from alamo or in the back getting washed.
Jun 3, 2014, 7:39 pm
#453
Join Date: May 2005
Location: MIA/SJU/MCO
Programs: AA LT PLT; DL GLD, UA nothing, B6 Mosaic; Emerald Club Executive
Posts: 3,331
Midnight (well, 11:59pm) arrival tomorrow at MCO. I'm admittedly curious as to what's available at that hour - I usually arrive in the early afternoon.
Jun 5, 2014, 9:43 am
#455
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: ROC
Programs: Skymiles, AAdvantage, MileagePlus, Emerald Executive, Priority Club
Posts: 119
Arrived at MCO Saturday last week for a family vacation. Being Memorial Day weekend, no minivans were available on the EA or ES and were by reservation only. Surprisingly though, the ES had 2 Nissan Pathfinders as well as 2 Dodge Journeys... both 7 passenger SUVs. We happily took one of the Pathfinders.
The usual mix of sedans made up the rest of the ES.
The usual mix of sedans made up the rest of the ES.
Jun 10, 2014, 11:25 am
#457
Join Date: May 2005
Location: MIA/SJU/MCO
Programs: AA LT PLT; DL GLD, UA nothing, B6 Mosaic; Emerald Club Executive
Posts: 3,331
Jun 26, 2014, 1:14 pm
#458
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: NC
Posts: 138
Arrived at A side on Sat, June 21, around 4:30pm. Selection was not great. EA had a Nissan Rogue, Jeep Compass, and some sedans. ES had several Camrys (LE/SE), a Hyundai Genesis, and finally a 2015 Chevy Traverse that pulled up as soon I was about to give up. Took the Traverse with 219 miles.
Jul 6, 2014, 6:10 pm
#459
Join Date: May 2005
Location: MIA/SJU/MCO
Programs: AA LT PLT; DL GLD, UA nothing, B6 Mosaic; Emerald Club Executive
Posts: 3,331
Arrived on Friday at 12am (or Thursday night, depending on your point of view), B side. Kia Soul, Chevy Equinox, lots of Nissan Altimas... and a Buick Enclave AWD.
I took the Buick.
I took the Buick.
Jul 28, 2014, 3:21 pm
#460
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ATL
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Delta Kryptonium Medallion, National Executive
Posts: 1,889
B Side - Monda, July 28, 2914 1pm
ES was pickup trucks and minivans as far as the eye could see. There was also a Nissan Maxima and a couple Kia Sorrentos. A new Nissan Pathfinder pulled up and I took it for fear the pickings would get worse.
Last edited by plagwate; Jul 28, 2014 at 6:09 pm Reason: damn auto-correct
Jul 28, 2014, 5:01 pm
#461
Join Date: May 2005
Location: MIA/SJU/MCO
Programs: AA LT PLT; DL GLD, UA nothing, B6 Mosaic; Emerald Club Executive
Posts: 3,331
That's been my MCO experience lately. I miss being able to get a BMW, Volvo, or Mini there.
Aug 26, 2014, 7:55 pm
#462
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Nashville TN
Programs: National executive elite, Marriott gold, Hilton diamond, swa cp, DL DM
Posts: 71
Updates?
Bump...anything new? Last time I got a car I was told all low mileage cars come to Alamo first then fill national then enterprise.
Aug 27, 2014, 8:44 am
#463
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ATL
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Delta Kryptonium Medallion, National Executive
Posts: 1,889
Aug 27, 2014, 10:27 am
#464
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 458
It sounds like it's all anecdotal though - people complain of 20-30k mile cars at National, which would surely have been cascaded to Alamo if that's true, and my last rental with Alamo was an ATS new enough for active Sirius and with 10k miles on it. It seems unlikely that it had already been cascaded down from National.
I suspect the cars are randomly distributed in locations where the fleet is pooled according to the whim of the location manager.
I suspect the cars are randomly distributed in locations where the fleet is pooled according to the whim of the location manager.
Aug 29, 2014, 10:58 am
#465
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
There are stations that follow a pretty rigid cascade protocol... FLL for example cascades National -> Alamo at the first return over 10k miles like clockwork. I've seen it very clearly in PCARs on ES vs PCARs at Alamo (since FLL doesn't correctly operate ER-PREM, using several of the ER sections for bulk-storage) upon close inspection of both on a National PCAR res.
Other stations will shuffle pretty much anything in and out to balance class loads and some even operate a completely shared lot.
Other stations will shuffle pretty much anything in and out to balance class loads and some even operate a completely shared lot.