A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 53,006
First of all, get the 10-day $200 rental booked at Alamo. Don't prepay it...just confirm it. You can cancel later. That's a damn good rate for an SUV in Orlando during Spring Break - you probably aren't even going to be able to Priceline lower than that.
Then, play around with the codes on this forum (dedicated thread) and see if something lower shakes out. Even if you can find the codes to make that $123/wk rental work for your dates, the ex-days will probably push it higher than the Alamo rental.
I've seen this happen a lot...National is higher than Alamo, even though they're the same cars. On my normal weekend rentals, it's usually $2-3/day. I pay the premium to get access to ES. But on a 10-day rental where you want to confirm an SUV, I'd probably take the Alamo rate. I've rented from a lot of ES's that had plenty of big cars but no SUV's. I've seen EA's that were pretty barren...and my fear is that Spring Break in Orlando might soak up the SUVs and vans leaving slim pickins' on the EA.
Not that you mentioned it, but just in case....I would absolutely resist any temptation to use an off-brand agency at MCO - I've seen long lines at those and there didn't seem to be any kiosk or expedited process. Stick with the agencies where at a minimum you could walk directly to an expedited renter booth. Aside from the first-tier agencies (Hertz, Avis, National), I've had perfectly fine rentals at MCO from Budget, Dollar, and Alamo by following the signs to their kiosks or expedited booths.