Randomness

Just found this on the Alamo site: https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/deals/deals-details/featured/florida-one-way-drive-out.html

• Offer valid for reservations picked up between March 26-May 31, 2018 from the following participating Florida locations: Fort Myers, Sarasota, Naples, Punta Gorda, Orlando, Disney Hotels, Daytona Beach, Melbourne and Sanford.
• Offer valid for reservations picked up between April 1-May 31, 2018 from the following participating Florida locations: Tampa, Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm, Key West and Boca Raton.
• Offer rate of $14.99 base rate per day applies to an Economy through Full Size vehicle, as low as $19.99 base rate per day applies to Intermediate and Standard SUVs and $24.99 base rate per day applies to Minivans. Base rate excludes taxes, fees and surcharges.

I've done Hertz's before but I haven't seen an announcement from them yet.

HMPS

DOes drive out mean return to another city of their choice ?

Randomness

Yes, it does. Or I should say, it did, as it appears that Alamo just pulled the page.

It's still in the Google webcache. That said, I wouldn't assume it's valid yet because the info also says "Enterprise location", which I'm assuming is not intended. It could be intentional, since they're partners, but I suspect not.

• Available on one-way rentals picked up at participating Florida locations and returned to a participating Enterprise location in the Continental US outside of Florida.

I didn't catch the "pickup at Alamo", "drop off at Enterprise" the first time I looked at the page either, but I see it in the cached copy. (If you'd like to see the cached copy, until it gets purged it can be seen at https://webcache.googleusercontent.c...&ct=clnk&gl=us)

RustyC

A $14.99 rate would be a sizable hike from last year, IIRC, so hopefully they're reconsidering and waiting for price signals from other companies, especially Avis or Hertz. Regular sedans should be $9.99 or less, preferably less, before the pile of taxes.

Am a multi-year veteran of doing these deals...the best ones stack with coupons, have mileage bennies and allow returns to neighborhood locations. Memorial Day weekend is a possible target, as it's a higher-demand weekend where normal car rents get priced higher.

With all the ULCCs flying to Florida it's easy to pay more for gas on the drive-out than the airfare in (unless you're taking a carload), plus there's the added stress. Generally for it to work out I think you have to get some extra value out of being able to carry more home (sacks of oranges?) or intermediate destinations.

Thanks for starting the threat, as the time to be vigilant is about now.

Randomness

Sure! I was getting impatient so I started searching around and just happened to find Alamo's post. Those rates did look high to me as well.

In the past I've done Hertz's promotion. That one was definitely cheaper and it stacked with discounts. I'm really hoping they do it again this year.

I'm also keeping an eye out for Arizona drive outs as my main motivation for doing these promotions is to take a long road trip without putting miles on my own car.

Randomness

Appears to be back up, including the text: "Available on one-way rentals picked up at participating Florida locations and returned to a participating Enterprise location in the Continental US outside of Florida." and "Vehicle must be returned to a participating Enterprise location in the continental U.S., outside the state of Florida."

The pricing is unchanged.

I'll see if they fix this on a working day. Otherwise, I'll be interested in finding out how they handle closing an Alamo rental contract at an Enterprise location.

writerguyfl

Gone again, as of 5am on 2/20/18. I'd bet there was miscommunication between departments and the web people published the page before it got approved.

Just to clarify, the return location is your choice, not the rental company's choice. It always must be a location outside the state of Florida. Depending on the year and company, it might be a few selected locations or literally anywhere on eastern side of the country. (I've never bothered to look, but some companies might even allow you to drive cross-country on these types of offers.)

budcann

Available through Costco, with added perk of one additional driver...

surferboy02

Hopefully the other companies follow suit soon, and with a lower price then $14.99!
Currently the best I found on Alamo, picking up at non airport location in Florida and dropping off at Newark is $12.85/day for Midsize.
Anyone know of any Alamo coupons or rate codes to help sweeten the deal? Only coupon I found that worked was a free upgrade, and it's only from compact to midsize. Not for full size.

AutoSlash

Coupons do work on these rentals as per normal. You can use the links below to quote a new rental or track an existing booking and we'll search all available coupon codes.

guv1976

Try pricing the rental with Budget. And if you are renting for just three or four days over a weekend, and have either an AARP or Entertainment Book membership, try using their coupons and BCD codes in conjunction with the rental. You'll get an amazing deal.

surferboy02

Thanks AutoSlash! Was able to save off my original Alamo booking with your tracking. The new reservation is through Priceline and $60 less Anything to worry about there? The same terms apply? Unlimited miles, no drop charge, etc correct? Should I then cancel the original Alamo reservation as it's at the same time? Or wait until that day to cancel? Thanks again for the help!

AutoSlash

Same terms apply. The rate quoted by Priceline is all-in meaning it includes all taxes and mandatory fees (and any drops fees if they exist). You should cancel your original higher priced reservation to ensure you get the correct rate at the rental counter.

Happy to have saved you money. Safe travels, and thanks for using AutoSlash!

guv1976

What are your dates? I'm seeing $9.99/day with Hertz for a full-size in mid-May. And that's before any coupons that might apply.

surferboy02

Thanks for the info! After doing some searching on Hertz I found the $9.99 day rate out of FL, it appears the max for the rental is 10 days. As soon as I enter more than 10 days the price jumps. I made a reservation with them to have in case that I can cancel but I'll probable just keep the Alamo as it's 14 days.