robr

Is something going on in the West Palm Beach area around these dates? I'm flying the family down to visit my parents, already have my tickets and just went to book a rental car. Everything I've tried (sidestep, orbitz, travelocity, expedia) has weekly rates of $500-700 for an economy (which is too small for us anyway) and of course since I'm one day over a week, we're looking at quotes of $700+. I don't understand, I haven't ever seen these kinds of rates out of PBI. I'll try priceline but it's cheaper to buy a used car (seriously, I watched an episode of Top Gear where they did exactly this in Florida). Backup plan is I can use my parents car or try some non-airport location, but would prefer the convenience of a PBI rental.

Alamo Rent A Car
Total price* Economy Car $670.04

Ocn Vw 1K

It's possible that our readers of our Travel->Florida forum might have some answers/tips for your inquiry, so I'll move the thread there. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz

N830MH

No! No! I think you meant it is not right forum but, it was Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) thread. Ok? Thanks!

tigerpaw580

Those dates are about peak tourist time for Florida airports, I doubt if you will find anything less than 90.00 a day for those even a subcompact.That's the way it has been for years, it'll let up after April 1st but not much until then.That goes for any central or south Florida location pretty much.Taxes are very high also and may add 20.00 or more onto the rental..It's just the law of supply and demand.One warning, so you don't ruin your trip----don't know for sure about PBI but I do know both TPA and MCO do run out of cars if you don't have a reservation, so don't leave without one or you may have to wait for a day or so to get one,or at least wait hours for some to be returned. I would at least try each car rental company's site rather than a search engine.Enterprise sometimes has a good rate also, and they now do have some airport locations in Florida.

robr

Thanks, I've got my dad trying some non-airport locations using the 'my car will be in the body shop' technique. if I can get a good rate that way, I'll just have him rent, add me as a driver, and bring the car to the airport.

I could swear I've been down there this time of year many times over the past decade and never run into this issue... maybe I've come in January instead of February, but it's always middle of winter when I visit.

tigerpaw580

Good luck, you really might do better that way with Enterprise off airport as they do have those "in the shop" pretty good rates available to locals.Peak seems to be about now from (not mentioning the holidays)from mid January, Easter weekend, to spring break weeks, ending the last days of March!Even the cheapest motel will try to stick it to you then,as well as everybody else.

SkyVillager

I'd look at rates available @ individual car rental companies web sites.

Most of them have various promotions going on, with discount codes listed under sections like "hot deals", "weekly specials" etc.

Additional promo codes can be found online in various places.
FWIW I don't see an organized consolidated thread of FT with such info, so you would have to do some googling

Using airport location code PBIT71 02/20/08 - 02/28/08,
the following rates are available @ Alamo site:

NO promo codes
Economy $478.63/Wk + $69.37/Day + assorted fees = $670.04

Contract ID: 7013535 and Coupon Code: AU8080DMJ
15% off + triple NW miles + free upgrade
Pick Compact, get MIDsize
$499.03/Wk + $72.32/Day - discount + assorted fees = $630.06

Contract ID: 7014006 and Coupon Code: AF2202AFT
10% off + AA miles + free day
MIDsize
$510.83/Wk + $74.03/Day - discount - free day + assorted fees = $566.73

<keep playing around with rate codes to find an even better one>

FYI:
A regular feature @ Alamo is a "hot deal/last minute" offer, with low rates in select locations. The following rate sample is for
8-day rental 02/12/08-02/20/08
Unfortunately it is not valid for your travel dates. Are your travel plans flexible?

I.D. / Corp I.D. code: IG
Economy: n/a with code
Compact $129.95/wk + $25.00/day + assorted fees = $204.94
Midsize.. $144.95/wk + $28.00/day + fees ======== $226.24 ^
Premium. $179.95/wk + $35.00/day + fees ======== $275.94
Standard $259.95/wk + $51.00/day + fees ======== $389.53

Next week there might be similar offers for 2/20 pickup

robr

After spending pretty much my entire work day on this and getting absolutely no work done, I was finally able to score something a bit more reasonable from Dollar using promo code BOD.

Pickup Location: West Palm Beach International Airport-PBI/In-terminal/WEST PALM BEACH, FL
Pickup Location Phone: 866-434-2226
Return Location: West Palm Beach International Airport-PBI/In-terminal/WEST PALM BEACH, FL
Pickup Date/Time: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008 @ 7:00 PM
Return Date/Time: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008 @ 7:00 PM
Vehicle Type: Intermediate ( Chrysler Sebring or similar )
Promo Code: BOD
Currency: U.S. Dollar
Rate Code: KISS

YOUR RATE IS: 1 Week at $189.00 per week. Unlimited mileage. 1 Extra Day at $35.00 per day.

Base Rate: $224.00

APT CONC RECOV FEE: $25.30
STATE TRANSACT TAX: $16.24
STATE TAX: $17.50
VEHICLE LICENSE FEE: $3.76

=================================
Total Estimated Charges: $286.80

ackberg

thanks so much for the tip - I was struggling to find a reasonable rate in FLL for 2/19-2/23 but your discount code did it. how did you find that code?

robr

by losing a day of my life googling and trying every code for every car rental place i could dig up. glad it helped someone else as well.

MIFlyer

Give Priceline a try. I just canceled my Dollar res after getting Priceline for 105 per week for the next two weeks (got Hertz).

robr

I did try priceline when I was trying to sort this all out. I think I bid as high as $25/day and tried pretty much every class of car. Could you post your bid specifics?

ExitRowOrElse

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but I can tell you from experience that the week before and after the Daytona 500 are two weeks when it is very hard to get a rental car in Florida at a reasonable price.

I needed one for that particular weekend in 2001, and it cost me 69.00/day for a VW Beetle.

amyzoee

Thanks for the good info. I would also like to know your PL bidding as I have been trying and can't seem to get anything.

robr

Check this out, priceline finally came through and I suspect I could have done better than $23. I thought I lowballed them and this was my first attempt this time around. I never expected $23 to be accepted for a minivan given everything else I've seen and the bids I'd previously tried a few weeks ago.

Mini Van (Unlimited Mileage)
Your Offer Price: $23.00 (per day)
Total Rental Days: 8 days
Subtotal: $184.00
Taxes and Fees: $65.84
Total Charges: $249.84
Lowest Published Price: $1123.99
Total Savings:* $874.15 (You saved 78%)

Pick-Up Location:
National Car Rental
WEST PALM BEACH ARPT
In-Terminal
2121 Belvedere Rd
W Palm Beach,FL 33406
1-888-227-7368
Drop-Off Location:
Same as above
Pick-Up Date: February 20, 2008 - 7:00 PM
Drop-Off Date: February 28, 2008 - 7:00 PM