Budget Car Hire - Fort Lauderdale

[Raggyavn]

Looking for a hire car for August 9th to 27th August and Budget seem to be coming in a lot cheaper than the competition (and I mean a lot cheaper).

So the question is why?

(a) Is this a case of, if a deal looks to be too good to be true, it usually is.
(b) Or is there another reason?

Also what's Budget's Sun Pass deal, as I will be driving south to Key West before coming back North to Tampa and Orlando.

[toonarmani]

Have you tried a quote from Virgin (Alamo)? They are coming in way cheaper than other Alamo quotes at the moment for our dates in late July/early August and are pretty much on a par with other hire car companies, however I prefer to use Alamo.

We're picking up from FLL and driving up to Orlando after a few days (leaving the car at Disney Car Care Centre as getting DME back to MCO airport).

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. What price are you finding with Budget?
What size of car?

Ref Sunpass Budget is the same as Avis -

$3.95 fee per rental day plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)

$19.75 maximum fee per rental month (30 days) plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)

So you will be charged $19.75 plus tolls, quite a good deal and only bettered by Alamo.

[moosha]

Originally Posted by toonarmani

Have you tried a quote from Virgin (Alamo)? They are coming in way cheaper than other Alamo quotes at the moment for our dates in late July/early August and are pretty much on a par with other hire car companies, however I prefer to use Alamo.

We're picking up from FLL and driving up to Orlando after a few days (leaving the car at Disney Car Care Centre as getting DME back to MCO airport).

See more...

Thank you so much for that. I was a bit horrified when I started looking around at prices last night .

We also prefer to use Alamo, especially after a disastrous experience with Avis last year, and you jogged my memory that we’ve booked with Virgin Holidays before and got a good deal with them previously. Just been on there and really happy with the offer:

21 nights next August with inclusive insurance, pick up at Fort Lauderdale, drop off at Tampa (expecting to be heavily penalised for using two different smaller regional airports), Hyundai Santa Fe or equivalent = just over £714.

One thing to tick off the list .

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by moosha

Thank you so much for that. I was a bit horrified when I started looking around at prices last night .

We also prefer to use Alamo, especially after a disastrous experience with Avis last year, and you jogged my memory that we’ve booked with Virgin Holidays before and got a good deal with them previously. Just been on there and really happy with the offer:

21 nights next August with inclusive insurance, pick up at Fort Lauderdale, drop off at Tampa (expecting to be heavily penalised for using two different smaller regional airports), Hyundai Santa Fe or equivalent = just over £714.

One thing to tick off the list .

See more...

Just a tip. Book via VA not VH. No difference in price but with VA you get your documents within 24 hours. With VH you can wait months!

[Raggyavn]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

OP. What price are you finding with Budget?
What size of car?

See more...

Want something that can hold 4 people and our cases whilst we travel around southern Florida for a week before we head North. So ideally a full size SUV or a caravan type car.

DFCH is currently £587 for a caravan (£200 cheaper than other providers on the same site) and a Full size SUV is £906 (£300 cheaper than other providers on the same site).

I am happy with either quote, but concerned that Budget is so much cheaper that the opposition, things like that get me asking why?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OK. Virgin is more expensive than Andy
Auto Europe has this with Budget:-

Standard SUV £490. Ford Escape etc
Ford Expedition 5 + 2 passenger £896
Ford Explorer 7 passenger £909

Dodge Caravan £580

If you step up to Alamo the prices are nuts! Have you tried Netflights?

[AJ Quinney]

We flew into FLL and had car rental with Budget in August. It was considerably cheaper than other companies and had the same concerns. Other than having only two staff on at the counter with five people in front of us in the queue everything else was spot on. They did suggest an upgrade deal but as we already had the premium SUV booked not sure what they could offer but politely declined. Vehicle was bought round for us and we were pleasantly surprised to see a Ford Expedition XL with only 3000 miles on the clock. Price for 17 nights was £890 inclusive. Have booked again for next March :-)

[Raggyavn]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

OK. Virgin is more expensive than Andy
Auto Europe has this with Budget:-

Standard SUV £490. Ford Escape etc
Ford Expedition 5 + 2 passenger £896
Ford Explorer 7 passenger £909

Dodge Caravan £580

If you step up to Alamo the prices are nuts! Have you tried Netflights?

See more...

Not too worried about getting a better price as the price I have from Andy is a great price. I'm more concerned with the fact that across the board at this location Budget seems to be coming in far cheaper than anybody else and that seems to ring alarm bells in my head.

I am just looking to put my mind at ease and fathom out why Budget are consistently cheaper than any of the other operators at this location, is just because they are or is there another reason.

If I have to pay more and get from another provider because Budget are rubbish or their cars are old and beat up then so be it. But if I stand the same chance of getting a rent a wreck from Budget than from any other provider, then I'll save my money and go with Budget.

Originally Posted by AJ Quinney

We flew into FLL and had car rental with Budget in August. It was considerably cheaper than other companies and had the same concerns. Other than having only two staff on at the counter with five people in front of us in the queue everything else was spot on. They did suggest an upgrade deal but as we already had the premium SUV booked not sure what they could offer but politely declined. Vehicle was bought round for us and we were pleasantly surprised to see a Ford Expedition XL with only 3000 miles on the clock. Price for 17 nights was £890 inclusive. Have booked again for next March :-)

See more...

Many thanks, glad someone else had the same concerns as me and it worked out.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. I think all car rental places/firms have similar issues. Unless you go to 'rent a wreck' there is a high chance you will get a decent or a half decent car. Lets be honest Dollar and Budget etc do have brand new cars in. However the American rental firms keep their cars longer than we do so you could end up with an 18 month old vehicle just about to be sold.

I dont subscribe to the free lunch ethos but for a rental car being half the price of everybody else I would go for it.