We’ll be booking 6 round trip tickets from Los Angeles to Orlando in January… also will be renting a car for our 10 day stay at OKW. Any suggestions on the best time to start actually making the reservations? I’ve heard I shouldn’t do it TOO early… but I’m not too sure what “too early” is.
I would book the rentals as soon as there is a price I’m comfortable with. BUT I would not book one that I have to pay for first. Just make a reservation. Then, keep checking back for price changes, because they will change anywhere from 3 months to 2 weeks prior to your trip.
If you have a Costco membership, use them to check for rentals or, if you’d rather, choose a company you like and maybe have a loyalty membership for and keep checking their website.
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Agree with above about car rentals. You can reserve with prepay anytime and look for better rates as the trip approaches.
Airfare is a bit different. The closer you get the more expensive it gets + seats get occupied. I would book / pay for this no later than 90 days in advance and no earlier than 6 months.
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Thanks. Sounds like I better get started on airfare. We plan on using Costco/Alamo for the car rental.
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There is a whole discussion here about car rental Car Rental Advice from JackOfAll.
I’ve looked at Autoslash. It priced about the same as Costco for me when I checked them on the same day but DH gets to drive for free with Costco. Sometimes, the airline’s deal comes out cheaper, the deals you get when booking. But watch out, they may not include the extra driver for free.
MCO is expensive to rent from. It was cheaper for me to rent from MCO and return to Disney Car Care and then take another car for a few days from Budget at the DoubleTree in DS. It is a little bit of work and time but we had both.
With Costco, check ever few weeks. In the big discussion,@jackofall says it may be cheapest 4-6 weeks out.
We are flying LAX to MCO in mid Sept and renting a car. I used Cost co travel. I reserved my car as soon as Disney announced that SWGE was opening early. We were concern with the crowded buses to get to the theme parks. My first price was 305.00 (intemediate SUV) for our 7 days trip. I have been checking weekly and now my price is 220.00. Costco does not take your credit card until you arrive and no charge for cancelling and re booking. You can do the booking and re booking all online… very easy You also get an additional driver for free. Hope that helps and have a safe trip!
As far as the airfare I find I get the best price 6 to 4 months out. I always look for non-stop flights first. I hate to change planes or even get up after I am seated LOL
I book my first Alamo rental through Costco up to 6 months early and then go back and check and rebook constantly. I have a rental this week. My last booking was 5 days before pick up. My last trip the best price was 7 days before my trip.
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Look at the Autoslash actual quote. Many times it states “free 2nd driver” . Be sure to check the “Costco” box. The actual reservation will not show second driver free at Priceline but it is there. Autoslash has worked out cheapest for me my last few rentals.