View Full Version : Car Hire, Dollar or Alamo
chunkichik
15-01-2005, 19:30
I have just had a quote from the link on this website for our car hire in November.
Dollar's quote is about £40 cheaper for the two weeks and wondered if they was any reason why I shouldn't book with them.
We have always used Alamo previously so have no other experiences.
Anita
the only difference i found was that with Alamo you get to choose your car from within the range (or you did a year ago), Dollar assign a car.Their desks are next to each other at Orlando airport.
Nostromo
15-01-2005, 19:58
And from what I have seen on every visit, Alamo queues are a lot shorter at the Car Rental desk. Some people who came on our flight and went Alamo were proably in their villa's pool by the time we reached our Dollar desk!
There is no reason why you should not book with them. Over the past few years Dollar have been the cheapest one year and Alamo the next.
caroline
15-01-2005, 20:15
We've always booked with Dollar and never had to queue for more than 10 minutes!
pieman790
15-01-2005, 20:18
Swings and roundabouts, I like alamo because you get to choose the type/colour of car but i have found Dollars queues shorter and customer service better. Alamo always seem to try and sell you more insurance even if you have the gold package.
E. Cosgrove
15-01-2005, 21:16
Am I right in thinking thth Dollar you get 2 drivers at no extra cost whereas Alamo make a surcharge for the second driver.....I could be wrong.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
15-01-2005, 21:18
You are right - with the Silver Inclusive option Dollar give you two drivers and Alamo only one. With the Gold option Dollar give you unlimited drivers, Alamo a maximum of 4. Both include all the insurances you will need.
The only reason for the price differential is Alamo have just put their prices up but Dollar have not. We're currently negotiating with Alamo to get better prices as they are not selling many at those rates when Dollar are so much better value.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by E. Cosgrove
Am I right in thinking thth Dollar you get 2 drivers at no extra cost whereas Alamo make a surcharge for the second driver.....I could be wrong.
[/quote]
No, you're right Liz, Dollar basic (sorry, Silver!) includes two drivers and Alamo is one driver.
We've tried most of the car rental companies and like Dollar cars the best. Like Caroline, we've never queued for more than 10 mins either!
Anita, I would have no hesitation in choosing Dollar, as, at the moment, they are cheaper too. We always book our car hire through this site, and find it really great. As we own a villa, we go frequently, and we have had wonderful service from the OV team.
Although Alamo do let you choose a car, Dollar will gladly swap yours if you don't like it for another in the range. At Christmas, we wanted a 7 seater minivan with individual seats rather than the bench seats in the back (much more comfortable) and on arrival in Miami were given the standard configuration. We went back to the desk and they said 'go and look for the one you want and you can have it'.
Andrew and I just went outside and looked at the cars until we found the one we wanted - low mileage, smelt nice (very important![msnwink]) and with the individual seats. We noted down its bay number, took the keys back and hey presto they swapped the car and we were on our way.
[msnsmile2]
orlandobabe
16-01-2005, 06:25
I've always used Dollar and have always been very satisfied.
One car we got had only 9 miles on it!!!!
Magical Dreams
16-01-2005, 12:41
We have always used dollar, and the last twice and the next time from the link above.
It all depends what time your flight lands.
We arrived about 7pm last time and there was no one at the dollar desk at all!!
We had a choice of which desk we went to!!
Never had any problems with them at all!!
If they are cheaper, its probably because these guys on here have worked out a better deal for us thats all!!
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Mo Green
16-01-2005, 14:36
As a villa owners we always use Dollar, very rarely wait and have always been happy with the car.
eagleydo
16-01-2005, 14:45
I have used Dollar and Alamo and found them to be very similar so would suggest you went for the cheapest deal. Last year the queue was similar at both desks but the year before no queue at Alamo but an hour and a half quque at Dollar, so you never now how big the queue is until you arrive. Alamo let you choose your car but Dollar are very good at selecting the right car for your family so it is swings and roundabouts. The reason for the statement about Dollar is wetravel with my brother and his family, they have the same no. of family members as us and we both book 7 seaters, my brother has younger children but mine are adult males and my daughter, we are always allocated a car with a larger seating area and their's always more compact. Oddly enough both drivers prefer their vehicle and given a choice would chose the one they are allocated.
LiesaAnna
16-01-2005, 15:00
we had with Alamo, (dont know about dollar) a card that you had to send to somewhere in the UK 5 days before you leave, and it gives all the details, they didnt ven try to get us to add stuff we were very impressed, but i will go with whatever through this site that is the cheapest, and the same as required
We have used both and prefer Dollar - mini vans always seem newer.
chunkichik
16-01-2005, 19:03
thanks very much everyone, looks like Dollar is going to get our business!!
Great, Anita, you will not regret it, and it all brings your holiday just that little bit closer, doesn't it?
:)