Good deal on National Rental for our December trip!

[Tagrel]

Just reserved a car through National Emerald Aisle for our December Mousefest trip, and I'm VERY happy with the deal.

I LOVE Mousesavers! :cool: I used Mary's Rental car info to find the best code.

Used the Carlson Wagonlit: Contract ID 5760339 (anyone can use this one) since its supposed to be good for short rentals. BOY is it!

It brought the cost for an Emerald Aisle reservation down from $153 (Disney club contract number) to $109.

Then I added on a Entertainment coupon for one free Weekend day, and it brought it down to $86.65 - less than $22 a day! :D

I love a good deal! Thought I'd share in case it helps anyone else.

[ddoll]

Wow! Thanks,Dave!!

I just tried it and got a much better deal than the one I'd had with Alamo too. (I opted for the better car since it came to only $18 more)

[SusanL]

Thanks Tagrel,
I switched from Dollar to National and went from $125.92 to $71.61.
All I can say is wow!!
SusanL

[PaulF]

I had gotten a similar rate with National quite a while ago but did it by using the Disney Club discount combined with another code (I've forgotten which now) that I found on Mousesavers. Mid-size for 11 days for just under $22 a day.

Just proves that it pays to just keep plugging away, keep trying different combinations of codes. The worst it can do is tell you you can't do that. lol

[LimeGreenCheri]

Where do you go to look for these deals? Can you return the car somewhere at Downtown disney?

This may be cheaper than a towncar or mears?

[Tagrel]

Mousesavers has a great section on Rental Car deals and hints - including codes, etc. MouseSavers Rental Car Info (http://www.mousesavers.com/groundtrans.html#rental)

I really like using National because of Emerald Aisle. It is great to just get our luggage and walk out and pick any car there. One less line to stand in. :)

I just tend to keep trying different combinations of codes until I find the best deal. It seems to really depend on travel dates, length of stay etc.

We have always picked up our rental at the airport and then returned them there as well. I have never tried the resort pickup thing...

[ddoll]

Dave, didn't they change the Emerald Aisle rules recently? I was under the impression that the "pick any car" perc had changed.

[Tagrel]

Dave, didn't they change the Emerald Aisle rules recently? I was under the impression that the "pick any car" perc had changed.

ACK! I'll have to check it out. Worked that way in July, but I haven't checked recently! :shock:

[ddoll]

Nope, if what you did worked in July, then it's still the same.

I checked it myself, and it used to be that you could take any available car, and now you can only pick out a car in your reserved class.

It changed several months ago.

[Tagrel]

I found the Rules for Emerald Aisle. Seems that they did change, but now you can reserve exactly the category you'd like. So it works the same as always for intermediate, but if you reserved a Fullsize, SUV or VAN then you are guaranteed one of those. Probably less likely to find a Van on the Aisle itself, but this is good for those that want to make SURE they get a van (etc).


Introducing new Emerald Reserve Service, exclusively for Emerald Club members. Beginning March 15, 2003, whether you reserve a fullsize car, SUV, minivan or any other vehicle, you'll be amazed at the speed and convenience of this new service. With Emerald Reserve, you'll be able to reserve any car type, excluding intermediate. When you arrive at the location, you'll bypass the counter, go directly to the row of the car class reserved, choose any car and drive away. It's that easy!

When making intermediate car reservations, please continue to go directly to the Emerald Aisle and choose from any available car as usual; all at the price of an intermediate. You may still find vehicles on the Aisle that are larger than intermediate (including fullsize), but if they need to guarantee a specific car class, simply use Emerald Reserve Service.

[ddoll]

You know, I must be dense, because I find all of this to be confusing.

Which is the better deal? Can you tell?

I reserved an full-size...just because it was only a total of $18 more for the 5 days. Does this mean I walk up and take anything there now?

[Tagrel]

You know, I must be dense, because I find all of this to be confusing.

Which is the better deal? Can you tell?

I reserved an full-size...just because it was only a total of $18 more for the 5 days. Does this mean I walk up and take anything there now?

It is kind of confusing...

As I understand it you book the class you want to rent. If its Intermediate, then you can pick ANYTHING on the Aisle itself (We got a Full Size in July).

If you book an SUV or Van (or even a fullsize) you can walk to the appropriate row containing those type of cars and pick anyone you like.

So, with a Fullsize reservation, you are GUARANTEED a Fullsize car whether there is one on the Aisle or not. You can just go to the Fullsize Aisle and pick whatever you want.

Clear as mud? :D

[Rosebud]

I like these rules much better! The one and only time I used the Emerald Aisle I was not very happy. With the new rules, much better options.

It was last summer and hotter than heck in that garage. We thought it would be good, but then got there and they only had about 2 or 3 choices of cars (many cars but few models). We weren't happy with either of them and kept looking to see if you could find a better car but no other choices... all the while sweating buckets and dragging our luggage around. We had rented a full size and spotted a different model in the full car aisle so we walked over and decided we preferred that one. Since we were suppose to be picking from Emerald Aisle I then had to walk over to the check out booth (still sweating buckets) and ask the guy if it was okay to take from a different aisle. He kind of sneered at me and said you aren't suppose to do that, and then he asked to see my agreement to make sure I really had a full size car reserved. After looking it over while I was standing there sweating buckets and finally agreed I could take one from another aisle...but he didn't seem real pleased with me.

I thought the whole thing would be a painless experience, but it was awful! Now with the new rules I could walk out to the aisle I wanted and get my car without the hassle or attitude and knowing I was getting a category that I reserved in...another thing we couldn't figure out right away while walking around sweating buckets. Yup, definitely like the new rules better!

[ddoll]

Okay...I'm beginning to see the light now (I think :? ).

There are two separate entities? An Emerald Aisle and an aisle for each class of car, right?

So I go to the Emerald Aisle and see if there's something better than a full size and then if not, go to the Full-size aisle?

BTW, if you go straight to the car, how do you get in and drive it?

(I'm trying to get my looking stupid out of the way here, in front of friends rather than doing it out in public :roll: )

[Tagrel]

LOL ddoll! :rofl:

I think you have it down now! Each row is marked (Emerald Aisle, FullSize, etc.) If there is nothing in the Emerald Aisle you want, you can just head to the Full Size row and pick whatever you like. The keys should be inside. Just throw in your luggage and drive to the exit. There is a 'toll booth' where they take your info, coupons, etc, and off you go.

You'll do fine! :)

[Rosebud]

The leaving the keys in the car seems to be the new thing lately. I swear they didn't use to do that, but the past few years they do. Some places also let you choose your own car even if you aren't signed up for their fast service like Emerald Aisle. I can't remember the company that did that, but I do remember them telling me just to go out to the full size aisle and pick the car I wanted and it was after checking in at the booth so it definitely wasn't a fast service system.

I rented a car from Avis in June and they even had the trunks open! It was nice to be able to walk up to the car and just throw my stuff in the trunk without having to get to the keys first. That was in Chicago, so I don't know if they do that everywhere. Of course they had this wicked good sale going on and I think Avis was the only one renting cars that weekend and it was super crowded. They may have just wanted to get the people out a little faster.