Florida Car Rental

[HibbyKeith]

I know there are a few on here that have been frequent visitors to Orlando. This will be my first time driving over there and dont want to fall into any rookie mistakes.

I am booked up for a fourteen nights next June and will be flying direct to Orlando International, was looking for a bit of advice on Car Hire and more specifically the best company to use, what are the usual practices from the car hire companies ie: deposit, insurance cover to take, what should I expect to pay (ballpark figure) etc?

any help much appreciated.

Keith.

[Hibs Class]

First time we went was a package and the hire depot was off airport, we may have been unlucky with the courtesy transfer but it added well over an hour to what was already a long day. Since then we have made a point of booking on airport so that we collect the car from just outside the terminal. We always book via Dollar, don't know if they are the cheapest but we've found them reliable. Their desk and all the other companies are joined together so don't know how linked or separate they are. We reckon on around £500-£550 for a fortnight in full size SUV. We take all the insurance and also a full tank so we can return it empty, we've never seen that many petrol stations on our way back to the airport. We booked an SUV as there are so many big vehicles out there that on the roads if you're in a car you struggle to see past the vehicle in front unless it's a car too. SUV or Dodge caravan gives loads of space and a decent view ahead, and isn't that much more expensive than a saloon.

[HibbyKeith]

Thanks, Its a dodge grand caravan we are after as there will be 6 of us.

I was unsure what to expect price wise, I was seeing prices around the £450 mark but I dont think that was including the return the car empty option.

Its been a long time since we were last there (2001) and while i was old enough I wasn't a driver at that time. Really looking forward to driving there though.

Did Dollar charge your card with an additional security deposit? or was it just the original price quoted? Sixt seem to want to charge more.

[Hibs Class]

Dollar took a swipe of my card but I don't know how much they did it for. We take our $ on a prepaid card and one lesson learned the hard way was to not use it for the pre-auth, but instead to give them a uk card in the knowledge that nothing would be actually charged to it. (The one time we used the prepaid card for it meant we couldn't then spend the amount authorised.)

If there are six of you the caravan would be big enough re seats but be aware that with two rows of seats in the rear there won't be a lot of space for cases. We get the bigger vehicle to then fold down the back seats, but then four of us always take four cases and bring back five! The last time I went in a group of six we hired an 8 seater.

[HibbyKeith]

We have already got the pre-paid cards for our spending money, will be using my UK credit card to pay for the car. thanks for the tip

There will be 6 of us but probably only 4 large cases, the kids stuff doesn't take all that much room, We will be met at the airport on arrival, A relative will be there a few days before and can take a case or two.

I'm not overly fussy about being cramped with cases for the 1 journey back to the airport. the saving in car cost means we could send 1 person in a taxi to the airport with cases and it would still be cheaper than the 8 seater upgrade over the 2 weeks.

My main concern was getting rammed at the car booking, some company's appear to be ALOT cheaper than others its the usual hidden extras.

[Beefster]

The two things I learned the first time I hired a car in Florida...

Don't use Avis. They tried to charge us extra for the class we had actually pre-booked and claimed that we had booked a smaller class. Only Mrs Beefster having print-outs and the increasingly irate and tired Beefster got them to see sense.

There are no petrol stations at the airport. Fill the car before you set off back to the airport or you'll get stung for about 4x the cost of filling it up when you turn up with half a tank.

[Hibby Bairn]

The two things I learned the first time I hired a car in Florida...

Don't use Avis. They tried to charge us extra for the class we had actually pre-booked and claimed that we had booked a smaller class. Only Mrs Beefster having print-outs and the increasingly irate and tired Beefster got them to see sense.

There are no petrol stations at the airport. Fill the car before you set off back to the airport or you'll get stung for about 4x the cost of filling it up when you turn up with half a tank.

Been there 6 times. Normally Dollar are cheapest. If you can get a dodge caravan for £450 then that is a good price. Used Avis this year as got 3 weeks free via Avios points.

Usually very straightforward. Take the option to fill car up yourself on return to airport. Filled a people carrier for £37 just 3 weeks ago. Gas pretty cheap at the mo.

[over the line]

One tip: Beware if they upgrade your car for you. Last time we went to Orlando, the car hire firm said they didn't have the type of car we had reserved. So they upgraded us to a huge Chevy tank of an MPV,. It was a great vehicle for the holiday, loads of room etc. When we took it back two weeks later, they gave us a bill for $1000, for the f'in upgrade!

We argued it with them, so they initially knocked it down to $700. We argued again a couple more times and eventually they charged us for the tank of fuel (which we had used) an called it quits. But I'm sure a lot of people get had off like that and just pay the difference. BEWARE! ;)

[Ants]

I usually use rentalcars.com, they have a wide variety of rental firms and also a good selection of cars.
They are good for finding out the average cost of vehicle and if you use any of the inclusive packages, the explaination of whats included/covered is easily understood.
I was there last October, used Rentalcars to book the hire and it was through Dollar. Took about 15 minutes at reservation desk, not once was I asked if I wanted an upgrade, additional extras were discussed and declined, all with no hassle.
Went through to pick-up location, was told pick any of the cars down this lane with their boot open and away we went.... simples.
BUT, the person read the receipt wrong, I ended up with an intermediate SUV and not a standard SUV, you do not know what model of car you will receive!!
I complained about this once I realised, could'nt be hassled with return trip to airport to change car and received a refund of 100 notes after my holiday.
Pretty good customer services from both Dollar and Rentalcars.

[Hibee-Bongo]

I'm off to the states in a couple of weeks and looking into renting a car. Problem is I'm 24 and there this an under-25 surcharge, however no websites seems to tell you what the surcharge actually is, anyone encountered this before?

[MyJo]

Spent just under 3 weeks in Florida last month and we had a grand caravan for 6 of us (3 adults and 3 kids) and it was more than big enough for all of us, 4 suitcases and a buggy, on the way home we had an extra two duffel bags with the stuff we had bought so just folded down one of the middle seats and had the 3 kids sitting in the back row to give us enough extra space to accommodate the bags to get to the airport.

Have used Alamo and Dollar before and Avis this year and they are all much of a muchness, they will often suggest upgrades etc but just insist your happy with what you've booked and they will drop it quick enough. I would recommend paying for the tank of fuel up front or getting a hire agreement that allows you to return the car empty like others have said and have a credit card for the security deposit which can reserve up to $500 from your account.

If you get to choose your own car as we'll look out for a Chrysler town and country rather than a dodge grand caravan as they are exactly the same car but the town and country is a more upmarket version that often has a few extra bells and whistles included, we got one with a DVD player and radio system you could plug your iPod into a couple of years back.

Also try using skyscanner to compare car hire prices as that's how i got the best deal this year

[HibbyKeith]

We are not away until June next year but I'm a bit of a sucker for being super organised, and the car hire is all we need to sort out. Flights, villa and park passes all sorted. (annoys the hell of the better half)



Thanks alot for all the advice, much appreciated.

Cheers Keith.
:thumbsup:

[HibbyKeith]

I'm off to the states in a couple of weeks and looking into renting a car. Problem is I'm 24 and there this an under-25 surcharge, however no websites seems to tell you what the surcharge actually is, anyone encountered this before?

Go to the booking page and check the terms and conditions. found this on the Alamo Site

Driver Age & Requirements
The minimum driver age required is 21 .
Young drivers aged between 21 and 24 Inclusive pay $25+Tax per day

also read recently that U25's are restricted in the class of car they can hire, dont think the premium cars are an option.

[GoldenEagle]

I know there are a few on here that have been frequent visitors to Orlando. This will be my first time driving over there and dont want to fall into any rookie mistakes.

I am booked up for a fourteen nights next June and will be flying direct to Orlando International, was looking for a bit of advice on Car Hire and more specifically the best company to use, what are the usual practices from the car hire companies ie: deposit, insurance cover to take, what should I expect to pay (ballpark figure) etc?

any help much appreciated.

Keith.



Over many years of travelling to Florida we have spent many hours searching the web for the best value car hire. Invariably, this company USCARHIRE has consistently offerred best value. The cars are supplied through Dollar, Budget or Alamo (you have the choice), and all suppliers are located on airport at Orlando International and also Sanford.To get an on line quote, please use the following link, and if you do decide to book then enter code 502 in the referral box to secure the rate that we get as villa owners.


http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/?villa=502

http://luxurydisneyvilla.com/tickets/IMAG017.GIF
http://luxurydisneyvilla.com/tickets/IMAG018.GIF
If you are travelling from the UK then I would recommend that you pre book your car hire in the UK and also pre purchase the various insurance options etc - this will be cheaper than doing so when you arrive in Florida.


I hope this helps as I picked it up from a UK Florida hints web site.

[HibbyKeith]

Over many years of travelling to Florida we have spent many hours searching the web for the best value car hire. Invariably, this company USCARHIRE has consistently offerred best value. The cars are supplied through Dollar, Budget or Alamo (you have the choice), and all suppliers are located on airport at Orlando International and also Sanford.To get an on line quote, please use the following link, and if you do decide to book then enter code 502 in the referral box to secure the rate that we get as villa owners.


http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/?villa=502

http://luxurydisneyvilla.com/tickets/IMAG017.GIF
http://luxurydisneyvilla.com/tickets/IMAG018.GIF
If you are travelling from the UK then I would recommend that you pre book your car hire in the UK and also pre purchase the various insurance options etc - this will be cheaper than doing so when you arrive in Florida.


I hope this helps as I picked it up from a UK Florida hints web site.


Thanks, will take a look. :thumbsup:

[Hibee-Bongo]

Go to the booking page and check the terms and conditions. found this on the Alamo Site

Driver Age & Requirements
The minimum driver age required is 21 .
Young drivers aged between 21 and 24 Inclusive pay $25+Tax per day

also read recently that U25's are restricted in the class of car they can hire, dont think the premium cars are an option.

Yeah would be after a basic class anyone so not an issue. Was hoping to drive through Yellowstone but not sure if it'll be an option at $50+ a day for the car.

[Casey1875]

Yeah would be after a basic class anyone so not an issue. Was hoping to drive through Yellowstone but not sure if it'll be an option at $50+ a day for the car.

When I was under 25 I went with Alamo. They do a good young driver package and it works out a lot cheaper. You have to select the gold rating to get it.

[calumhibee1]

Over many years of travelling to Florida we have spent many hours searching the web for the best value car hire. Invariably, this company USCARHIRE has consistently offerred best value. The cars are supplied through Dollar, Budget or Alamo (you have the choice), and all suppliers are located on airport at Orlando International and also Sanford.To get an on line quote, please use the following link, and if you do decide to book then enter code 502 in the referral box to secure the rate that we get as villa owners.


http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/?villa=502

http://luxurydisneyvilla.com/tickets/IMAG017.GIF
http://luxurydisneyvilla.com/tickets/IMAG018.GIF
If you are travelling from the UK then I would recommend that you pre book your car hire in the UK and also pre purchase the various insurance options etc - this will be cheaper than doing so when you arrive in Florida.


I hope this helps as I picked it up from a UK Florida hints web site.

Go over to Florida pretty much every year and uscarhire.co.uk is the site we always use to book it. We usually fly into Sanford rather than Orlando International though, so not sure if that will make any difference to the price. We always pick them up through Alamo after booking on that site and never had any real problems. The cars are quite often nearly brand new with Alamo aswell, had a car that had done 350 miles last month. :aok: