Question for seasoned car renters!! Thanks for your advice!!

[Lil ole moi]

Question for all you seasoned car renters at MCO. We rented a car last year for the first time. We're renting again and I'm trying to recall the choices the lady at the car rental counter offered to us...if I'm not mistaken, she asked us if we wanted some sort of pass to avoid tolls...I also think she wanted to know if we wanted their gas plan instead of us filling up before our return. I may have explained those completely wrong...a year ago was a very long time ago!!! Should we accept either of these? Will they be costing us more money in the end? She made them sound very good (of course)...and I can be a bit of sucker. Would love any and all advice with keeping add-on costs down. Thanks all!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Absolutely refuse any type of gas refill programs. They are all complete rip-offs. Refill the tank yourself before turning in the car.

As for tolls, we just bring our EZ pass (not good in FL), or pay as we go. I can't advise you on this one for FL rentals.

 

[btowndude]

I just say no/decline to all the questions. My personal comprehensive car insurance policy covers my use of the rental car. If you have a Costco or Sam's Club membership, they have warehouses w/gas station to fill up your rental car gas tank on the way back to the airport. There are also several convenience store w/gas pumps that offer inexpensive gasoline around WDW. It is cheaper to pay the tolls than to rent their EZ pass transponder. I just bring a baggie of quarters with me in my carry on. If you want, you can order the $4.99 window sticker transponder from the state of Florida ahead of time and preload your account.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you're staying in the basic WDW/Universal area, you don't need the transponder; just bring quarters.

Unless you're absolutely positively SURE you'll be driving into the airport car return area on fumes, don't do the prepay option. There are threads around here that talk about the closest and cheapest gas stations near the airport. Or if you freak out about finding one of those, if at the very end you have to pay for a half gallon of expensive car rental return gas, well, at least you didn't have the stress of finding the perfect gas station. And you didn't have to make SURE you drove exactly the right amount to make the fill-up (b/c you're prepaying for the whole tank) worth it.

 

[puffkin]

Don't prepay the gas. We always fill up on Disney property or at the Hess station right off property before getting on 417 to the airport and it still shows full when we get to the airport. THe gas stations around Disney are not inflated in price.

Tolls aren't bad too from the airport so I would just pay as you go. We have a Sunpass transponder that we take with us, but we visit a lot and visit other places so I like not worrying about tolls.

I decline everything. All those extras is where they make their money

 

[Donna M]

Call your own car insurer and find out what they cover for rentals. They probably cover most of it. My Visa Card will cover Loss of Use when I charge the card on the Visa since my auto insurance won't cover that one.

Don't get, sign up for or turn on their transponder. Get receipts when you go through the tolls in case you have a problem. Be careful that you don't go through the high speed toll by accident; you need to stay right (it almost seems like an exit.)

Check back frequently for better rental prices. They change a lot. I'm finding it cheaper to rent Alamo at WDW and returning it to MCO instead of back at WDW. It also will cost the same price whether I pick it up Wed night or Thur morning. Play around a lot with dates and times. I've heard to check again 7-10 days out for the best prices. Don't prepay for a car.

 

[Lil ole moi]

Thanks for responding everyone! I knew I could count of DIS experts for some experience and good advice! I know now what NOT to do

 

[Dan Murphy]

I always fill up at the Hess station by the Boardwalk before heading to MCO. And I use my quarters also. And I decline the insurance. I decline everything.

 

[QueenElinor]

I always fill up at the Hess station by the Boardwalk before heading to MCO. And I use my quarters also. And I decline the insurance. I decline everything.

Me, too. I think I must have some kind of aura or a certain "look" because most of the time, they don't even ask.

 

[aubriee]

Be careful that you don't go through the high speed toll by accident; you need to stay right (it almost seems like an exit.)

I missed this one last month when I was there. Actually I saw it and thought it was an exit. That thing is way off to the right on what looks like an exit ramp. My GPS was telling me to go straight, so not wanting to get off the main road, I did. When I saw the Sunpass sign overhead, I knew I'd made a mistake. Not being used to toll roads around here, I would have sworn that was an exit. About a week after I got back I noticed Alamo had charged my credit card $3.50 and assumed it was for the missed toll.

 

[puffkin]

Be careful that you don't go through the high speed toll by accident; you need to stay right (it almost seems like an exit.)

I missed this one last month when I was there. Actually I saw it and thought it was an exit. That thing is way off to the right on what looks like an exit ramp. My GPS was telling me to go straight, so not wanting to get off the main road, I did. When I saw the Sunpass sign overhead, I knew I'd made a mistake. Not being used to toll roads around here, I would have sworn that was an exit. About a week after I got back I noticed Alamo had charged my credit card $3.50 and assumed it was for the missed toll.

Yes, it is very easy to miss the cash tolls because they look like exits. Alamo has a toll thing where they will charge you $2.00/day plus the tolls if you decide to just go through them. You only get charged the $2 on days you incur a toll. It isn't a bad "insurance" policy if you accidentally miss a cash lane like you did.

That is why we bought a Sunpass transponder though. We go to FL 2-3 times a year and I like not having to worry about the tolls.