anyone rent a vechicle 1 way & fly home?

[pixxi]

With airfare costing so much. I was wonder if anyone rents a vehicle to drive to Orlando and then take the plane back home?

It would be about a 24 hour drive for us. I don't think I can do that round trip. We have 4 kids, just 1 leg sounds horrible.

Anyone think it would save money to do this? I have never rented a vehicle before and don't know what cost and fees are involved.

Airfare 1 way is just under $900.

 

[ceemys]

With airfare costing so much. I was wonder if anyone rents a vehicle to drive to Orlando and then take the plane back home?

It would be about a 24 hour drive for us. I don't think I can do that round trip. We have 4 kids, just 1 leg sounds horrible.

Anyone think it would save money to do this? I have never rented a vehicle before and don't know what cost and fees are involved.

Airfare 1 way is just under $900.

It depends on the type of car you rent and the gas mileage. With gas at $4 a gallon at most places, you might be a less. With my car I can pay $350-$400 round trip for gas alone. Plus the cost of a hotel...$80-90 each way. That is at about $600 round trip. On the high end. I have never rented a car, but I hear on this board with people getting major deals. You have to be diligent though.

 

[wiigirl]

We have done that before....wasn't a big deal.

 

[FINFAN]

I remember deals for one way rentals, but usually OUT of Fl..so you would be reversing your plan. Most drop off places are at/near airports for the cheapest rate. We did it before and drove all our stuff home, then DH drove the car to the airport and I followed and picked him up. It was a good deal for us as I remember the rental was $19.99 (mini-van score) per day unlimited miles. We booked it for 4 days so we had wiggle room. However that was a few years back and while gas wasn't a bargain, it wasn't $4+ bucks a gallon . I would research one way out of FL and see if that yields you a better rate.

 

[jls886]

Just pay a lot of attention when booking your one-way rental as many rental car companies will charge for mileage on one-ways. I once booked a one-way (luckily for work so I wasn't paying) and didn't notice the mileage charge...until I returned it and my bill was $600 because I was charged $0.40 for every mile that I put on the car. Now I pay extra attention! Round-trip rentals are almost always unlimited mileage.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

With both the airfare and the rental being cheaper each way as "round trip", I don't really see this being a big savings. And it may be worse than just flying both ways. Tough call. 24 hours (each way) is indeed a long drive if you don't have anything planned along the way. I've done much longer drives, but usually with a series of destinations in each direction.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

One quick note about the vehicle rental...not all companies will allow you to take the vehicle out of the renting state or neighboring states without additional charges. For example, I can rent a vehicle here, but only drive it in KY or TN. To take it to neighboring IL and IN, I have to get the rental company approval and then they added more liability fees. And yes, my insurance covers the rental !! Other companies have said they didn't care where I was driving, but that I returned the car to same location on time.
Just be sure to check the fine print before you sign..and not just take the word of the representative.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I've done this twice. But both times were very late in the fall when the major rental companies had "repositioning" rates to get cars from the North down to Florida for the winter.

 

[2TxAgs]

We've also done this before, but it was OUT of Florida. For the last several years, there is info in Feb/March on the travel websites about rental cars being available in Florida to drive out very cheaply. Usually you can do this from March/April thru the end of May or June. We paid under $10/day to drive from Orlando to Texas in late April.

In some cases, you only get the car for a limited amount of time (6 days?), in other cases, I believe you can have the car up to a month. My dad has used this deal to fly to into Florida, drive down to the Keys, drive back north and west to visit some Nascar races/tracks, then head home. Cheap way to sightsee.

 

[4mykidz127]

We thought about doing this but it cost several hundred dollars more to leave the car in Florida. Not sure if it is like that everywhere but when we put one way the rate almost doubled to rent.

 

[MineMail]

The best bargains for alternating one-way travel depend on the time of year.

In late Autumn, car rental agencies send cars from the cooler areas to the south in anticipation of renting to snowbirds and visitors. After Spring Break, they offer deals to send cars to the cooler northern states.

You have to watch for rental car and airline deals:
http://www.budgettravel.com/blog/drive-a-rental-car-to-florida-for-1-a-day,10933/

A friend-of-a-friend who lives in Florida does this every year when it's time to visit his family up north.

 

[2disneyboys]

most time one way rental is a lot higher then round trip, and, you have to be careful - with most roundtrip rentals, unlimited miliage is standard.. however, one way rental, there is usually an additional charge per mile so make sure you are aware of that when doing your pricing. and as a previous poster stated, alot of one way rental is based on the pickup site and dropoff site being in the same state... just something to make sure you clarify before you set it up.

does the train (amtrack) go along your route? sometimes that's a little cheaper than flying

 

[Vickibean]

We have done it twice. It's the best of both worlds!

I agree with looking for repositioning deals. Also, many agencies charge more for the entire rental period if you rent one-way. You may be better off renting one-way for two days, then re-renting a new vehicle for the rest of your stay.

 

[MrsPete]

We considered this once (not for a Disney trip) but it was too expensive to rent a one-way car. It was a while ago and I cannot remember the numbers.

Another option: consider riding the Amtrak train. Kids 16 and under ride for half price, making it very family friendly. It is slow but so is driving. The kids'll like being able to get up and walk around, and you won't arrive tired out from driving. the seats are larger than those on airplanes, and you have an electrical outlet for each person. Do bring your own food. Train food is expensive and not good.

 

[Pooh2]

I agree with the train being a more relaxing way to go!

 

[pixxi]

To take the train it would be $716 (44 hrs 20 min) to get to Orlando and $1028 (52 hours) for return trip. NOT worth it. Cheaper to fly!

 

[pocomom]

I realize it may be a dissenting opinion but I enjoy the drive. (as long as we have the time to enjoy it) if you are travelling down 95 there are lots of cheap places to stop at and plenty of really enjoyable detours with the kids. This past trip we stopped at Hershey Park, some battlefields, Jeckyl Island Ga for the beach and turtles center, a mantee viewing area in Florida and did 2 nights of camping on the way down and one on the way back. Other trips we go around DC and stop at musuems or the Lego Store, maybe the children's museum in Richmand, VA. For our family of five even gas in the RV, or gas and hotels with the minivan doesn't come close to price of flights. But If I can't take the time for a few hours of enjoyment along the way, I would bite the bullet and take a flight.

 

[MrsPete]

To take the train it would be $716 (44 hrs 20 min) to get to Orlando and $1028 (52 hours) for return trip . NOT worth it. Cheaper to fly!

WOW. I just checked, and from my house it'd be $153/adult and $76/child for a one-way trip. Admittedly, I'm closer than you are, so it should be cheaper for me. And that's buying a ticket for tomorrow -- the earlier you buy, the cheaper a ticket is.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

With airfare costing so much. I was wonder if anyone rents a vehicle to drive to Orlando and then take the plane back home?

It would be about a 24 hour drive for us. I don't think I can do that round trip. We have 4 kids, just 1 leg sounds horrible.

Anyone think it would save money to do this? I have never rented a vehicle before and don't know what cost and fees are involved.

Airfare 1 way is just under $900.

I know a lot of people say that driving with kids is horrible, but honestly that has never been my experience. We have driven from central Maine to Orlando area for years since the kids were little. We do stay over one night, usually in North Carolina. My kids are 13 to 18 now- I also have four. We have brought DVD's books, activity books and coloring pages, games, music, books on CD music etc. Really it isn't that bad. You just need to plan for it. I say if it is cheaper to travel by car round trip go ahead and do it just make a plan and have an idea of where your are going to stop for the night a nd take rest breaks.

 

[living20057]

We drove down Christmas Day to from PA to Vero beach. We rented from enterprise and dropped off at Hotel Plaza by downtown. The cost worked out, it was only $80 for one day. We did changed cars for the week we stayed because it was cheaper. We fly back. I prefer driving down because your excited and flying back home.