Beware the rental car wait line!

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

We arrived at MCO at 2:00 on a Saturday April 17th, and hoped to make it over to port canaveral in time to see the Magic depart. We made it, but just barely due to the long rental car lines. I just wanted to warn every one to budget a long wait in their itineraries for this.


I travel for Business (the Akron Beacon Journal) several times a year, so I am used to renting a car at the airport. When we arrived at MCO, our bags almost beat us to the pick up area, so we were running ahead of schedule. Then we went over to the rental car area. Just about all of the car places had really long lines and it took me about 45 minutes wait to get a car. Alamo was even longer - probably over an hour. I was not prepared for this little delay at the start of my trip since I usually don't have this problem at other airports. As I waited in line, I think I figured out what slowed everything down so much. I think MCO attracts lots of vacationers who do not normally rent cars, therefore these "newbies" have lots of questions and problems that the usual business traveler doesn't have. I overheard renters asking for EXACT directions to particular hotels (was that a right on elm street? ), renters calling their insurance agents on cell phones to find out if they had coverage (if I hit an alligator, will his insurance or mine pay for the repair?), renters who did not bother to bring drivers licenses with them (why would I need my Ohio drivers license? this is Florida!) , and tons of questions that seasoned renters take for granted. We were also slowed by some renters who had rented a small car but had come back to upgrade to a bigger car after finding out that they couldn't fit 6 people and luggage into a mustang convertible (DUH!).

I don't think there is much you can do about it, but if you are like me, it's not as bad if you have prepared yourself for this ahead of time. If you are really lucky, you might arrive on slow day or time and walk right up to the counter!

 

[gottaluvdis]

I'm not so sure it's due to "newbies". We go to Orlando and rent cars at MCO at least twice a year and have only encountered a long line maybe once or twice. I think the fact that it was a Saturday had a lot to do with it, or maybe a lot of flights landed at the same time. We rented a car from Budget MCO on Monday, 4/26 and walked right up to the counter - no lines, no waiting. Even had time to argue with the reservation agent regarding our reserved SUV that she tried to replace with an intermediate.

 

[ivanova]

that's why DH belongs t Budget's FastBreak program ... we can pass up those long miserable lines

 

[fireguy5620]

Become a memember of say: Hertz #1 Gold, Alamo Quick Silver, or any of the other preferred clubs and avoid the lines. Membership is generally free with exception of Hertz I believe. If the reservation is made using your membership card they generally have the car waiting for you and you just get in and drive...most generally but not always.

 

[webray]

Definately..if you are a business traveler..you should join the rental car programs and avoid the lines altogether.

 

[mmouse37]

MCO is hit or miss...we frequently rent from MCO and it all depends on the day, the time and the car agency as to when there will be a line. Sometimes we have waited 40 minutes while the agency right next us had no line and vice versa.

But thanks for the heads up....at least people can be prepared for long lines should there by any!

MJ

 

[DrCavin]

Yep, just join the club of whatever agency & you avoid the line. For Budget we went straight to the garage & picked up the SUV.

The Beacon Journal is my favorite newspaper! Love Plutos, not the Disney character, articles!!

 

[NejTheLion]

We usually book with Hertz as my parents are #1 Gold Club Preferred (whatever) members because of business. I think it's worth it to use one of the companies that doesn't have a counter onsite at the airport. You just take a quick 5 min shuttle over and there are much fewer people; at most there'll be a shuttle's worth.

 

[RickW]

Originally posted by NejTheLion
We usually book with Hertz as my parents are #1 Gold Club Preferred (whatever) members because of business. I think it's worth it to use one of the companies that doesn't have a counter onsite at the airport. You just take a quick 5 min shuttle over and there are much fewer people; at most there'll be a shuttle's worth.

I admit that things may have changed over the last 7 years, but I haven't rented from Hertz since our honeymoon since we had such a horrible experience with them. I don't need to go into the details here, but I would disagree that the lines at Hertz would necessarily be shorter just because it is off site. The one and only time we have ever rented from Hertz in Orlando, we waited for over 1.5 hours in line before we could get our car and finally make it to the Beach Club after Midnight. Our flight landed sometime in the 9:00 hour.

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

My work does give me Enterprise preferred rental priviledges, but stupid me, I decided to save a few bucks and go with Budget this time. I was standing in that line thinking about my $10 savings the whole time.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

I've posted this before, but Scott's last post reminded me of it. For our upcoming cruise in October, I did the math and figured out how much going with a rental car and a room at the Radisson saved us (2 adults, 1 child) when compared to the Hyatt and DCL transfers. It ended up being about $50. When I thought about waiting in line for a rental car, dropping the car off on the morning of the cruise, shuttling to and from the port, etc., I decided on going the easy and more expensive route. I just knew I'd be waiting in line thinking about the relatively small (when compared to the cost of the vacation) amount of money I'd be saving and thinking it wasn't worth it.

Along those lines, how crowded are the rental car desks in Port Canaveral on the debarkation morning? I would imagine that they could get pretty long.

 

[crisi]

We had a long wait for a rental at MCO once as well. So we don't rent cars anymore.

And I have had problems with my Hertz Gold membership where the car wasn't there, or the car wasn't what I needed. I've driven a minivan through San Francisco (not the car to try and park in SF!) when I was suppose to be in a compact and waited an hour to get a decent car in Newark. Those programs are great when they work, but they aren't fault free.

 

[dianthus]

National & Avis have aisle programs at MCO if you are an Emerald, or Wizard member. Just pick a car in the class reserved & drive to the exit window in the garage. We are in and out in a few minutes. Drop off is just as fast too. We usually drop the luggage off with a sky cap first & then loop around the airport for the rental return. Then we just take the elevator up to the terminal, luggage free.

The AvIs in Cocoa Beach is very efficient. If people are ready, they get you in and out quick after exiting the shuttle. As the place is small, it can get crowded after a cruise, but the line moves. Their shuttle is very efficient too.

Never rented from Budget, so I don't know about them.

 

[SueEllen]

Which is exactly why I have Budget's Fastbreak and National's Emerald Club. If you join these programs you do not have to wait in the line at the counter. That was a great time saver for us at the airport.

Sue Ellen

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by SueEllen
Which is exactly why I have Budget's Fastbreak and National's Emerald Club. If you join these programs you do not have to wait in the line at the counter. That was a great time saver for us at the airport.

Anyone that doesn't belong to one of these programs(that are free) deserves to wait in line.