Car collection at Dollar-What strategy?

cslogg

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 8, 2002
Messages
57
I am sure I have read somewhere on this board about a method of collecting your hire car from Dollar while some other members of your party pick up the luggage from the carosells.This is meant to save lots of time in getting away from Orlando Airport.Can anyone help?Do all named drivers on the rental agreement need to go to car hire desk?

Thanks
cslogg
 
We did this on our third trip last year, after both collectiing luggage then car the previous time!!!!!!

From stepping off the plane to actually driving out of aiport was 45-50 mins, this included being stuck behind some one in immigration who had to produce reams of documentation and a lot of discussion before he was allowed to proceed.

On the final collection of the luggage hubby went straight down to the hire car desk whilst i went off to collect the luggage.

He was back within about 10 mins saying there was only one other person collecting their car at the same time.

Over the road to collect car from very efficient staff and off we went.

I will make a point that we were in front of the main load of passengers on the plane as we had flown PE as a treat for hubbys 50th, so our luggage was on the priority belt on the first collection point which gave us a bit of an advantage. But all the luggage comes off on the same carosel on the second claim point.

Just remember to agree beforehand on a meeting up point for both the car collector and luggage collector.

I do believe that all drivers have to be present, only hubby drives out there so i am sure someone else will have the relevent information on this point.

But overall it saved us an enourmous amount of time.

If we hadnt got stuck in immigration i reckon we could have taken 15mins of the time it did take.
 
Yes, all drivers have to sign the form at the counter, so it doesn't really help us!
 
Malcolm, I've always gone to get the car on me own and V's never had to sign any documentation as second driver. We've only flown into Sanford so wonder if yer 'all drivers must sign' is an Orlando Intl rule ?
 

Even though there's 2 of us and we both drive, we still split up. DH gets the bags while I do the car hire. It seems to take them so long to get through the paper work that he's usually there before I've finished. Once I finished before him and just stood to the side while others sorted out their car. The man behind the desk got our keys ready and put them on top of the paper work. DH turned up, signed the form and we were off
 
We've done this for several trips now and we've got it down to a fine art - invariably out of the airport within 30 minutes of landing (including the trip from which we returrned yesterday). It helps to have done it several times and to have a good working knowledge of the airport.

As usual, as we entered the immigration hall, we looked for a vacant position. This time it happened to be the one on the far left-hand side. Although we were amongst the first off the plane (having flown Virgin PE) there were queues forming at several of the central positions (I guess there are other international flights disembarking at the same time). As you enter the hall it splits two ways - most folks will follow those in front of them, so go the opposite way to the crowd. My theory is that people see a queue and assume they have to join it (we've done it ourselves on earlier trips). Look for the empty positions, or those with smaller queues. If there is no-one waiting at a position, you can still use it (provided it is manned), but make sure you wait behind the line until called.

Because we were straight through immigration (as we have been for the last 4 trips at least - this strategy really does work) we had to wait a little while for the baggage carousel to start rolling, but even so we were away within 10 minutes of the plane landing.

You then have to clear security and customs (we always seem to get lucky and get sent straight through). The next stage is to 'give up' your baggage to a conveyor which takes it to the main building.

You then have to head for the monorail which takes <i>you</i> to the main building. Move along the 'platform' as far as possible - that way you will be in the front carriage and the first to exit at the other end and thus not get caught up in the crowd. I feel I need to say at this point that I'm not as obsessive about all this as I sound! I'm very polite and don't push in! I just take advantage of any opportunity I see.

I then head for level B (second baggage claim), whilst dh heads to level A and the Dollar Car Hire Desk. This way he has never had to queue. I usually have a short wait at the baggage carousel as my 'blitz it' plan means I always beat the luggage over to the main terminal. I am always the first to arrive at the carousel! It moves clockwise, so position yourself at the left-hand entrance and as soon as your cases appear, you are in pole postion to retrieve them. We have cases with pull-out handles and wheels, so I don't have to worry about a trolley. OK, I admit it, I am obsessive!

Once I have retrieved the luggage, I get into the elevators immediately behind me and descend to level A where dh is usually at the Dollar desk finishing up. Although we always buy the package which allows me to drive too, I don't bother attending the desk. I'd only every drive if dh wasn't able to for some reason and we figure that we'd be able to sort out the formalities if the need arose.

If you have never done it before, do take time to familiarise yourselves with the car controls and the directions to your accommodation. It is as familiar to us now as our own back yard, but we took a few wrong turns in the earlier years.
 
Deb !! I love yer meticulous plannin and operational skills. Yer a comando's soulmate !(I'd go all soppy, but Matt's bloomin massive!)

And yer not obsessive,Pet. Some people just don't appreciate folk like us that need to be in control and have all options covered before we step out the door :jester:
 
LOL, Dave! But you wouldn't guess what a laid back trip we just came back from. Even more than your recent "chillin' it" holider!
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE











DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom