Car rental help!

[OrlandoMagic]

Never rented a car in the US and need help from the experts!

We have decided that on our upcoming trip we will pick up a car from the airport (Tampa) then drop it off at Downtown Disney. Then on our last day we will do the reverse.

Here's our dates/times...

Sep 15th, pick up from Tampa Airport about 17:30 and drop off at DTD next morning (16th) about 08:00.

Sep 29th, pick up from DTD about 11:00 and drop off at Tampa Airport about 16:30.

We have been looking at Budget as they seem to be one of the cheapest for one ways, also a friend told me a lot of the other companies charge a one way fee?

Does it help if I apply for the Fastbreak service that budget offer?

Just need some tips/advice if that's OK? Thanks in advance!

 

[wayneg]

Hi Simon.
What price you getting & what size car?

I have never been charged a one way rental fee for cars within Florida, I believe it is only if you are taking them out of state but you might want to double check with who you intend to book with.

I just checked Holiday Autos, including tank of gas & additional drivers (£5 extra) total comes to £22.85 for cheapest car. Thats from Tampa to Disney Car Care centre, they have other drop off places which I did not check.
With them it actually says on the booking one way rental charge 0.00USD

Last time I booked thru Holiday autos I booked with these instructions http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/othe...t/734198-holidayautos-discount-worldwide.html
got me the discount quoted and 9% cashback, meaning the above price of £22.85 could be brought down to £20.79 after £2.06 cashback.

At £20.79 they will make a loss but looks like its possible.

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Hi Wayne, thanks for having a look for me!

We are after at least a standard SUV as there will be 4 adults all with at least 1 large suitcase and 1 piece of hand luggage. Also want to get satnav as well.

I just checked using the link you gave and found it to come out at about £55, so just over £50 after cashback.

When I looked on Budget it came out about £48.

Not sure if I have worked that all out correctly! So many options, it's a little confusing!

 

[wayneg]

Chevrolet Trailblazer(or similar)Standard SUV 4dr £40.80 (only another 85p to get Full size SUV)
Gold cover & GPS adds £25 total £ 65.80 less cashback.

Is it Budget.co.uk you looked at?
I am getting it to show Group W - e.g. Jeep Cherokee Sport SUV or similar @ 39.20 GBP but no price for tank of gas or GPS maybe you are looking elsewhere

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Chevrolet Trailblazer(or similar)Standard SUV 4dr £40.80 (only another 85p to get Full size SUV)
Gold cover & GPS adds £25 total £ 65.80 less cashback.

Is it Budget.co.uk you looked at?
I am getting it to show Group W - e.g. Jeep Cherokee Sport SUV or similar @ 39.20 GBP but no price for tank of gas or GPS maybe you are looking elsewhere

Sorry Wayne, I got busy with other things and forgot about this thread. Just need a little more help if you wouldn't mind!

I am now thinking, instead of the original plan of renting for one day at the start and end of the holiday, that we pick up a car on arrival and then keep it for the entire duration of the holiday.

I looked on Carhire3000 and have found a Jeep Liberty for £332.68 including premium package.

Question time!

Is this a good price? I will use Quidco so I know I should get some cashback too.

Will the Jeep Liberty (or similar) be large enough for 4 adults all with a large suit case each and hand luggage, or will I need to go larger (Dodge Caravan, Chevrolet Uplander size)?

It says you get a full tank, does this mean that you bring it back empty?

We will need to keep the vehicle at the port while we are on our cruse. How much will it cost us to do this (4 nights)?

 

[wayneg]

My 1st thoughts are you are paying a fortune for the Satnav on a 2 week rental. Your £401.52 quote would be reduced to £332.68 without satnav, £69 for 2 weeks rental.
You can buy on Ebay and resell on your return, will cost you next to nothing, this sold recently http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TomTom-XL...ics_GPSSystems_GPSSystems&hash=item4aace178d5
I bought the same model in Walmart in Feb for £45 incl tax. They are about half price over there compared to here. http://www.walmart.com/browse/GPS-N....417443&search_sort=4&selected_items=+&depts=

Carhire 3000 & Netflights seem to be best prices around just now.

All depends which model you get for luggage space, if the price is same you might be better with 7 seater, plenty room on that for 4. You would probably manage in the SUV but definitely more room in the 7 seater van.

Yes, you take the car back as empty as poss.

Parking at the port is $15/day so $60 for your cruise. Other options are offsite parking with shuttle, personally I prefer the secure port compound or one way rentals before and after cruise, would save you parking fee and 3 days rental(not 4 as you collect very early after the cruise so lose a day) but splitting rentals like this often increases costs compared to a rental for 2 full weeks. Taking all this into account we always pay port parking for 4 nights or less (as we are next month)

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Just read that I may need a IDP (International Drivers Permit) if I'm going to be driving in the US. Is this true? I have never heard of it until now!

Starting to panic now as we go in 49 days and also just found out my driving licence has expired!!!

 

[orangetiggs]

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/idp-requirements-by-country.html


I have never had one but found this on the aa site

 

[OrlandoMagic]

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/idp-requirements-by-country.html


I have never had one but found this on the aa site

Yeah I saw that on the AA website. RAC also do them, but do I need one for driving in the US? Has anyone here ever applied for one??

 

[wayneg]

Never heard of it until your post, having read a few sites now seems you are OK without for rental cars.
To me it looks like something the AA are trying to make money from.
I am sure we would have heard more about this if it was something we needed, rented over 30 cars over there and I have never been asked for anything but my UK DL.

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Never heard of it until your post, having read a few sites now seems you are OK without for rental cars.
To me it looks like something the AA are trying to make money from.
I am sure we would have heard more about this if it was something we needed, rented over 30 cars over there and I have never been asked for anything but my UK DL.

That's what I thought, even though I have never driven out there I'm sure I would have read about it on here if it was needed!

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Booked with Carhire3000, phoned them up and found out our reservation is with Dollar.

Are Dollar a good car rental company? We are picking up from Tampa airport, does anyone know if you pick up the car at the airport or is it nearby?

 

[wayneg]

Booked with Carhire3000, phoned them up and found out our reservation is with Dollar.

Are Dollar a good car rental company? We are picking up from Tampa airport, does anyone know if you pick up the car at the airport or is it nearby?

I have rented about 30 cars in the US, about 25 with Dollar, by far my favourite.
From Tampa I have only used Budget & Alamo but they are all together, right next to Dollar, you just cross a road out of the airport to the rental building.

Our next rental early August is with Dollar(7 seater) after 2 weeks take that back and get a smaller car(full size) from Thrifty which is still Dollar.

 

[OrlandoMagic]

I have rented about 30 cars in the US, about 25 with Dollar, by far my favourite.
From Tampa I have only used Budget & Alamo but they are all together, right next to Dollar, you just cross a road out of the airport to the rental building.

Our next rental early August is with Dollar(7 seater) after 2 weeks take that back and get a smaller car(full size) from Thrifty which is still Dollar.

Thanks Wayne, that's good to hear.

Do they try to sell you extra insurance and other things you don't actually need? In the T&C's it says:


Your Rental Includes
* Unlimited Kilometres for ALL car groups
* Insurance ( - Collision Damage Waiver - Theft Protection - 3rd Party Liability - Supplementary Liability Insurance - Uninsured Motorist Protection )
* Local Taxes
* Airport Surcharge
* Premium location fee
* Initial Tank of Fuel
* Additional Drivers (aged 25 years or over)
* Satellite Navigation System Rental
* Homeland Security Fee

Any other tips would be most welcome!

 

[wayneg]

All rental companies try sell you something time to time, they are on commission so its how they earn a wage. Since I enrolled in Dollar Exress they have never tried to sell me any of these.

You have everything you need included, its upto you if you want the extras:

Satnav: looks like you are going to include it anyway.

Tank of gas: again already included

Pass 24: Prepaid toll system, not something I know about.

Roadside Assist: about $5/day if you lock you keys inside, leave lights on etc. Never bought it myself, if I had bought it every trip it would have cost me in excess of $2,000 by now and never needed it.

Only other thing is trying to get you to upgrade, Alamo tried it on with me in Feb, $40/day to upgrade to a better SUV, I refused, price came down to $17.99/day, I refused. Went out to the garage to find the car (Chevy Tahoe) they wanted me to pay extra for, I was getting it anyway.

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Thanks for the advice!

Only other thing is trying to get you to upgrade, Alamo tried it on with me in Feb, $40/day to upgrade to a better SUV, I refused, price came down to $17.99/day, I refused. Went out to the garage to find the car (Chevy Tahoe) they wanted me to pay extra for, I was getting it anyway.

Wow, how cheeky is that! I'll remember to hold my ground if they try that with me!

Sorry, just one more question! How much time do you give yourself between arriving at the airport to return the rental and your flight time?

Our return flight is 18:45, just trying to work out what time to aim to get to the airport?

 

[wayneg]

Depends what we are doing on the final day, last time we came home from Tampa we checked out of the hotel as late as poss(11am) drove about 30mins down the I4 then had lunch at a Cracker Barrel, got to the airport about 2pm for 4:20pm flight.
We aim for about 2hr:30mins from TPA, 2hr:30mins-3hrs from MCO. Security is usually a lot quicker at TPA.