Clearing customs and time to pick up car rental

[prairiesarah]

This will only be our second time clearing customs at MCO. Previous trips Delta was still flying out of YQR via Minneapolis so we'd clear customs there. Just trying to figure out what time to put for my car rental pick up. Our flight gets in at 2:06pm. Anyone else who has cleared customs in MCO have any thoughts? We do have Nexus. Last time we got tied up in secondary inspection, but can't remember how long that even took. I should pay more attention this time. Our car rental is for 2 weeks plus a couple hours so trying to find the sweet spot for price so I don't get charged extra.

 

[Starwind]

I'm watching a vlog right now of someone who flew into MCO from the UK. They took half an hour to get through Customs, which they said is a bit quicker than normal.

With Nexus, which gives you Global Entry, you should get through pretty quickly unless you get secondary'd.

You could budget in some extra time and if you don't need it go to the food court and get some a late lunch heading to your car rental.

SW

 

[kiford]

We've never cleared customs in MCO but if you have Nexus it should be a relative breeze. The rental car pickup may be the longer wait. We always take DME and you have to pass all of the rental agency desks. There always seem to be long lines which makes me grateful for not having to use them. It doesn't even seem to make a difference what time we get there. It seems like the same length at 2 pm as at midnight. And I have to admit that I've no idea where the cars are. I don't know if they're just there at the airport or if they have to shuttle you to an off-site location as is done in some airports. I'm assuming the clock starts when you finalize the paperwork not when you get into the car and/or leave the lot.

 

[prairiesarah]

I'm watching a vlog right now of someone who flew into MCO from the UK. They took half an hour to get through Customs, which they said is a bit quicker than normal.

With Nexus, which gives you Global Entry, you should get through pretty quickly unless you get secondary'd.

You could budget in some extra time and if you don't need it go to the food court and get some a late lunch heading to your car rental.

SW

Thanks! I did end up adjusting my time to one I feel is a bit better timing.

We've never cleared customs in MCO but if you have Nexus it should be a relative breeze. The rental car pickup may be the longer wait. We always take DME and you have to pass all of the rental agency desks. There always seem to be long lines which makes me grateful for not having to use them. It doesn't even seem to make a difference what time we get there. It seems like the same length at 2 pm as at midnight. And I have to admit that I've no idea where the cars are. I don't know if they're just there at the airport or if they have to shuttle you to an off-site location as is done in some airports. I'm assuming the clock starts when you finalize the paperwork not when you get into the car and/or leave the lot.

We've rented the last two trips to MCO. Depending on who you book through your wait can really vary it seems. I have booked through Alamo in the past which offers online checkin/skip the counter. I've been able to go right to the garage (across the road/crosswalk from the car rental counters so just a couple minute walk from there). Then I just go to the aisle for the car I picked, choose which one I want, load up the luggage, head to the gate, show my paperwork and leave. It's been super easy/fast. Neither time I was more than 10 minutes from the time I got to the garage to the time I was exiting. This time I had to book with Hertz (after a dumb decision in which I errantly cancelled my Alamo reservation). But it seems Hertz offers the same thing (albeit I need to go to the Hertz location at home before I leave to have my drivers license and cc verified - but not really a bit deal if I means I can skip the counter). On the flip side, everything I've read Budget has horrifying lines. Waits can be one to two hours +.