Do you usually collect your hired car up at the airport?

[sara969]

When are holiday was quoted she said that it included car hire and a suitable car will be given according to how many people on the booking.
We have 6 adults 2 kids so we will likely be given a large people carrier.

However i was wondering how we will get from the airport to our villa?
Do you think that the car hire that is included will likely to be available at the airport or near the airport when we arrive??

Or will we need to get a taxi from the Airport to our Villa?

(I think we are definately going to ask the car hire company if we can also hire a Sat Nav with the car, i am not sure if this is going to be really expensive to hire for 2 weeks)

 

[henrydog]

Hi Sara and welcome
I would have thought the car hire will most certainly be from the airport.
But one thing to consider is it may not include all the compulsory taxes & insurances that you need, that is sometimes extra when booking a package holiday which includes 'free' carhire, so i should find out for sure if you will have to pay for this.

 

[wayneg]

Yes collect at the airport its the easiest and cheapest way.
Car rentals from tour ops like thomsons are usually very expensive get your holiday quote itemised, see what they are adding for insurance, almost every time it worth hiring seperate and not taking their car. All these companies are used by DISboarders, check their prices and compare with tour op.
Sat nav works out approx same price to rent for 2 weeks as what it does to buy, its an expensive option.
http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/
http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/
http://www.netflights.com/car-hire.aspx
http://www.carhire3000.com/Home.do?c...a&city=Orlando
http://www.carhireflorida.net/
http://www.virginatlantictravelplus.com/DefaultCar.aspx
http://www.alamo.co.uk/Hotdeals/740/uk/aluk_discount_usa

 

[Lisa x]

I definately second wayneg there, sometimes travel agents insurance alone on the car is more expensive than fully inclusive car hire going direct with one of the companies he has added links there for. We usually get to upgrade the car for the same cost!!!

 

[jen_uk]

I was going to hire a satnav but as Wayne said its the same price to just buy one so thats what I've done

 

[jayduk]

We didn't find navigating around too difficult as long as you have someone in the passenger seat who can concentrate on the map and keeping an eye out for the driver who's struggling with the stupid broken automatic car
(They came and replaced it in the end!)
Nearly every leaflet contains a map (there are hundreds of them, everywhere you go! some with coupons!). It's worth keeping an eye out for them at the airport and in Walmart, also grab a couple of different ones as we found some maps good for different journeys (i.e some just concentrated on I-Drive which was useless for Disney).
Also, see if they will supply directions from the airport to your villa, our directions were amazing when we booked our villa last year with Delmar World (who we have booked our holiday with this year).

 

[MrGLWatson]

When are holiday was quoted she said that it included car hire and a suitable car will be given according to how many people on the booking.
We have 6 adults 2 kids so we will likely be given a large people carrier.

However i was wondering how we will get from the airport to our villa?
Do you think that the car hire that is included will likely to be available at the airport or near the airport when we arrive??

Or will we need to get a taxi from the Airport to our Villa?

(I think we are definately going to ask the car hire company if we can also hire a Sat Nav with the car, i am not sure if this is going to be really expensive to hire for 2 weeks)

You will probably be given something like this

to drive.
It's an 8 seater "mini-van". Plenty of room for luggage BTW.

We had a sat-nav last year, well worth having in my view if you are staying in a villa. I took my own though and just bought a USA map for it.

Gary

 

[redrosesix]

If you're staying on WDW property, you can take ME to your resort. There are several car rental companies around The World, including Alamo/National just outside the entrance to MK. Rates can be cheaper outside the airport, but this fluctuates. If you choose to pick up at the airport, try using the driving directions given on the WDW website -- better than using a GPS, actually, and make sure you have money for the toll roads (I think there are 3, and they sometimes require exact change) -- about $5-$6 in coins should do it.

If you're staying off-site, the only good way is to get the vehicle at the airport -- the taxi fees make it uneconomical to rent elsewhere.

 

[sara969]

Thank you so much everyone

And WOW Gary, that van is HUGE!!! Imagine running one of them over here for the price of petrol and everything else over here EEEEEEK
Its a fab size though and would be perfect for all of us and our luggage.

 

[MrGLWatson]

Yes it was big, but easy to drive on the large US roads so don't worry too much about that.
Only filled up once for the two weeks we had it - can't remember how much it was now, but I do remember it didn't seem a lot at the time.

Gary

 

[Zeebs]

Do you own an English Sat Nav or know someone who does, it may be cheaper just to upload it with the maps for America.

We actually bought one while we were there on our trip from LA to Vancouver because we knew we would be going back to put it to good use.

The only time my husband and I argue is when we are map reading. But even we did ok in Florida (trip before we bought the Gav the Sat Nav), we did get lost a bit but nothing major.

A word on the insurance, when we were picking up our car in LA a family from the UK arrived and the package they had for their car didn't include insurance, the price they charged them was terrible and you could tell the family certainly didn't have it budgeted in to their trip. Whether it was compulsary for them to have I don't know but the rental people didn't look like they were going to let them take the car without getting it.

Kirsten

 

[sara969]

Do you own an English Sat Nav or know someone who does, it may be cheaper just to upload it with the maps for America.

We actually bought one while we were there on our trip from LA to Vancouver because we knew we would be going back to put it to good use.

The only time my husband and I argue is when we are map reading. But even we did ok in Florida (trip before we bought the Gav the Sat Nav), we did get lost a bit but nothing major.

A word on the insurance, when we were picking up our car in LA a family from the UK arrived and the package they had for their car didn't include insurance, the price they charged them was terrible and you could tell the family certainly didn't have it budgeted in to their trip. Whether it was compulsary for them to have I don't know but the rental people didn't look like they were going to let them take the car without getting it.

Kirsten

Hi Kirsten,

We have got a Tom Tom, but it is the England only one, it dosnt even have Europe on it.
What type of Sat Nav do i need for it too work in America?
Regarding the car insurance, Thomson did tell us that the car hire didnt include insurance, but we can pay for the insurance before we go with Thomson, do you think we will be ok if we do this?

Many thanks

 

[Zeebs]

Hi Kirsten,

We have got a Tom Tom, but it is the England only one, it dosnt even have Europe on it.
What type of Sat Nav do i need for it too work in America?
Regarding the car insurance, Thomson did tell us that the car hire didnt include insurance, but we can pay for the insurance before we go with Thomson, do you think we will be ok if we do this?

Many thanks

The Tom Tom we have only has the American, Canada and Cuba? maps on them but we can buy England and Europe maps for them on the tom tom site and down load them onto our Tom Tom. I am not technical really but I would assume you should be able to do the same.

With regards to the Insurance, I am sure if you buy the cover that Thomson offers you will be covered, but as other people have mentioned, you will probably spend less money doing a completely new hire through one of the sites Wayneg listed.

I have never done it before we just organised everything on our own. I think I have read in the past - someone correct me if I am wrong but you just organise new car hire and then don't collect the car that you have organised with Thomson.

Kirsten