has anyone ever done a one way car rental?

[kdtwiss]

I have been racking my brain trying to work this out and it seems our best option would be to drive down and fly back - i was wondering if anyone has ever done a one way car rental and who would you all recommend for that?

The reasons for this are numerous, but the #1 reason is nearly 3 years ago my dh was attacked and nearly killed by a drunken maniac and though it has been an incredibly long time to finally get him to court, the court date which has been for the last week in April was rescheduled to - you guessed it - right during our vaca time. We were originally planning on coming back for Friday evening, but the court date was set for Thursday,so the best they could do was arrange for dh to be the last witness called giving us untill 1st thing Friday am. Otherwise they would be rescheduling yet again, possibly 6 months down the road. We relly can not dothat - we all need some closure to this horrible event. So to make a long story longer if we drove down we could stick to our original plan for the beginning of our vaca, but would have to leave at the crack of dawn Thursday morning to return.With 4 kids I think it is too much to expect them to just drive straight through,though they are wonderful inthe car. So those are my reasons. Can anyone offer me any advice about one way car rentals?

 

[golfgal]

I have been racking my brain trying to work this out and it seems our best option would be to drive down and fly back - i was wondering if anyone has ever done a one way car rental and who would you all recommend for that?

The reasons for this are numerous, but the #1 reason is nearly 3 years ago my dh was attacked and nearly killed by a drunken maniac and though it has been an incredibly long time to finally get him to court, the court date which has been for the last week in April was rescheduled to - you guessed it - right during our vaca time. We were originally planning on coming back for Friday evening, but the court date was set for Thursday,so the best they could do was arrange for dh to be the last witness called giving us untill 1st thing Friday am. Otherwise they would be rescheduling yet again, possibly 6 months down the road. We relly can not dothat - we all need some closure to this horrible event. So to make a long story longer if we drove down we could stick to our original plan for the beginning of our vaca, but would have to leave at the crack of dawn Thursday morning to return.With 4 kids I think it is too much to expect them to just drive straight through,though they are wonderful inthe car. So those are my reasons. Can anyone offer me any advice about one way car rentals?

One way rentals are horribly expensive. Do you need to be at the trial as well (other then to give your DH moral support)? Could your DH fly back early on his own and then you and the kids fly back on Friday and meet him after the trial?

 

[golfgal]

Ok, I went to the Alamo website and saw that for a one way rental for 2 days for a minivan (because you said you have 4 kids) leaving from Phillidelphia (no idea where you live, just picked that out of a hat) droping off at the car care center at WDW was $309, just for a ballpark figure for you.

 

[kdtwiss]

Thank you so much - you know only the people on this board would actually take the time to go and check out something like that for a total stranger.

I really do feel like I need to be there for my husband. I have a feeling it is going to be an extremely emotional day. I do agree with you, the cost is very expensive. I am from Boston area so it ended up being about $500 for 3 days. The rental was not that bad but a "drop off fee" of $335 put the cost way up.
The good news is I think I may have hit on a solution,totally by accident. I have been looking at Delta Song trying to find good rates (and times where we do not hae to leave at the crack of dawn) and by accident put in Ft. Lauderdale as my destination. Well turns out that total airfare for all of us going there instead of Orlando was only $817 vs. $1200. Airfare to and from Ft. Lauderdale is only $59 each way! So by flying there we can get the airfare AND rental car for less than just flying in to Orlando. I found a local car rental agency that will only be $303 for the minivan for the whole time!
The next dilemna is, if we do that I will I think have to change around entire plans!!
This is how life has been sigh...
Originally we planned on driving down Tuesday 5 - 17 arriving at Nick Hotel for 2 night (5/19- 5/20) we were then going to move onto POR starting 5/21 checking out 5/27.
Then we learned about court date - moved POR to 5/20 - 5/26. Figured we would just have to skip Nick for one night.
However the closer we got,the more we realized that leaving first thing 5/26 and driving all the way through just was not realistic, so I was afraid we would have to cut out one day earlier even! YUCK!
Which brings me to my mad desperate search to get there and back w/o losing any days! I wanted to drive in fly back so we would at least have a car while at Nick Hotel, but as you stated - very expensive.

So (if anyone has even read this far, I applaud you for even caring at all what this crazy person is saying) I called Song, Nick Hotel and Disney and it seems we could move our Nick time to 5/17 and 5/18 (though we would have to pay $174 instead of $148) check into POR on 5/19 and check out on 5/25 instead. The only problem with that is, that night we have a dinner at O'hana's and a bday Wishes cruise, so after that nowhere to stay really. I don;t mind too much tho - I just got an email about some not too horrid looking hotel for $40 so I figure we could stay there, or just stay untill cruise is over, parks close and drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Anyhow, that is the whole convuluted story. Thanks for listening -what do you think?

 

[golfgal]

If you go to the home page for DIS, there are some hotels listed in and around DIsney for pretty good prices, especaially since some include a free breakfast. That might be an option, too. I am not sure how long of a drive it is to Ft. Lauderdale, but driving anywhere, leaving at what 10-11pm after a long day in the parks doesn't sound like a great idea.

Post over on the Orlando Area hotels board and see if anyone can give you recommendations for a one night hotel that is clean and cheep (there are probably some there already).

 

[manning]

driving anywhere, leaving at what 10-11pm after a long day in the parks doesn't sound like a great idea.

Studies are showing driving exhausted is like driving while drunk. The reaction time goes and if you fall asleep behind the wheel you won't know it until you hit something.

 

[dbarker]

Have you looked into Thrifty? We just rented a one-way from them in CA (San Diego to LA). They did not charge any extra for a one-way rental. We liked them. (that was the first and only time we have ever rented a car). Also, there are websites w/ discount codes for Thrifty.