Hire Car Question?

[Girlsontour]

Having managed perfectly well without a hire car for the last 3 years, DH now decides he might like to have a go at driving!! Can the car be delivered to you at your hotel (staying at CSR and have booked with Virgin) They deal with Dollar i think Do you also "upgrade" the insurance package or do you just make do with the basic one?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Cannot answer about the car delivery question as we collect from Dollar at MCO.
If you rent a car you really need the full insurance package that includes LDW (Loss Damage Waiver) and SLI (Supplementary Liability Insurance), so that you are fully covered.
LDW is roughly $20 per day, SLI is roughly $13 - we tend to pre-book with Virgin so that we just pay for fuel on arrival.

 

[KayleeUK]

There is a car rental place at the Swan and Dolphin where you could collect a car

 

[jns]

We always pick it up at the airport and get the full cover before you go
always book the car on our own , not with a TA

 

[Girlsontour]

Thanks for the information - i will phone Virgin tomorrow and see what they suggest!

 

[mikki.young]

Virgin may not be the cheapest place to get car hire. Trailfinders offer an all inclusive Alamo rate which worked out cheaper when I looked at it. You can get the car from the Disney Car care centre and they will pick you up from your hotel and take you there.

 

[snookhams]

When we were looking at Car hire prices Virgin were not the cheapest in fact came in as one of the dearest offers that we had! try www.airline-network.co.uk we have used this company several times and are very reasonable, I would always recommend that you pay for the extra insurance and a tank of petrol beforehand as it is a lot cheaper and we have always found quicker, they do have other collection points other than MCO. We have also looked at www.yescarhire.com and found them cheap but as yet have not used them.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I have always got a great deal with Hertz, I tend to book direct with one of the major car hire companies via their UK web site portals.
Choose the right one and there is no massive queue when 360 other people come off the same flight and head for the same counter

 

[Tron[ADS]]

we found www.holidayautos.co.uk to be cheapest for us this year, they again list an all inclusive rate, you only need to think about fuel costs after that.
You will be surprised what a difference a car will make to your vacation....I doubt you'll ever consider going again without.

 

[Miffy2003]

We hired through Airline Network last year and picked up the car at the Dolphin (National?) - very convenient if you are staying onsite. You can also collect it at the MK Car Care Centre and I think that they will come and pick you up from your onsite resort to take you there. Anyone know?

 

[IrishImp]

I'm starting to plan out a trip for next summer and am currently looking at car hire also but on trying to get quotes on the Holiday Autos site, why does it seemingly not allow you to drop off the vehicle at the same location that you pick it up from?

Or am I doing something wrong?

 

[Miffy2003]

I'm starting to plan out a trip for next summer and am currently looking at car hire also but on trying to get quotes on the Holiday Autos site, why does it seemingly not allow you to drop off the vehicle at the same location that you pick it up from?

Or am I doing something wrong?

Not sure... anyone else know?

 

[wayneg]

Just tried holiday autos, it automatically puts in same as collection point for me, did not have to use drop down box at all for drop off.
I have used airnet.co.uk for years now so I compare our next trip with holiday autos, Airnet £517. HA's £544 I did not look who they use but airnet is Dollar which I have never had a problem with (Alamo did not even have a car available when we arrived they put us in a taxi to resort and back next day when one was available, so no car for 1st 24 hours)

 

[IrishImp]

Thanks for checking must have been something I did, or maybe something with my browser.

I worked it out seems that while I was toying around with which location to use if it wasn't prefilling the drop off location I was looking down the list amongst the Orlando locations and it wasn't there but looking again now the one that matched the pickup point was actually reordered to the top of the drop down list.

Thanks

 

[PaulaSB12]

I am thinking of hiring a car for a few days, so I can go shopping and go to Busch Gardens. The only thing that worrys me is the automatic gear box and how easy it is to find anywhere. I have never driven an automatic car I am used to a british gear stick.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I am thinking of hiring a car for a few days, so I can go shopping and go to Busch Gardens. The only thing that worrys me is the automatic gear box and how easy it is to find anywhere. I have never driven an automatic car I am used to a british gear stick.

Hi Paula - driving an automatic is easy, mush easier than a manual.
Main things to remember are the car should be in the P(arking) position when you park and get out of the car, if it is not you probably won't be able to remove the key, R(reverse) is straightforward, and D(drive) is too, these are generally the 3 settings you will use.

You will find the hard part is getting used to your car again when you arrive back home.

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Hi Paula - driving an automatic is easy, mush easier than a manual.
Main things to remember are the car should be in the P(arking) position when you park and get out of the car, if it is not you probably won't be able to remove the car, R(reverse) is straightforward, and D(drive) is too, these are generally the 3 settings you will use.

I think Johnny meant "remove the key" rather than "remove the car"

In addition to what Johnny says, some cars require your foot to be on the brake pedal when you are turning the engine over to start, or it wont do anything.

I have to say that prior to experiencing an Automatic car, I always thought of them as sort of a beginners or lesser quality drivers kind of car, and I would never like to lose my control over gears. I never would have dreamed of buying one. Now I know better after driving in Florida and "seeing the light", I realise its completely pointless having to change gear when I can have it done for me, so my last car I bought was an Automatic. Of course there were other factors in automatic gearboxes that would have put me off, such as lower performance, higher fuel consumption, higher emmissions etc, but modern technology on some cars have wiped out those potential stumbling blocks. My Automatic box on my Mazda has exact same performance figures as its manual counterpart, and I can drive it in a propper 5 speed manual mode if I so wanted. The auto box on the Honda Jazz, Ford Fuzion, and Vauxhall Meriva are all similar technology.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think Johnny meant "remove the key" rather than "remove the car"

edited accordingly.

 

[Tron[ADS]]

edited accordingly.

Oh great...now my post looks stupid.
hehe

 

[wayneg]

Same with me I find it harder to return home and use the gears again. Strange when we bought our new car 1st March we went for gears again. It was a decision between Auto Merc or manual BMW. Even though Auto is so easy I associate it with Florida not for our driving here. Maybe auto in 3 years we will see.