Miscellaneous expenses questions

[My2Qtz0205]

I'm trying to budget our trip (already getting out of control, might I add? )

1. We are flying down. It will be DH & me, my mom, and our two children, ages 6 and 3. We are using DD's carseat on the plane, but I have heard that DS's booster seat will not be approved for flying, as the planes don't have shoulder straps. So, is it true that the airline (in our case, SW), must check it for free?

2. How much do the luggage carts in the airports rent for?

3. How much should I budget for tolls?

4. How much is gas going for in Orlando right now? This will give me an idea of how it compares to gas in our area.

5. We will probably rent our car through Avis. Our flight leaves Orlando at 8am. My mil thinks we should turn in our rental car at 5am. Is this really necessary?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

 

[natnelliesmom]

We always get the car seats through the car rental place. Have done this 3 times and have always received a brand new car seat and had to install it ourselves. (something we'd do anyway!) It's usually around $8 a day, less for the second one. I have found that my kids won't sit in their car seats on the plane. And I can not say enough about what a HASSLE they are to install on the plane. It's a disaster. Not to mention carrying them around the airport.

You will not be able to use the booster on the plane. They will gate check it for you for free, but call ahead to double check.

Are you staying in WDW resort? If so- don't bother with the rental car. You will hardly use it. Magic express is free and you don't need to pick up your luggage.

-Sarah

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Booster seats are never approved for flying or for using on any transportation that does not have shoulder belts.

If your airport has luggage carts, the fee will be between $3 and $5. Smaller airports don't always have them. Check the airport website for more info.

Don't know a thing about tolls except they need to be exact change in the Orlando area, at least per AAA.

Don't know about gas prices.

If you have an 8:00 am flight, you need to arrive at the CHECKIN location 60-90 minutes in advance. At our regional airport it's only 40 minutes, but major airports can take much, much longer. At Orlando, if it were me, I'd try to arrive for checkin 1.5-2 hrs in advance. That means you have to drop the rental car off EARLIER. Allow 30 minutes for the rental car return and shuttle to the departures counter. The last couple of times we rented a car, dh dropped me, the kids and the luggage at the departures area, and then he returned the car. Much less hassle than bringing the kids, the carseat, the grandma to the rental return and stuffing it all on a shuttle. But you can't checkin w/o him. If the line is long enough, you CAN stand in line and let him join him you.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Oh, I might be ok renting a booster from a car rental company, but I would never rent a carseat from one. you might get new ones as the pp did, but you might get something very unsafe or outdated. A backless booster takes very little luggage space, or you could even buy one at the first Walmart/Target/Kmart you see (we've done that before, when we've been familiar with the area we're flying into). A backless booster at Walmart is only $20 and you can leave it for another family for less than the price of renting one from the car rental co.

 

[aTasteOfHeaven]

Gas prices are about $2.30/gallon.

http://www.orlandogasprices.com/

 

[buzyanne]

someone mentioned the free transportation to and from the parks for Disney Resort guests. If you are staying on Disney Property they also have a pick up service from the airport. They do not require car seats on any of the buses. If you are staying on grounds you would not need to bring the car seats on the trip

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Thanks for the replies!

We are staying off-site in a rental house.

My son is in a full-sized carseat, without the 5 point harness. By gate checking, do you mean take it up to the desk as we are about to board the plane, or check it with our luggage at check-in?

Our airport is pretty large, so they should have luggage carts (Norfolk Int'l.). I need to remember to check how much it will cost us to leave our car there, though!

Finally, it sounds as though gas prices there are comparable to some of the higher priced gas stations here. I'm not quite sure how to predict what gas prices will be 4 months from now, but as it gets closer I'll have a good indication for how much we can expect to spend on that.

 

[LuvBug1977]

Thanks for the replies!

We are staying off-site in a rental house.

My son is in a full-sized carseat, without the 5 point harness. By gate checking, do you mean take it up to the desk as we are about to board the plane, or check it with our luggage at check-in?

We have flown several times with carseats & boosters. Gate check means take it to the desk where you are boarding the plane. They usually give you a luggage tag to put on it and put in under the plane as you board. Don't forget to pick it up plane-side whenever you get off the plane! It will not be sent to luggage claim with the rest of the luggage! You will have to pick it up beside the plane just like oversized carry ons that don't fit in the overhead bins! Most stores sell carseat bags that have a shoulder strap on them to help transport them. Hope this helps! Feel free to pm me with questions about carseats & planes. Don't know much about rental cars as we usually drive our own, or a family members.