National Rental - SUV or Minivan?

[akasleepingbeauty]

Since I found such an awesome deal with National on both SUVs and Minivans for our trip next January, I am now in a quandary as to which I should reserve. We have gotten minivans in the past because I still have not learned the fine art of packing lightly. However, we also had 5 people traveling where as this time it will only be me, dh, and our dd (with carseat). We will have 4 suitcases, a few smaller bags (diaper bag, camera bag etc.) a stroller, and a backpack carrier. I just want to make sure everything fits without a lot of struggle (dh gets cranky when it takes too much effort/time to load everything in).

So, what would you suggest - the minivan or the SUV? It seems that the minivans have more passenger space but therefore compromise on the storage space whereas the SUVs are the opposite - this according to the "stats" listed on the car info on National's website. Any opinions on this?

Thanks for your help,
Rhonda

 

[drusba]

With 3 people the van would actually provide more cargo space as you can put the back seat down. Nevertheless, an SUV should hold what you will have.

 

[Gillian]

An SUV might be a little tight with all of the luggage you have! The stroller & backpack carrier take up a lot of room & are awkward to pack. You wouldn't want to put them in the backseat, I don't think. My husband would kill me if I packed 4 suitcases for us (2 adults, 18 m.o.), but it's hard to travel light with a little one

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

I did think about just folding down the van seat for more storage as needed. We have a minivan at home and that's what we do when necessary but we don't have and have never driven an SUV so I am unfamiliar with the storage in one. Yes, the backpack and stroller are bulky although thankfully neither are large models so that helps (we were able to put them both next to the sliding door in rental minivan on our last trip).

We do take 4 suitcases but none of them are large - I take one for each of us (for our clothes and toiletries) and one with all of the miscellaneous stuff we always seem to need (few toys, laundry tablets, brita bottles, refillable mugs, small kitchen supplies since we are DVC owners, family radios and chargers etc). I then take one carryon for my dd and myself and dh takes his computer bag and cameras. We did take fewer clothes this time since we can do laundry in our room but there was still enough to fill a medium-sized bag for each of us. I guess I'll need to try harder next time to consolidate further....

Well, I am going to think a bit harder about this and try to decide which makes the most sense. I think maybe we were just hoping to get away with the SUV this time just for something different but maybe that is wishful thinking

Thanks for your input,
Rhonda

 

[drusba]

The number of suitcases you have did not even click as too many to me. With my DW and two DD's, we usually start about 3 days before the trip getting suitcases out to start packing. I put a few in the spare room for their use and then as the days progress, the suitcases, like rabbits, begin to multiply exponentially.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I too am searching for rental of a mini-van, and the best price I can come up with is $399.87, which is unlimited mileage from RDU-Orlando-MCO and it is a weekly rental. In your search, were you able to come up with anything better? I recognize that renting in Orlando is usually cheaper, but there are 6 of us, and we don't want to fly down as $400 for auto rental is cheaper than any airfare we could find.

Hoping to benefit from some of your investigation since I am a little rusty at this.