Orlando Airport

[CHEK]

Can anyone tell me how long it takes from landing at MCO to actually being able to get in your hire car and leave the airport?, this will be our 1st trip flying into MCO, previously flown to sanford. I know this depends on days of the week and times of arrivals but an estimate would be good thanks, just so I can sort car hire out & what time to start car hire from. We arrive on Thurs 31st May landing at 14.35hrs

 

[wayneg]

Hi Karen
We usually plan on about 1 hour, you have to go thru Immigatation (I presume it Virgin Direct), collect cases, thru customs control, get rid of cases again, walk up and thru to the mini monorail that takes you to main terminal, down escalator, collect cases again then down in lift to car hire, if its Dollar Virgin have a seperate desk to the main rental and its usually quick.
If you are indirect its a about half hour.

 

[BingsingsWaltDisney]

Hi Karen
We usually plan on about 1 hour, you have to go thru Immigatation (I presume it Virgin Direct), collect cases, thru customs control, get rid of cases again, walk up and thru to the mini monorail that takes you to main terminal, down escalator, collect cases again then down in lift to car hire, if its Dollar Virgin have a seperate desk to the main rental and its usually quick.
If you are indirect its a about half hour.

about right depending on who your car hire is????

 

[fearfall]

the best we have done it is 45 mins worst was 90 mins it is just down to luck i guess

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Having done the Orlando airport shuffle many times I can tell you that there is no definitive answer to this question. We have done it in varying times from 35 minutes to over 2 hours!

The biggest hold up can be at the car hire desks. If there are 2 adults in your party it is best for one to wait for the luggage at the carousel while the driver goes to get the car. Of course, you can't do this if you have multiple drivers as they both (all) need to be present at the desk.

If you know your car hire company I would try to join their frequent user club, the name varies dependant on the company. This is usually free and enables you to use thier express lane. If there is a big queue (and they can be huge at times) this saves ages.

Kev

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Our normal time is anything between 30 mins and 1 hour.
I use Hertz Gold Club, so no queuing when collecting the car.
the worst time for us was 2 hours and that was down to a thunderstorm coming though and the ground staff who move the luggage stopped working until the storm passed over.

 

[CHEK]

We are flying direct with Virgin,there are 4 Adults & 2 children in our party, but both my Dad & Husband are both going to be named drivers, so I suppose we'll just have to wait , we haven't sorted car hire out yet, found a great price last night with thrifty but there was a problem with the web page , have any of you booked with Thrifty and if so are they ok?

 

[wayneg]

check airnet for carhire they use Dollar (only rental company I will use), I have used them about 10 times now, very simple pricing and decent costs, I have just booked a full size car, extra driver and full tank of petrol for Easter 2 weeks £278,
Other sites and companies I am never sure whats included and whats not.
http://www.airline-network.co.uk/carhire/

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

You can look at joining one of the car hires frequent user groups.
I use Hertz No1 Club Gold, as it gets me extra discount plus you get 10% extra discount off the cost if you use a Master card plus they have all our details, so I just go to the bus, at the seperate Club Gold pavillion, check on the board where my car is against my name and load up.

 

[Ali and boyz]

Having done the Orlando airport shuffle many times I can tell you that there is no definitive answer to this question. We have done it in varying times from 35 minutes to over 2 hours!

The biggest hold up can be at the car hire desks. If there are 2 adults in your party it is best for one to wait for the luggage at the carousel while the driver goes to get the car. Of course, you can't do this if you have multiple drivers as they both (all) need to be present at the desk.

If you know your car hire company I would try to join their frequent user club, the name varies dependant on the company. This is usually free and enables you to use thier express lane. If there is a big queue (and they can be huge at times) this saves ages.

Kev

Kev I was going to join the frequent user club but when I got to the end and they asked for credit card details I paniced . do you know if this is normal re the CC

 

[jen_uk]

It only took us 45 mins last year but the year before it took over 2 hours!!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Kev I was going to join the frequent user club but when I got to the end and they asked for credit card details I paniced . do you know if this is normal re the CC

Yes, it is. As you are bypassing in many cases the check in desk, they have to have a valid Credit card details on record, Mine are with a couple of companies but I have never had a phantom take from them, plus they normally ask you for your driving licence details as well.

 

[merlin307]

try floridacahire.com - all inclusive (gold option) for an intermediate £248 (includes all taxes/charges, extra named driver and full tank of fuel/unlimited mileage) I have used them a couple of times and they book through Dollar . I like the fact that you pay the one price before you go and there is nothing more to pay...........

As for getting through MCO - generally under an hour compared to over 2 hrs each time......(for us anyway)

 

[UKDEB]

there are 4 Adults & 2 children in our party, but both my Dad & Husband are both going to be named drivers

Send the men to the car hire desk whilst the rest of you go to the second baggage claim.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

The time it takes I have always thought depends on how long it takes for your bags to come off the carousel, especially as you have to effectively collect your luggage twice.

Flying Premium Economy (we go with Virgin) gives you the advantage of getting your cases first, I mean we have all seen people get their luggage quickly and have often been still stood there waiting 20-30 minutes later for ours - this can make a big difference to the time you leave the airport.

 

[Ali and boyz]

Yes, it is. As you are bypassing in many cases the check in desk, they have to have a valid Credit card details on record, Mine are with a couple of companies but I have never had a phantom take from them, plus they normally ask you for your driving licence details as well.

sorry another question, I ws thinking about going as a second driver how does that work if my dad joins the member club, i.e. do I have to join or just him.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

sorry another question, I ws thinking about going as a second driver how does that work if my dad joins the member club, i.e. do I have to join or just him.

That's an interesting question. I had a look on the Hertz Club Gold site and the only comments were:


"Authorized Operators

Acceptable Authorized Operators age 25 and older are automatically covered on the Rental Agreement.
Authorized Operators are:
- The employer, employee or fellow employee of renter on company business, (when booking includes company Corporate Discount Number).
- The renter's spouse for rentals that originate in California, Nevada or New York.
- The spouse (including partners in Vermont Civil Unions) or domestic partner of Hertz Number One Club, Number One Club Gold or Platinum members.
- Authorized Operators do not have to be present at time of rental.
- There are no fees for Authorized Operators.

Additional Authorized Operators
- Individuals not automatically covered on the Rental Agreement as Authorized Operators noted above may be signed on as an "Additional Authorized Operator" (AAO). AAO's must be present and may be signed on to the rental agreement at the time of rental or during the rental at any US corporate location.
- An applicable driving record verification will be performed on the AAO.
- Renter and each AAO must be present to sign Rental Agreement, present an acceptable credit card or debit card (if renting city accepts debit cards) in their own name, or a current round-trip ticket (air, train or bus), show valid driver's license, and must be a minimum of 25 years of age.

Additional Authorized Operators Fees
USD 10.00 per day, maximum USD 50.00 per rental, for each Additional Authorized Operator.

Exceptions -

California - no fee for Additional Authorized Operators

Nevada - no fee for the first Additional Authorized Operator. The second and subsequent drivers are USD 5.00 per day, up to a maximum charge of USD 35.00 per driver, per rental.

NY State - USD 3.00 per Additional Authorized Operator per day with a maximum charge of USD 35.00 per rental. This fee applies to all locations in New York State. Authorized and Additional Authorized Operators must be a minimum of 25 years of age.

AAA - Spouse/Domestic Partner of AAA members are not required to have a separate AAA membership in order to receive the free AAO privileges. For other rentals, the AAO fee is also waived when both the renter and the AAO are AAA members.

USAA - No charge for qualified Additional Authorized Operators who are USAA members when signing on to a qualified USAA rental.

AARP - No charge for qualified Additional Authorized Operators who are AARP members or member's spouse when signing on to a
qualified AARP rental."


It might be worth deciding on the club to join then contacting that hire car company to get a definative answer