Rental Car gas WARNING!

[livsea2]

There is only one gas station in the area around the airport rental car return lots and THEY KNOW IT! Last week I returned my rental and wanted to fill up before dropping it off because they charge $6.99 a gallon to discourge you from returning it less than full. Well the only gas station in the vacinity doesn't advertize their prices for a reason. They charge $4.39 a gallon for regular! That's right no misprint over $1.50 a gallon more than anywhere else. They should be jailed! Moral of the story make sure you gas up right before you leave for the airport to keep the rip off price down.

 

[fsmith2845]

Not sure what the laws in Florida are, but might be worth a letter or phone call to the State Attorney General's office to report that.. As if the gas companies weren't gouging prices enough as it is, that kind of fraud is despicable and shouldn't go unreported.....

 

[undertheradar]

Yes, but you did save $2.60 per gallon over the cost from the rental car agency!

 

[anbouk]

OMG, what a DISGRACE! Report them, PLS!

 

[byoung]

If the rental agency can charge there price , I"M sure they are within the law charging you there rate.

 

[clownboy007]

As far as I know, gas stations here in Orlando can charge whatever they want for gas. As a result, prices near any of the attractions are always 10-20 cents higher than they are anywhere else in town. It's even worse near the off-site rental lots on Narcoosee Road...which is something I personally find outrageous since they're blatantly sticking it to out of town visitors who but, unfortunately, it's not illegal.

My advice to family and friends is to drive just a mile or so away from the major tourist areas and you'll find lower gas prices. Going toward the airport, stations between the Convention Center and Orange Avenue or a couple of miles north on Semoran Blvd. near the airport have the "normal" gas prices. Hope that helps.

 

[dbmarie]

I'm not sure about Flordia but in NY gas stations are not allowed to inflate gas prices. Actually a couple of months ago there was an investigation into price inflation here.

 

[sassyat30]

That's why I did my homework before we left...so I knew where other stations were and I wouldn't *have* to fill up near the airport.

 

[reelmom]

Not sure what the laws in Florida are, but might be worth a letter or phone call to the State Attorney General's office to report that.. As if the gas companies weren't gouging prices enough as it is, that kind of fraud is despicable and shouldn't go unreported.....

Gas Companies are not the problem, the government is. Not to start a debate and not to say the gas company near the airport is not inflating prices but as a general rule gas cost so much because the govenrment taxes it so much. Knew two people who owned gas stations and they told me that they would get maybe 60 cents from every gallon sold and Uncle Sam gets the rest.

 

[Disney71]

There is only one gas station in the area around the airport rental car return lots and THEY KNOW IT!........ Moral of the story make sure you gas up right before you leave for the airport to keep the rip off price down.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! I would never have even thought about filling up before we reach the airport area - you just saved me some money - thanks!!!

 

[disneynutz]

Gas Companies are not the problem, the government is. Not to start a debate and not to say the gas company near the airport is not inflating prices but as a general rule gas cost so much because the govenrment taxes it so much. Knew two people who owned gas stations and they told me that they would get maybe 60 cents from every gallon sold and Uncle Sam gets the rest.

Looks like your frirnds should have operated gas stations by the airport.

 

[JohnnyB2]

There is only one gas station in the area around the airport rental car return lots and THEY KNOW IT! Last week I returned my rental and wanted to fill up before dropping it off because they charge $6.99 a gallon to discourge you from returning it less than full. Well the only gas station in the vacinity doesn't advertize their prices for a reason. They charge $4.39 a gallon for regular! That's right no misprint over $1.50 a gallon more than anywhere else. They should be jailed! Moral of the story make sure you gas up right before you leave for the airport to keep the rip off price down.

Thanks alot for the info as I usually fill-up by the airport,but not this time.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

. As a result, prices near any of the attractions are always 10-20 cents higher than they are anywhere else in town. It's even worse near the off-site rental lots on Narcoosee Road...which is something I personally find outrageous since they're blatantly sticking it to out of town visitors who but, unfortunately, it's not illegal.

I sort of disagree with you. Whenever we've rented a car, we have usually found the gas stations ON Disney property to be rather reasonable. Better than home prices. And though we never strayed TOO far from WDW/I-Drive, we found on property to be better than most stations in the vacinity. Also, the prices we saw on-property were lower than what we pay at home. Perhaps there are better places if you really drive around, but time is money - esp on vacation. As I recall, we also drove around Kissimmee a bit and didn't see anywhere substantially lower than Disney. The very lowest we saw, by a few cents was on 535 near 192, and it was sort of an offname station - "Liberty" maybe.
I do agree though that the places right near the rental return places are the worse. If you really fill up at WDW and go right to the car rental place you should be okay in terms of being 'full' enough. You just gotta remember to do it and to allow enough time to pack up, check out, fill up and get to the airport.

Our funny (sort of) personal story occurred the last time we rented a car. We were a bit pressed for time in getting to the airport. My young niece gets carsick sometimes, but we didn't havet time to break up the trip for her, and she got sick JUST before we were pulling into the car return lot! Luckily, she gave us about a 15second warning, and managed to vomit into a plastic ziploc bag! Such a great travel item to keep handy; SO many uses! We all congratulated her for avoiding a disaster by NOT throwing up all over the car, and had a good laugh at what it might have been like had she not been so skilled.

But we did get a little 'stuck' on our rental. The salesperson told us were were getting an 'upgrade,' but the car we got was a PT Cruiser. They may classify it as an upgrade, but I'm reasonably certain it has less trunk space than your typical mid-size vehicle, which is all we really cared about. It certainly had less trunk space then the mid-size vehicle my mom got from the same company. We were a bit crammed with all our luggage.

 

[IcePrincess467]

That happened to DH & I during our first trip to WDW...we were bringing the rental car back at the airport and weren't familiar with what they charged. We thought it may be a few cents higher but no it was $6.99, so DH & I turned around and found a gas station and filled it!!

 

[Dizneydaz]

We've always filled up our rental vehicle at the Hess station on WDW property, just before driving to the airport, and have never had an issue with the amount of gas in the tank. Most recently we've been using Alamo, prior to that we used Dollar. They look on the gauge and as long as it registers at the full mark, they're fine with it. I think alot of people do this as I've noticed when we get our vehicle at the start of our trip, while the gauge does register full, it does seem to start moving pretty quick.

 

[fsmith2845]

Gas Companies are not the problem, the government is. Not to start a debate and not to say the gas company near the airport is not inflating prices but as a general rule gas cost so much because the govenrment taxes it so much. Knew two people who owned gas stations and they told me that they would get maybe 60 cents from every gallon sold and Uncle Sam gets the rest.

When I refer to the gas companies.. i'm certainly not talking about the gas station owners.. I know they really have to struggle to get by just like the rest of us.. By gas companies i refer to the big companies that have posted record profits over teh last couple of years (Exxon, etc.).. I also agreee the Govt taxes the heck out of our gasoline as well. II thought it was bad here, but I just got back from Australia last month, and had to pay over $3.00 per litre for gas there.. almost $70 to fill up the rental car (a Camry)..