Town Car vs. Avis rental

[lsmac]

Ok, I think I am cheaping out here, but I want some of your opinions. We are arriving day prior and staying at the Radisson. We won't arrive until 5pm though. Here's my ?'s
1).Is it better to rent a car from Avis and drive to Radisson at that time of night? Rather than having to wait on a towncar?
2). Do you park the Avis car overnight and then return it to Avis in the am, so you have use of it all night?
3). How do you make reservations for the return trip to the airport with Avis? Do you do it when you turn in the vehicle at the beginning?
4). Is $140 rt (+20% tip) worth it to have someone else drive? Or do I cheap out and let my dh drive the Beeline during rush hour on a Friday night? LOL

Thanks for any and all help!
Lisa
Magic>Dec 7, 2002
Wonder>May 13, 2001

 

[peagreenid]

We always do Avis-

1. Our flights come in at about the same time as well..... We like to have the car to do dinner, visit Ron Jon's and purchase the last minute beverages/snacks we want to take on board, but I don't want to ship accross the country.....LOL!

2. We keep the car overnight. You are paying for 1 24hr. period so we turn it in, in the morning. (the AVIS shuttle is less crowded than the RAD shuttle)

3. You make the Avis reservation at the same time in advance. P3F is the code. Matter of fact I would encourage it to be made in advance, so you aren't left without a car......this is a small rental site.

4. I think you have to weigh your options. If you think you will want to shop or visit any other areas than by all means get the car. If the cost is going to be close to the same......and you plan on going to the hotel and doing nothing else.....I'd do the town car.

Have fun.......
smiles Patty

 

[Anita Williams]

We rented the car last Nov and it really was an pain in the you know what. Lugging your own luggage was only one of the pains. Dropping off, getting the shuttle etc. And, when you factor in all the extra charges and taxes and fees, it really isn't all that much different from the town car. This 9/21 it's Tiffany for us!
Anita.

 

[lsmac]

Patty and Anita, thank you for your replies!
I think we have decided to go with Avis one way so we have the freedom to go shopping, check out the area etc when we get in, then we will hop a DCL bus for the ride back to the airport. Less hassle that way!
Lisa

 

[jmalk]

Make sure you go to the discount board and get the code. I got a car for $37.00 for Oct 30. I just did a search for car rental codes, got a few different ones and plugged them in on the Avis website until I got the best deal

 

[aseafish]

How far in advance should one reserve a car?

 

[MikeJ]

We booked our car in April or May for our 9/28 cruise. The best rate we got was from the Space Coast Tourist web site, Avis AWD K163324 (I think that's the number). Rate before and after the cruise was $30/day for an iIntermediate.

- Mike

 

[lyndon1]

We just returned from the Aug 17th Magic 7 day cruise. We actually arrived 2 days before the cruise and rented a car at Orlando Int'l and drove to Vero Beach for 2 amazing evenings. On Saturday morning we drove to the port, dropped off the family and luggage and then dropped the car off at AVIS which is only 1 mile away on Rt A1A.

The shuttle had me back at the cruise terminal in less than ten minutes. A reminder....... remember to record the mileage on your rental form, if not you will need to go back to the car and lose your place in line. Avis was out of SUV's when we picked up the car so they upgraded us to a Discovery II from Land Rover for 45.00. It was great.

When the cruise was over we used Tiffany Limo service. With the coupon from the website it was only 70.00. The driver was there immediately and depending on what airline you fly you can check your luggage at the terminal and not worry about it until you arrive at your home airport. No need to worry about the luggage fitting into the rental car, no worries about what lane do I need to been in when getting to the airport. If your return flight is early there is no easier way to go.

The Girvins
Lyndon
Cathy
Caitlyn
Morgan

-+

 

[lsmac]

Thank you everyone for all the info.
Now: Where is the discount board?
Mike: Thank you for the code, I'll give it a try.
How hard was it to get all the rigamarole done post cruise with Avis? We have to be at the airport about 10:45 for a 12:45 flight out, and I am thinking that it would be easier to just fork out an addtl $30 for the DCL busses for the return trip?

Lisa

 

[lsmac]

I used that code and got a rate of $34 which is fine. (for intermediate) it came up as a corporate code. They won't ask for a corporate card will they?
Lisa