USA Car Hire - What option would you choose?

[Steve Cee]

Hi all,

Taking the kids to Orlando late Jan next year.

Just wondering what people would advise when getting a rental car,i've shopped around for the best price and am booking through a UK agent,but am not sure whether to take the more expensive option with the tank of gas included or the cheaper option but fill it up myself?

In your experience what would you recommend as the cheapest/easiest option?

Many thanks

Steve

[Mr Orlando]

Hi Steve

the easy option is to take the car with the full tank of gas.

Many reasons really, the main reason is because its less hassle.

After a 10 hour flight, long cues at immigration, ages to get baggage and a while at the car rental counter, the last thing i would want to do is to find a gas station, i just want to get to the hotel and chill out.

There are NO gas stations onsite at Orlando International or Orlando Sanford

Flying into Orlando Intl the nearest gas station is 3 miles west on the BeeLine Expressway ( this might be in the wrong direction so its futher out your way)

Into Orlando Sanford the nearest is 2.2 miles north (orlando is south of Sanford airport)

Ive always took the full tank option, as im not sure of how much gas is in the tank.

Remember if you do run out, it will be expensive getting towed to a gas station.


Try www.skycars.com cheap car rental by Alamo. With Alamo you can choose your car in the collection point.



regards


Rob

[Steve Cee]

Hi Rob,

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

I'll take your advice and go for the tank of gas and the easy life!

Also,hope you dont mind me asking but it sounds like you have done this all before,i remember my father having a terrible shock with all the car insurance payments when he visited Florida,these rental packages offered by UK agents that state "all inclusive" are they really all in or will there still be hidden extras when i get there?

We are staying at the Vistana Villages on I-Drive so the coach will drop us off right there and we will be picking the car up the next day from the Dollar office on I-Drive and dropping it back off there they day we leave(if that helps?)

Thanks again for your advice,its much appreciated,

Steve,Leanne and the kids.

[Mr Orlando]

hi again steve

You are picking the car up at the Dollar offfice ? NOT the airport!, well go for the cheap version then. There will be plenty of Gas stations around I DRIVE.

Ive just looked on mapping and there is a Gas Station less than 2 minutes drive, north of your hotel. And im sure there will be one by the rental car place.

If you are picking the car up at the airport then go for the full fuel tank.

Now, re fully inclusive means exactly that, No hidden extras. Ive hired a car from Dollar and Alamo "fully inclusive" in Orlando many times and there were no hidden extras.

The only time I paid extra was for an extra driver.


Driving In U.S is great, and much easier than here in the UK. Just get someone to show you around the car, ie - there the handbreak release button is (if the handbreak is different to the ones home here) it took ages for me to figure it out the first time i hired a car.

Also at the gas stations you have to lift a leaver to start the pump, again it took ages to figure out!!


have fun, any more info just ask.


and if you haven't allready check out http://www.tripadvisor.com and search for your hotel - to see what other people think of the hotel.

[DISNEY TICKETS]

Mr Orlando is right. Fully Inclusive means that there is nothing to pay in resort. If you have a fully inclusive option and they try to sell you anything extra in Orlando, don't buy it because you don't need anything further. They may try to sell you an insurance top up for personal liability but this is ALWAYS included in standasrd holiday insurance from the UK so you don't need it and they shouldn't even be offering it to passengers from the UK. (but they work on commission!)

However, we have been caught out before by buying a cheap flydrive that stated that a car was included. The car was indeed included but it only included 3rd party insurance - NOT the Extended Protection etc, etc. etc. that you have to have. All of these insurances came to more that we could have bought a fully includive car for in the UK.

If you buy a fully inclusive car from Dollar or Alamo or any reputable broker, then there will be nothing to pay in Orlando

[Florida Villa Specialist]

this maybe a little late, but with regards to car hire, most car hire agents will sell you one of two options
fully Inclusive or 'silver'
fully inclusive plus or 'gold'

different agents sometimes use different terms, but the packages are the same. Basically both options cover ALL your insurance needs, the difference between the two is the amount of drivers allowed and the tank of fuel.

for example, we use Dollar our website is www.floridacarhirespecialist.com where you can see exactly what you get for your money, but in short:-

Fully Inclusive = 2 drivers
no pre paid fuel

Inclusive Plus = unlimited drivers
pre paid tank of fuel

the 3rd party insurance, comes into play with the fly drive options, where companies advertise - free car hire - yeh right! in short, they will offer you this free car with the 3rd party cover only - yes you can take it, but will be stung on arrival to collect you vehicle where you will be charged all the insurances to cover you - which can be a rather large chunk out of your spending money! Or you can 'top-up' your insurance with the company who offer you this 'free' car hire - but beware - check out other prices - quite often the 'top-up' price can be MORE than what you will pay for the whole package from a car hire agent - shop around you will be surprised how cheap you can really get car hire from! for example our car hire starts from £114 per week - this same cover / car in a travel agent / tour operater will be around £140/£150 per week.

[ROBDUFFILL]

Doller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :d