Orlando International Airport - Do I need to prebook hire car

[theoriginalandbestrookie]

I like to hire in advance DH likes to take his chances. What do people recommend and any particular car hire companies that are good? Would prefer one that we didn't have to get a bus to as we will be tired.
Thanks.

"The insurance I got is definitely world wide, its specifically for hire cars, paid extra so it could be used in US."

But does that include CDW? You absolutely must have CDW when driving in the US.

agree with bun. you need in writing from your insurer specifically that it includes cdw. have done a quick internet trawl and cannot find any world wide car insurance that includes this. it is a special and specific insurance.

If it is the American Express one then you should be okay. Anyone else I would examine carefully. You also needto beware that when you arrive jet lagged in the US the car hire people will try to sell you insurance and any other extras they can (even if you have pre-booked).

Hi its through icarhireinsurance.com and it does appear to include CDW as it mentions it. Its a pretty good policy recommended by the Sunday times. I will maybe email them and check if there is any insurance they recommend on top in US - but tbh it appears to be impossible to hire a car without some basic level of insurance.

Mummytime we had this experience in Italy with Gold Car (shudder never ever use them again). Despite the fact that DH showed them our world wide policy ( clue in the name) they said it wasn't valid in the name. They also said he would have to join the 2hr+ queue to return the vehicle if we didn't take out insurance . He resisted but in front of him a couple were in tears because the company insisted on putting a £1400 block on their credit card which meant they had no spending money for their holiday.

I'm sure the Americans can be persuasive, but hopefully not quite as bad as our previous experience.

Definitely book in advance, much cheaper. We go every year and would never take a chance on arrival. When we went last year we had a 24 hour delay going out and on arrival at the car hire collection point another family we were talking to had accidentally cancelled their whole booking when our flight was delayed, instead of asking for it to be a day later. They ended up being charged nearly double for the same car because it wasn't booked advance'. Most car hire companies, ie Alamo, Herts are based at the airport, just across the road in the car park but there are still a few smaller ones that bus you out.

I'd be very wary about the insurance policy you have, I very much doubt if that will cover CDW so check carefully. Also, HUGE warning here as I've seen so many people get stung here, make sure you book the insurance you need in advance, you MUST have CDW. A lot of the other insurances you don't need. The (bastard) agents when you arrive will try to push you into buying additional insurance which you don't need and they rely on you being knackered by the time you get there and just signing anything. It is often only the next morning (usually at 5am due to time difference) that people realised they've been 'done' and its too late then, you can't cancel any additional insurances.

If you need car seats, think about taking them with you. I've known friends be charged more than the cost of a car seat to hire for 2 weeks.

Also, another tip, if you are flying say, Virgin, who do a lot of fly drive packages, try to find out which car hire company they use. The last thing you want when you get off the plane is to find pretty much everyone else who was on your flight queuing up at the same desk as you so try to book a different company.

Another tip, I always pre-pay for a full tank of fuel, saves pissing around when driving back to airport to return car to try to fill up as you get to the airport. They charge a lot more (sometimes considerably more) at the airport petrol stations so if you pre-pay, it is cheaper and you don't have that hassle and can just return as empty as you can.

Hope that helps.

Re: full/empty fuel tank, I would disagree. We got stung in San Francisco this summer when we had to start with a full tank (which we paid vastly over the odds) and return it empty. But as we only had the car for 3 days for local trips, there was no way we could use it all. And when we had a different car for a longer period of time, we'd got low on fuel a couple of days before returning the car and then had to guess how much fuel we needed for the duration. Not easy.

Much easier to start full and return full, so you only pay for what you use. Factor in finding a cheaper fuel station near but not too far from the airport. It is possible.

I suppose it depends where you are going and how long for. If only 3 days and not doing much driving then possibly not worth it. But, in Orlando, where we are talking about, in my opinion (having gone at least 20 times) it is the cheapest and easiest option to pre-pay.

I can see both sides. In Italy with (deleted swear words) Gold Car they made us pay 154 euros for a full tank of petrol in a renault megane As it was so hot we ended up not doing much sight seeing so only used about a third of it. They then charged us a 20 Euro admin fee for not returning it empty . ( More deleted swear words)

We will probably use a tank of petrol, we are there for 13 nights and DH wants to go to Cape Kennedy one day.

they charged you for not returning it empty?
I'm pretty sure that the amount of the pre-paid fuel is agreed in advance. I will find the details of who we used last August and re-post, they were great. A few years ago we had a bit of a nasty experience with Hertz who tried to F* us over with additional insurances. DH who was tired and fed up with the kids nearly fell for it all. As a result, I am in charge of all car hire bookings for future holidays

We have been back 2 weeks. The situation with fuel is that you can pay a little extra (sometimes its a perk of the top insurance package) you can return it empty.

This time we opted not to do this. There are many gas stations at the airport.

Had we have returned it empty we would have been charged almost $10 per Gallon to fill it up. That price varies from hire company to hire company. The price of gas is about $5.50 per gallon. So you would be paying significantly more of you return it empty.

It wasn't a big hassle to fill it up at the airport. if you are in Florida for more than a couple of days you will use a full tank. Just weigh it up at the time.

Also regarding luggage. On the websites it tells you the amount of cases and people you can get in. Its absolute rubbish. They even admit it when you get there. The car we should have had this year should have fitted 2 large cases, 2 small cases, 2 adults and 2 children.

We slays upgrade. And the size car we would have had would not have fitted the luggage.
and car seats. We always take ours. Virgin don't charge for childrens car seats.

Oh and the petrol situation is with all of them and is detailed on their websites.

Well I don't know about US cars, but the boot space in my sister's convertible is compromised even further by the gap you must leave for the roof to retract.
We always have to hire a bigger car than we'd need in order to fit in 4 suitcases plus hand luggage.

Good point about the roof retracting. There will be three of us so we have the space beside DS as well. Urk don't know what to do now, I did so fancy a convertible.

I will bring the booster seat, always bring it on holiday with us.

Car booked. We have gone for a full size 4 door