car hire in the US - advice please lovely mumsnetters

[ElfOnTheTopShelf]

I won a holiday to Miami, we're doing Sat-Thurs in Miami, then travelling from Miami on Thursday to Orlando, and stopping there until the Tuesday, to travel back and fly from Miami.
We want to hire a car when we're away, particuarly to get us from Miami to Orlando, not too fussed about the time in Miami etc.

I have a few qurstions which the websites don't seem to help with!

1. My drivers licence is in my maiden name, my pass port in my married name. Will I need to get my drivers licence updated?

2. Do I have to book before I go away or can we just drop by a car hire place while there?

3. We have a four year old daughter, and I need to sort a car seat out for her. I hadn't planned to take our car seat on the flight / abroad with us. Can I hire a car seat too? Cant seem to find anything on the websites.

1. Yes. Would have everything like passport and drivers licence in the same name. It just confuses things otherwise and the Americans can be real sticklers for photo ID in cases like this.

(Also your driving licence in your maiden name could cause difficulty if your credit cards are in your married name too. Some stores ask for photo id as confirmation when making credit card purchases. Do inform the credit and debit card companies of your travel plans prior to travel to avoid a stop marker being placed on your cards).

1. Would contact the car hire places directly (like Hertz, Avis to name but two) before you travel to see what is available in terms of car and car seat. They will likely offer you some sort of car seat for a fee.

(It will take you around 4 hours to drive up from Miami to Orlando).

Agree with Attila except ref car seat. We paid to hire one a few years ago and it was around $150 for 3 weeks. Friends of ours went last year and were also charged crazy money so went out and bought a car seat there and then returned the hired one for a refund after one day.

I'd definitely reserve a car in advance - especially if you're thinking of getting a car seat too. All the major rental companies - i.e. Hertz, Avis, Budget offer car seats - usually once you've selected your car on-line they'll throw the incidentals at you - car seat, GPS, etc.

When I went to Fl with DS, I rented a car seat with the car. I just didn't want the hassle of renting one for a day, buying another, returning the rented one, and then dealing with the one I'd bought at the end of the trip. It does cost more (depending on how long you're staying) but it saved me some hassle (especially as I was solo with DS).

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Miami but drivers there can be crazy. If you don't have a GPS with US maps, you might want to think about getting one (or a software upgrade) before you go.

And to second Attila, I'd make sure your name matched on all of your documents.

Echoing the advice to - absolutely get your drivers licence updated and rent the car online in advance.

Also, typically the car rental locations off the airport site tend to offer much lower rates - same Hertz/enterprise/budget cars, but for some reason the airport locations get to charge stupid premiums. It's definitely worth looking into an off-airport location - even if you have to taxi to and from it's often worth it!

Ooops, had missed this thread. Thanks for the advice.
We have booked the car through Hertz. Suspect DH will do most of the driving. He is probably more likely to remember the other side of the road thing
I have got my IDP today, thats in my maiden name, along with drivers licence. Passport is in married name as is all credit cards / debit cards. Though we have gotten quite a bit of cash converted, and aside from Disney World tickets, nothing else to pay for.
Need to update my phone company and card company about using cards overseas. Lots to do - travel on Sat!

Elf,

Would certainly change your IDP (do you mean international driving permit?) and driving licence to reflect your married name asap after you return from the US.

I have a feeling that you may well not be allowed by Hertz to drive the hire car in the US because of the maiden name on your DL and IDP.

Be wary as well about using the mobile phone overseas as it can work out extremely expensive; infact I would only use such a thing in an emergency. You are far better off buying a prepaid international phonecard from Walgreens for $10 or $20 and using that instead. You get a lot of talk time and there are no additional fees.

I take it as read too you have completed the online ESTA required for travel to the US as this is now mandatory. No esta - no travel!. Its not too late to do so if you have not but only use the official US govt website which is this one:-

esta/cbp.dhs.gov

We used to take out own car seats with us in a big bag.
Do read up about insurances before you go and know which ones you hae with your deal. The first thing the car hire people do (as you are nice and jet lagged) is sell you more insurance. IDP isn't needed but I would make sure driving license is in the same name as everything else.
Are you taking cash? Probably bad idea, travellers cheques much better and can be used as cash in most places.

Do beware when leaving the airport, there have been scam artists preying on tourists. Oh and at Disney, get there early (The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2010 is great for planning your visit). They often give out free coffee at 6 am to the queue. Do also write down you parking lot and place as you are told to, the place is huge!!!!!!

Have fun.