On Arrival at your destination Airport you will have to collect your car, It is
here you will be given the opportunity to upgrade it for only a few dollars, this is normally between $10 - $30, you may even
be told "Thats only £20 for a far better car" Well please note what they will not make clear to you is that this is the PER
DAY PRICE
After a long flight and especially if you are traveling with small children you
may be tempted to just say yes so that you can collect your car and leave, well please take note $10 - $30 per day can work
out to over £300 of your holiday spending money, also if you do plan to visit many of the Theme parks that £300 will be for
a car left in a car park for much of your stay.
My advice is that you do not need an upgrade, In the past 14 years I
have never once had a small two door car, yet each year when I book my flights that is what I book and pay for,
see travel tips on the left.
You may also be asked if you would like extra insurance, again if you have booked
in the uk all the insurance you need will have been included with your car hire, however please do make sure you have done
this before you travel.
Over the last few
years these companies have come up with other ideas to sell you other services that you don’t need such as Roadside
Assistance, e-pass, sat navs and Child Booster seats
1. Roadside Assistance
will only be useful if you lock your keys in the car, if the car breaks down it up to them to put it right
2. E-Pass, this
is the toll road pass, if your going to use them every day then yes it could save you money, however if your going to spend
time at the theme parks this will cost you far more, you are already going to have to pay $14.00 per day to park your car
at a theme park car park (not a joke, theme parks now charge $14.00 per day), so why pay an extra $6.95 per day for toll roads
that your not going to use
3. Sat Navs, the
parks are well signed so this is up to you, I really don’t think they are that useful for a two week trip to Florida, therefore, why
spend holiday money on something you may never use.
4. Child Booster
seats, this is difficult, it is Florida state Law that children do have to be placed in these seats, however, if you have
children, collect your car, drive to the nearest wallmart supermarket and buy one, you will find them there
for as little as $13 - $20, much better than paying up to $10 per day to hire one, just leave the seat in the car or return
it with your luggage to the UK.
If you have booked a flydrive without paying for car hire take a look at www.usrentacar.co.uk the quote you get from them will be fully inclusive of all insurance and taxes
and is often less than £150 per week.
Another point is that you MUST always keep your registration documents in your
hire car at all times, and always carry your driving licence, it is the law in the USA that are able to produce these when
requested to do so.
Please do take note, you MUSTtake your
driving licence with you to pick up your hire car, if you have the new type licence with the photo, you MUST also take the part
two paper licence plus those of any additional drivers, a photocopy will not be accepted
and you will not be able to pick up your car without one, this has happened in the past please do not make the same mistake.
You will also need to take a credit card or debit, and they can or will refuse to release the car without one
