Advice please

[dmerock]

Hi everyone

I'm coming over to Florida for the first time early May (Volcano permitting)and wanted some advice on car hire please.

There is three of us in the party (all adults) Each with three large suitcases. What size car would you recommend?

I thought about a full size but would a SUV be better because of the luggage?

Grateful for any help. [bowwave]

Mike

[florida4sun]

Persanally my choice would be a SUV

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by dmerock
Hi everyone

I'm coming over to Florida for the first time early May (Volcano permitting)and wanted some advice on car hire please.

There is three of us in the party (all adults) Each with three large suitcases. What size car would you recommend?

I thought about a full size but would a SUV be better because of the luggage?

Grateful for any help. [bowwave]

Mike
[/quote]

[Lyn]

I would sya it depends on what you are planning whilst in Florida. If you are staying in one place and the cases will only be in your car for the journey to and from the airport then a full size would be big enough, but if you are moving from place to place then an SUV would be much better.

[bargainqueen]

There is three of us in the party (all adults) Each with three large suitcases. What size car would you recommend?

That's what you're coming out with, but what about when you return;)

There's normally 3 adults in our party and we always go for the higher grade of SUV, normally Grand Jeep Jerokee (wrong spelling I know).

If you're flying Virgin you can check in at downtown disney first thing in the morning so you'd be able to get away with a smaller car and two trips. If you're flying BA etc then you'll have to check in at airport and carry luggage around until then.

I haven't studied the car hire pages for sometime but maybe they give suitcase dimentions. There's a big difference in American travelors luggage and ours, the boot space reflects this.

Last year we were given a Jeep Liberty (lowest grade of SUV) and I was shocked when I opened the door to put in the luggage. Then again we have a luggage allowance of 2+ suitcases each hence the need for a larger SUV.

[dmerock]

Will mainly be carrying luggage too and from the airport but was concerned about our last day. Return flight is early evening so any luggage that wouldnt fit in the boot on the last day would be on show, as we check out in the morning and will have to have it with us where ever we go that day.

Is this normally a problem?

[bargainqueen]

When going to breakfast outlets you often see cars loaded up with luggage, mainly 7 seaters. We normally fly Virgin so the main bulk of our luggage is off loaded at Downtown Disney but we do have our hand luggage. We've never experienced any problems when we're at the Florida mall trying to kill time before our flight.

Most SUV's have tinted windows and some even have a cover similar to a blind which you can use to hide what's in there.

When my sister and I go shopping we have loads of bags in the boot and we've never had any problems with anyone trying to steal from the car.

[Katys Grandad]

Depends on what use you're putting the vehicles to in the main part of your holiday. For me, it seems an expensive option to base 2 weeks rental on the drives to the airport and back.

When I've rented an expensive vehicle in the past I've always felt obliged to use it as much as possible just to get value for money. Daft, I know.[msnwink]

[bargainqueen]

I suppose it also depends on how often you go out to Florida. For us it's our main holiday and over the years we've realised that there are certain things that we will pay extra for. We've hired all classes from the basic, then intermediate and now an SUV. Sometimes when we booked an intermediate we were given a Rav 4. These are ok for two passengers but for three I think you need something bigger.

Last year I disliked the Jeep Liberty, it felt cheap and tinny to drive and I was relieved when I found out I could change it for another car as we had been given the wrong class of car at the airport. The difference between the two cars is indescribable.

It's a bit like flights, once you've turned left on the plane you can never go back to turning right....:)

It's an individual choice which class of car you choose and I've no idea of the difference in price between each one. Last year we were joined by our nephew and he and my husband played golf together every day. We hired two cars then, SUV and an intermediate so that the party could go their separate ways during the day. It worked out so well that we've done the same again this year even though he's not joining us. It means that I can relax by the pool as I'm no longer on taxi duty.

That's if we go as we are due to fly on Saturday...[msncry]

[Lesley S]

There is only 3 of us and we hired a Economy 4 dr with Budget, perfectly big enough for the 3 of us and we all had suitcases. The car itself was virtually brand new.

[steph_goodrum]

We went recently and had 3 adults each with 2 suitcases and actually hired an economy car from Dollar but when we arrived they now tell you to select the car and we were directed to a row for compact cars. We got a Nissan but couldnt tell you which model but got 3 out of 4 cases in the boot and would have got another couple in.
Are you taking all cases out full or are some for shopping? We always used to take one case inside another pre villa days but once we bought we invariably have a case for bits to take over. Now they have changed it to one case each we'll just have to stop taking clothes with us.

If you have 3 cases each are you flying Upper Class or have you bought extra space? Just wondered because if you are flying Upper you may be able to get a reasonable rate on a transfer to wherever you are staying for some of the party and 1 driver + passenger to navigate if you arent familiar can then just take the car. That way youu dont have to have the larger car for the whole duraion if you dont want. There are also some car hire companies, I believe, who will collect you rfrom airport and either deliver car next day to you or pick you up to go to car rental place.

[bargainqueen]

I'm afraid I misread the original posting as having 3 large cases in total.

For the last three trips we've been able to take back 3 cases each. My husband takes his golf clubs which takes up a lot of room in the car plus 8 further cases/holdalls.

If you're travelling to the airport to check in then you'll find the space very restricted in an SUV unless you're lucky enough to be upgraded to an Durango. I don't think they have split seats in the back so you'll have to use the spare seat to store the cases on.

As I said earlier when we checked in at downtown disney we had to do two trips before we could get all the luggage there. The back seats were adjusted so that the whole car could be utilised to take the luggage. Perhaps our luggage was larger than what you plan to take.

Unless you have a chauffer service to the airport you might have to get a mini van which has the facility to store the seats you don't need in the floor.

Haven't used one of these before but others on here have and perhaps they will confirm that these would be suitable.

[dmerock]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've booked a full-size from Alamo.

I understand that Alamo allow you to select your car, so the next question is, any tips on what is a good full-size usa car?