View Full Version : Price of tank of fuel at MCO
i wonder if someone who has recentley been over can tell me what the car hire companies are charging for a full tank of gas if you book a fully inclusive package without the free tank of gas, i have noticed there is quite a difference in price bewteen fully inclusive and platinum, sometimes around £60.
Im trying to decide if its cheaper to go fully inclusive and pay for a tank of gas at the car hire desk.
Alamo/National are the fairest and if you opt to pre-pay for your fuel then it's approx the pump price plus tax (Dollar charge up to double or sometimes tripple the pump price!)
If you are collecting on or after 1st April and book through us on the Silver option with Alamo or National then you can return full to avoid the refueling fee.
I would recommend paying for the full package either Dollar Gold or Alamo Silver, because when you return the car and you do not have a complete full tank they will charge you Airport prices and to give you an example, I got caught out on one of my first visits to Orlando as the local prices was $ 2.74 a gallon I was charged about $ 7.00 a gallon
Dollar also let you return the car full on the Silver option - recently returned a car with a full tank of gas. They just looked at the guage and said it was fine. When we picked up the car they asked us if we wanted to return the car with a full tank, which we accepted.
kerrigan
22-02-2012, 22:42
We use Budget silver package which gives you the extra driver, but not the tank of petrol, so we just bring it back full. No problem. How many times is a tank completely empty when you have that option, so you're being charged for a full tank of petrol which you haven't fully used!
Hazel.
I have noticed when you hire a car with a 'full tank of fuel' that once you reach the refuel stage, you always get more mileage from the second tank so obvioulsy 'full' is not totally full. However we do find it is cheaper to pay for a full tank rather than pay for the car company to fill it.
Not that we hire a car often now as we have our own car in Florida, but sometimes we take a 24 hour hire which is cheaper than a taxi.
Andrena
MICKEYSDEN
23-02-2012, 20:29
I returned a car last week with Alamo empty and was charged $68.
Out of interest, what size car was it? In general Alamo charge the pump price on the manufacturers tank size, then they have to add sales tax, so will be a bit over pump price overall. Another reason why taking back full is a much better option.
I returned a car last week with Alamo empty and was charged $68.
My trip in October of 2011 they charged me $75.00
MICKEYSDEN
24-02-2012, 05:47
It was a full size car, can't remember which Nissan but a lovely car to drive and lots of space in the boot for all our shopping bags and suit cases, I only had it for the weekend but we used the full tank of petrol and it saved us having to go to petrol stations so I didin't mind the price.
Dollar also let you return the car full on the Silver option - recently returned a car with a full tank of gas. They just looked at the guage and said it was fine. When we picked up the car they asked us if we wanted to return the car with a full tank, which we accepted.
Not according to the chap I just spoke with at Dollar, he told me if you take the fully inclusive package you have to pre-pay for a full tank at pickup, i asked him what pakage can you take where you return the car with a full tank and he said there wasnt one !!!.
Talk about confused, I just spoke with Dollar at MCO who told me that pre pay at the moment was $3.84/gallon and that you can opt in or opt out of pre pay !!!, think ill just book it as the staff at MCO seem more with it than Dollar's staff on the booking side over here.
jeansusrentals
28-02-2012, 22:27
we are just home last week - we hired a Dollar car - and have a Dollar express card - we go straight over to where you collect the cars and don't stand in lines at their desk in the Airport! We were told that the policies have changed and you have to take a full tank but bring it back empty. We were charged $3.59 /gallon - this was exactly what it was in most of the filling stations (except Costco! - if you have a card for there - take it with you and go there for your gas - it was $3.42!!) I think we were just about driving on fresh air when we returned it!!
Jean
Thanks Jean,
Think I will do the same as you as Im sure we will get through a tank of gas by the time we need to get the car back, what I do find strange is what happens to people who only want to hire a car for a few days, it seems unfair that they would have to pay for a full tank of gas and maybe do less than 50 miles, this is why when i called Dollar at MCO they told me you have the choice but from what you found was the opposite.
To confirm, if you are American and book a car directly with Dollar, you take it back full to avoid a refueling fee.
If you pre-book then you must take back empty and pay for the tank.
That is why the new Alamo option of taking back full is better (plus they still allow you to take back empty if you prefer). Much less confusion! Especially now Alamo now have the Express service when booked through us, you get the best of both worlds.
Philomena
29-02-2012, 20:42
we are just home last week - we hired a Dollar car - and have a Dollar express card - we go straight over to where you collect the cars and don't stand in lines at their desk in the Airport! We were told that the policies have changed and you have to take a full tank but bring it back empty. We were charged $3.59 /gallon - this was exactly what it was in most of the filling stations (except Costco! - if you have a card for there - take it with you and go there for your gas - it was $3.42!!) I think we were just about driving on fresh air when we returned it!!
Jean
We were told the same when we were over in November, but as you say they only charged the same price as the filling stations for the tank. We also limped back into the airport when we returned the car!!