Who's best? and what sort??

[netty68]

Hi, we are going to Florida for the first time next April, staying at a friend's Villa in Calabay Parc, we obviously need to hire a car, our question is who is the best hire firm to go with, what is the procedure? What about added costs for insurance and stuff is everything included when you pay the hire cost? What size car would you recommend there is 5 of us in total: 2 adults, an 18 year old, a 15 year old and a nine year old, plus all our luggage.
Many thanks!

[ellie]

You won't do better than using www.uscarhire.co.uk. There is a link at the top of the page - just click on it and you will see what I mean. It offers good value with every conceivable insurance included - including some that others charge extra for. There is no charge for a credit card payment and it also includes free cancellation and amendment. They guarantee that there are no extra payments on collection.

If you go for 'Gold' cover this also includes several drivers and a free tank of petrol. You only pay £25 deposit, too, with the balance payable 8 weeks before departure. You can even hire a SAT nav.

You will have the choice of up to 4 car hire providers - Dollar, Alamo, Thrifty and Budget so a full range to choose from as far as cars go. Alamo is great as you get to choose your own vehicle from a long row of cars within the class of vehicle you have booked ie if you have booked an Intermediate you can walk along the row of cars and choose the one you like best. But the other car hire providers are all very good. You will be spoilt for choice.

My own suggestion for a family of 5 would be for a 7 seater minivan or an SUV. This would give you plenty of room for luggage, and it would also mean you had flexibility in the seating, so the children could sit in either the middle or the back. Now, having 3 children of my own I know that although they may get on well most of the time it is alway nice to be able to separate them at times - and a 7 seater vehicle is ideal. [msnwink]

However, the biggest plus of booking from this site is the excellent service offered by Roger, and that is something that is very rare. In the unlikely event of you having any problems, Roger will sort it - pronto!

We don't use anyone else, and I am sure you would be very happy with both the range of vehicles available, the cost, and the service.

Hope you have a great holiday!

[MarkJan]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ellie
You won't do better than using www.uscarhire.co.uk. [/quote]There are advantages with each of the hire companies offered above.

Dollar
We generally use Dollar because we can use the Dollar Express Card to miss out some waiting in line at busy periods.

Alamo
After receiving your paperwork for your car, you get to choose your car from the row indicated on the paperwork, (Jan always likes a blue car!)

Budget & Thrifty
These two are generally cheaper than Dollar & Alamo but we can't comment on service as we haven't used them.

[Katys Grandad]

Definitely use the link above because you won't find better service.

As you're travelling in April, that's not far from the 8 weeks to pay the full amount but it's helpful to know for the future. Be careful about the Gold option because the difference between that and 'Silver' is more than it would cost to fill the tank these days and you might not need the extra drivers. If you do a search, you'll find a few recent threads on that.

The cars on offer aren't that different with all the rental companies so I'd go with the best value.

[Jill]

Last month I had a car from Budget at Orlando and the service was great. Had ordered the smallest and cheapest car as it was just me for a week. They were up front and said they did not have what I had ordered and instead of keeping quiet and trying to get me to up grade let me have a Toyota Prius, which is a speciality car. So absolutely no complaints from me.