If you are planning ahead for next summer’s holiday, you can take advantage of this year’s prices for next year. Until the end of this year, Dec 31st, the Alamo rates for next year (from April 2011) can be booked up. If you want a bigger car, or have a longer trip then this is the time to take advantage and get a reservation made. Remember, if your trip dates are a long way off, give us a ring in the office and we can take your reservation without requiring full payment or even a deposit. The final balance will not be due until 5 weeks before your travel date. Budget cars are also available to be booked at this years price for the immediate future, but this could change at any time.
Posts Tagged ‘Alamo car hire Florida’
Book 2010 rates now for 2011
Thursday, October 14th, 2010Alamo Choice – get the high spec models
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010Alamo’s ‘Choice’ product, as the name suggests, allows you to choose the specific car you would like from the range available in the line up of vehicles in the category you have ordered. Available at the major Florida locations: Orlando Airport; Fort Lauderdale Airport; Fort Myers Airport; Miami Airport, Tampa Airport and West Palm Beach Airport, this is a great way to bag yourself a high spec car.
The ever popular Minivan 7 seater (people carrier) category features many different vehicles such as the Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Freestar, Chevrolet Uplander etc, but some of these are larger than others and some feature useful upgrades such as DVD systems. A quick look through the car can be most revealing, you can check to make sure your luggage fits, and if not, move on to a different car! The ‘Choice Product’ is only offered at locations that have a barrier gate on exit, and it is there that your choice of car is logged against your reservation.
Combined with Alamo’s ‘Save Time’ online check in facility (pre-registration), pre-bookable Sat Nav’s and the Young Driver Package for drivers under 25, this makes Alamo your first choice for car hire in Florida. Although Alamo staff are often known for their fondness of trying to pursuade you to upgrade your car – their customer service should things go wrong is quite superior, and probably worth sticking it out with a few polite “no thank you’s” at the desk! And there is no Christmas Surcharge!!
If you would like more information about how many drivers can be included on the standard package, or anything else to do with your rental, please do give us a call in the office on 01428 741438.
Budget voted ‘Preferred’ car hire company
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010A recent survey published by Florida Homes and Travel has found that Budget Car Hire is the most ‘Preferred’ car hire company for villa owners in Florida. With over 45 percent of the vote, Budget was the clear winner, with Dollar Rent a Car in second place with 32 percent. Alamo was third with just 13 percent of the vote.
In the same survey American Airlines was ranked as the best airline overall, with Virgin Atlantic a close second, and British Airways fifth (and this was before all the strikes)! The airlines were ranked on a scale of 1 – 5, with 5 representing Excellent, and 1 representing truly awful, in 6 categories: punctuality; security; food; cabin crew;entertainment and overall service. However, Virgin Atlantic was the most popular airline in terms of flights taken.
Drivers under 25 – a new option!!
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010We have great news for all our drivers under 25, now you have a new option to choose from! Alamo has released its own Young Driver Package for this age group which works exactly the same way as the Budget Young Driver Package we have previously discussed.
Drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 must book the car in their own name, and use the Diamond insurance package only. Once you have chosen your car, proceed to the next page and make sure the Young Driver box is selected with a tick. If you then press continue, the website will add up the total cost of your order for you and you can book the car.
Unlike Budget, where the lead driver must also have a credit card in their own name, Alamo is happy to accept a VISA debit card so this really expands the options we have available to clients and is great news. Alamo has many locations around Florida, particularly Central Florida and the Disney area where it has the Disney Car Care Center, amongst others. The cost is currently £62 per day, and as it is all paid up front and includes the fuel you will have nothing else to pay on arrival!
As with Budget, other drivers over 25 can be included at no extra charge making this a great option for parties with a younger driver, or families with older children requiring some freedom…
Alamo is a popular choice with many clients because of its ‘Choice Product’ where you choose the car you want from the available models in that category, a really useful feature for making sure you can fit all your luggage in.
Spring Offers
Friday, May 14th, 2010We currently have some great upgrades on offer for bookings taken before the end of June with Alamo and Dollar. These are guaranteed upgrades, so you if you book a compact car with Alamo or Dollar, you will automatically recieve an intermediate size car. Likewise, if you book an intermediate size car, you will receive a full size. This is slightly different to the Budget upgrade offer which is always complimentary and is subject to availalbity on the day.
Our Budget cars have been reduced by £5 per week for all bookings placed before the end of May, so get them booked while the price is good! The reduction applies to all cars picked up before 31st March 2011! If you would like to book up but pay later – please email or call the office and we can take your booking over the phone for you, securing that great rate in advance.
Spring forward with Upgrade Offers
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010As we finally start to see leaf buds and blossom on trees, we can look forwards to the weather warming up (we hope). With a bit of Spring fever, Florida car hire companies have released upgrade offers for collections between now and June 30th!
The special offer for upgrades with Alamo and Dollar are guaranteed, so if you want an Intermediate 4 door car you can book a Compact 4 door – you will be sent a voucher for an Intermediate.
Budget’s offer is always complimentary, and is subject to availability on the day. So with Budget you should always book the minimum car size that you require.
With all 3 suppliers, the car categories included in the upgrade offers are; Compact to Intermediate, and Intermediate to Full size. Budget have one more category of Full size 4 door to Premium 4 door.
Car hire to get you to your cruise
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010Many cruise passengers arrive in Florida via Miami, Orlando or Tampa airports and then choose to hire a car to get the most out of their time before they embark or after disembarkment.
Because of the lack of space at port locations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Port Canaveral and Tampa, car hire companies such as Dollar or Alamo do not have depots actually at the ports, but most usually provide a complimentary shuttle between the airports and ports.
In Miami, a free shuttle is run by Dollar/Thrifty and Alamo from the main international airport locations to the port and again in reverse. Some hotels also run shuttles both from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the port, however, in higher end hotels the price for the shuttle seems to boost the room rate, while in cheaper hotels, the shuttle appears to boost numbers! Regular cruise passengers advise that you don’t choose your hotel by access to the shuttle, rather choose a great hotel in a great area and make the most of your time in Miami. If you have hired a car for one night, you can then return to the airport to drop off the car and use the shuttle. Budget car hire don’t offer a shuttle between the port and the airport and also don’t offer rentals for less then 2 days.
For passengers arriving at Fort Lauderdale the situation is very similar. Although there is a downtown Dollar/Thrifty location close to the port, you still have to get the shuttle to make the last bit of the journey. There are paid shuttles that run between Port Everglades and Miami International, and Fort Lauderdale and Port of Miami. You can expect to pay at least $15 per passenger for these shuttles, but at least the price is fixed, as opposed to a taxi which will be on a meter.
At Port Canaveral the car hire depots are about 3 or 4 miles away from the port and once again, they run shuttles to and from the port. With the closest airport being Melbourne International, this is not regularly used by UK cruisers. A taxi from Orlando International to Port Canaveral will probably start at $100. While a one day hire using Dollar would be around £30 to £50 depending whether you have an economy car or a large minivan 7 seater. Once again, experienced cruisers drop off their party and luggage at the port, and then return to the car hire depots to get the shuttle back without luggage!
At Tampa, the cruise terminal is quite new and the car hire companies have been slow to provide shuttles. You will most likely have to get a taxi either from the airport or your hotel.
There are some great cruise forums out there where you can get really valuable advice to help you get the most out of your trip and make it as smooth as possible.
Intermediate Sports Utility Vehicle
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009The compact SUV vehicles are very popular with clients for Florida car hire. They give a nice high ride with good visability, and with the cars in Florida often being so much bigger than in the UK, it can help with confidence on the road.
The Toyota RAV 4 is the illustrative car for Thrifty car hire in this category. The RAV 4 was recently ranked 4th out of 26 compact SUV’s in America by U.S. News. “The RAV4, last redesigned in 2006, is one of the most well-rounded vehicles in its class”
The Saturn Vue is the example provided by Alamo car hire for the Intermediate SUV category. U.S. News ranks the Saturn Vue 7th out of 26, “redesigned last year, the VUE offers one of the best combinations of style, a comfortable interior and impressive performance in its class.”
Dollar Rent a Car continue their strong link with the Jeep, now the ‘Liberty’ has replaced the very popular Cherokee. Edmonds.com comments on the current styling of the car “The cute styling of the first Liberty has been replaced with a more traditional, square-jawed Jeep look, and the cabin boasts more available luxury features such as rain-sensing wipers, remote starting, driver memory settings and a power-sliding sunroof made of canvas that allows a huge opening. There’s also more room for backseat passengers, thanks to a 2-inch wheelbase stretch.”
Budget car hire’s star of this class is the Ford Escape. Edmonds.com believes this has been the best selling compact SUV of all the makes and models on offer. “Ford successfully combined the styling and four-wheel-drive capability of a traditional SUV with the size, practicality and driving characteristics of a midsize car.”
Whichever supplier you choose your intermediate SUV through, there seems no doubt that they are fun to drive. Do be aware though that they don’t have the same luggage capacity as the larger standard SUV. Although technically seating 5 people they would suit 4 adults and a child better than 5 burly adults.
What size car?
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009Choosing the right size of car is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you need to be able to get all of your luggage into it when travelling to and from the Airport, particularly on the way back when your luggage is now full of souvenirs!! The second reason is that as Florida is a ‘drive through’ state, you will be probably be spending quite a bit of time in the car. Unless you are staying ‘in resort’ at Disney World, or Universal, you will most likely need to drive to shops, restaurants, attractions and you may fancy a day trip to the beach. If you are all crammed into the car you will need to be extremely familiar with the other members of your party.
In the current climate no one wants to spend more than they need to on a car, but a few extra pounds for the next size up, may turn out to be the best holiday investment you have made.
The Florida car rental companies put the onus on you to select the appropriate size vehicle, and rather than being sympathetic, they will rub their hands together if you can’t all get in – they get to upgrade you, and you get to pay for it!!
The choice is made slightly more tricky as the vehicles used to illustrate each category are just examples, and particular models vary as to how much luggage and elbow room there will be. Another reason to be generous on your sizing’s.
You may wish to consider a 7 seater minivan – these are hugely popular, and justly so. Even if there are only 4 or 5 in your party, the people carriers offer so much flexiblity as to where people sit, who has to sit together, elbow room when you are hot, fold down seats for luggage, etc, etc. They also offer a raised driving position and view on the road, you may find this helpful in an area when the majority of cars are huge!
Conversely, couples travelling with small amounts of luggage can take advantage of the smaller, cheaper cars. Companies such as Alamo, Budget and Dollar actually have limited numbers of Economy category cars which get booked out quickly. We have many regular travellers who consistently book the smallest car confident that they will be upgraded when they arrive. Of course you do take the chance that, just this once, they do actually have a 2 door economy car, but many are happy to take a calculated risk. This is not advisable though if you have more than two in your party and actually require a bigger car.
If you would like help with choosing the most appropriate size of car, please give us a call in the office on 01428 741438
Reduced rates for Budget – one month only!!
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009We are delighted to be able to bring you a special offer on Budget car rental in Florida. Prices on the website have been reduced by £10 per week, starting today, for all bookings made before September 18th. This is an excellent offer, as it includes both the Christmas period, and next years rates right around to December 2010.
If you want to secure your car for sometime in the future, but don’t want to pay now (and who does?) then give us a call in the office, we will place your reservation for you, and then you only have to pay about 6 weeks before you travel. I don’t think you can say fairer than that! Unfortunately we can only extend this facility to Alamo, Budget and U Save reservations.
