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Post by WDWGoof on Sept 6, 2023 13:00:23 GMT -5
Me again! I’m here at Disney and survived my first car rental pickup. Thanks for everyone’s tips! Now can we discuss the return? Our flight is at 4pm but I put 1pm return seeing at that point when I booked I didn’t know my flight info. Sooo… how strict are they on return times? Just too early to get to airport so didn’t know if I’ll have issues when returning a little later than when I said.
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Post by johnb on Sept 6, 2023 13:04:25 GMT -5
Me again! I’m here at Disney and survived my first car rental pickup. Thanks for everyone’s tips! Now can we discuss the return? Our flight is at 4pm but I put 1pm return seeing at that point when I booked I didn’t know my flight info. Sooo… how strict are they on return times? Just too early to get to airport so didn’t know if I’ll have issues when returning a little later than when I said. Check your contract and/or call the rental company to ask. I'm thinking they have some leeway but I wouldn't count on more than 30 minutes (just me guessing). |
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Post by allanadale on Sept 6, 2023 13:38:53 GMT -5
Me again! I’m here at Disney and survived my first car rental pickup. Thanks for everyone’s tips! Now can we discuss the return? Our flight is at 4pm but I put 1pm return seeing at that point when I booked I didn’t know my flight info. Sooo… how strict are they on return times? Just too early to get to airport so didn’t know if I’ll have issues when returning a little later than when I said. There's a grace period, but not that much of one. Maybe an hour? But they'll likely charge hourly, not daily, after that, so it won't be the full hit. You could also call and inform them you'll be returning slightly later. I don't know what time you picked the car up - if they're charging daily, and you haven't reached a full last day, you might not even have to pay extra. But if you didn't pre-pay for fuel be sure to fill up before returning the car. Last trip filling up at the Boardwalk worked and we weren't charged extra by the time we reached MCO, but in previous trips we just found a gas station near the airport. |
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Post by helenabear on Sept 6, 2023 14:32:13 GMT -5
Me again! I’m here at Disney and survived my first car rental pickup. Thanks for everyone’s tips! Now can we discuss the return? Our flight is at 4pm but I put 1pm return seeing at that point when I booked I didn’t know my flight info. Sooo… how strict are they on return times? Just too early to get to airport so didn’t know if I’ll have issues when returning a little later than when I said. This actually depends more of your initial pick up time than just the return time in many cases. You can always try to edit your times and see what the difference is, if any. |
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Post by tomandrobin on Sept 6, 2023 14:41:06 GMT -5
Nothing is for free.....If you go over the time you already paid, they will charge you.
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Post by disney54us on Sept 6, 2023 16:29:11 GMT -5
As said, check your pick up time. If you picked up at 4:00 then as long as it’s returned by 4 you won’t be charged but I would change it prior. Many charge for a full day if it’s after your pick up time. I am not aware of any that do hourly charges.
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Post by helenabear on Sept 6, 2023 18:13:20 GMT -5
As said, check your pick up time. If you picked up at 4:00 then as long as it’s returned by 4 you won’t be charged but I would change it prior. Many charge for a full day if it’s after your pick up time. I am not aware of any that do hourly charges. National Car still does for the 1 hr past pick up time. It's about half a day usually. I rarely see it though. |
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Post by disney54us on Sept 6, 2023 20:49:59 GMT -5
Have never used National, good to know in case flights don’t coordinate with arriving and departing. I’ve used Hertz, Alamo and budget. Always was another day fee if my drop off was after my pickup time. I’m fine if we came in early and are not returning till evening outgoing but if it’s a few hours, just charge me half a day or hourly, please.
And Budget I scratched of my list of using after two incidents. There cars were just as good as what I would rent from hertz but better pricing.
My budget stories, lol.
After one trip arriving MCO going to Daytona, the couple before was having a legit issue and complaining. The ignorance of the people was amazing. Then us, I forget the issue, now but similar. When I questioned something, and couldn’t get an answer. Some ‘kid’ is interrupting his co worker and my husband asked the same, dumb reply from cocky dude. I’m speaking to her, I don’t have to answer you, he said well it’s our reservation so I’m asking the question and she was speaking to your co worker before you interrupted her. He gets mouthy, and comes out from their booth.starts to get a bit aggressive, with the girl ((they were both young) and behaved as if they were picked up from the street fighting corners. She was the supervisor. Let’s just say Orlando police was almost called. I had my sons best friend with us we were going to see him then hitting Disney. She was oblivious lol, hmm what’s going on here, my daughter who was on guard. Husband who, seriously, don’t get in the face in an aggressive manner.
So we didn’t get a car…. They canceled our reservation. Womp womp.
We just scurried down to hertz and rented one, lol. Looking back it’s funny, sort of. Bri looking around like is something happening here, my daughter ready to call pd. I did get refunded but that was a hassle, because we flew frontier from PHL and I book it to get points when I booked flight. Though is third party but a phone call or two it was done.
My final, was when son after graduating was flying into DAB (Daytona) to go to gf’s graduation, the following year. Now DAB is such a lovely small airport. And the car rental aisle downstairs, it reminds me of something from a 80’s sitcom. Where oh you want this company, here I am, and the next company the same person. So they ask, is your reservation with Alamo, Enterprise, budget. I really think Hertz is the only one that doesn’t cross breed, lol.
I booked him the car or my husband did which they both have a discover but husband put it in under his rewards account. They would not give him the car, even though with discover if you add a card member the card numbers are the same. I’m on the phone, with them and say okay cancel that reservation, and just book him with his card. I can’t remember the complication that they told me they could not do that. I don’t remember why, it was just a waste of time and a go around. He went a few feet left and it was hertz or Alamo that he rented a car. After that I was done. Shame cars were just as nice as others that charged more but I can’t deal with bs.
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Post by helenabear on Sept 7, 2023 6:27:35 GMT -5
That's pretty bad! I only do Budget if I can do fastbreak or a small not airport location. I am not really thrilled even with fastbreak. For most I stick to National or Alamo. If it is close I will choose National. Same parent company but their service and treatment is really good. I also found out that if you rent regularly you get good deals (regularly meaning like once a year even). I had a much better spring break deal for a car than my dad did. Weird but it was what it was. Since I use them a bunch I don't mind. Only last June did Alamo beat National for me anyway. This year National has beaten all my Costco Alamo prices or at least been same. Their selection isn't as big as Alamo at MCO but better in Tampa. I'm a creature of habit I guess.
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Post by tomandrobin on Sept 7, 2023 6:40:31 GMT -5
I know people who has used the Turo app to rent cars for their WDW trip. Their pickup is in the parking garage. Pricing is really good and the car selection is extremely varied. When you rent, you get exactly what you want or need.
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Post by helenabear on Sept 7, 2023 7:17:37 GMT -5
The issue with Turo is not all insurance will cover it. Last time I asked I was told no by my insurer in my state (they were not viewed as rental cars), and the add on insurance negated savings. So check before renting as it seems to be changing but not all can be covered.
I only do pick your own car in Orlando either National or Alamo so at least I'm happy with the car before I take off. No risk of being stuck with a smoked in car either as I move on to the next. P
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Post by johnb on Sept 7, 2023 10:06:43 GMT -5
The issue with Turo is not all insurance will cover it. Last time I asked I was told no by my insurer in my state (they were not viewed as rental cars), and the add on insurance negated savings. So check before renting as it seems to be changing but not all can be covered. I only do pick your own car in Orlando either National or Alamo so at least I'm happy with the car before I take off. No risk of being stuck with a smoked in car either as I move on to the next. P Same here (mostly Alamo). It's always been a very quick and easy process, both pick up and return. |
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Post by WDWGoof on Sept 7, 2023 13:42:25 GMT -5
Whelp, I survived! Car was returned at 12:50pm. Figured why take a chance. We just got here early and had lunch at the airport. Probably first and last time renting a car. Too much stress with my personality. Buses don’t bother me, in fact have met so many nice people from all over by using buses that I don’t see the need for a car. And, I just have to say it would have been just a little less stressful if we saw car rental return signs much prior to where you turn off. We kept thinking we missed the turn off seeing we never saw any signs. And thank you whoever mentioned it was on the left. Boy, you turn a corner and there it is. The area was so packed with cars, we wouldn’t have been able to get on the ramp if we weren’t already in the left lane. One and done for me, but had to try it. Thanks for everyone’s input!
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Post by johnb on Sept 7, 2023 14:34:05 GMT -5
Whelp, I survived! Car was returned at 12:50pm. Figured why take a chance. We just got here early and had lunch at the airport. Probably first and last time renting a car. Too much stress with my personality. Buses don’t bother me, in fact have met so many nice people from all over by using buses that I don’t see the need for a car. And, I just have to say it would have been just a little less stressful if we saw car rental return signs much prior to where you turn off. We kept thinking we missed the turn off seeing we never saw any signs. And thank you whoever mentioned it was on the left. Boy, you turn a corner and there it is. The area was so packed with cars, we wouldn’t have been able to get on the ramp if we weren’t already in the left lane. One and done for me, but had to try it. Thanks for everyone’s input! You're welcome  It definitely sneaks up on you. We missed it once. Even now, there is so much merging traffic that it's hard to get into that left lane. |
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Post by Wiltony on Sept 7, 2023 15:00:54 GMT -5
Okay, here's the crazy thing: most of the big car rental agencies charge you by the day. So if you pick up at 7P on the first day and need to return it at 8P on the final day, you're paying for an ENTIRE 24 hrs worth of use, just for that extra hour. Keep that in mind as you book your return times -- as you might be able to save a whole day of cost for the car just by arriving 30 min early or something. Play around with your p/u and return times when making your reservation and if you can avoid crossing over the p/u time on your drop-off day, you'll save some money. The frustrating thing in WDWGoof's case is that theoretically, that means that as long as you're within the 24 hours of that extra day, it shouldn't matter when you return the car, but the agencies use your return time as an excuse to charge you more if vary from the expected time on your reservation. I was once charged a $20 fee for dropping off the car more than 1.5 hours early!!!! |
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