Florida Car Hire

[Dougman]

Hello

Mrs. Dougman has decreed that we are going to Florida for holiday this year, as such Dougman has been volunteered for driving and car hiring duties. Having never hired a car for myself before I’d be keen to get some advice.

What will I need for driving in Florida? I’ve had a search of the forums and I’ve not found all the answers to the following:

I’ve read various reports of requiring an international driving permit and not.

What sort of additional insurance is it sensible to take out with the car, or will the standard coverage be adequate.

Are there any preferred renters, so far the cheapest quote for what we want if from Budget, Dollar or Thrifty.

Is it worth getting an EZ pass, I’m not sure how much we’ll be using toll roads, but I see that there are manned toll booths most places.

Anything else I’ve missed?

Thanks in advance

[Truvelo]

You don't need an international driving permit for anywhere in the USA, your UK licence is sufficient. You don''t even need to bother getting a code from DVLA for the former counterpart part of the licence either.

I only take the standard insurance. If booking from somewhere like Expedia it includes everything which is necessary. Staff at the rental car desk are on commission so will try to sell you extra insurance. Always decline personal effects insurance as this is already covered by your travel insurance. They even try to make you prepay the fuel so you bring the car back empty. Decline this also because it's cheaper to fill it up before you return it. Most fuel gauges stay on full for quite some time so fill up around 25 miles away from the rental car place and bag the extra miles. Chance are the previous renter of the vehicle did the same thing so you're only recouping the lost miles from your original tank full.

I have used pretty much all the major car hire companies and they are all very similar so go on price. I find at some places such as Chicago the queue to be served at Budget can be quite long. As it takes ages to process each customer expect to be waiting an hour if the queue is out the door. This is made worse if there's just one person serving.

One word of warning about using EZ pass or Sunpass which is Florida's version. If you use the windscreen mounted transponder just once you'll pay a daily fee for your entire rental period. Say the daily charge is $4 and you have the car for 7 days. That's $28 in fees before you even start paying tolls even if you use it just once in that entire week. I never use the transponder and pay cash although some minor exits on toll roads are transponder only so check out your route to see if all your likely exit points accept cash. Alternatively stick to surface streets instead of making short tollway journeys.

[WHBM]

Buy everything, especially including the insurance, on line in Britain before you go. The insurance comes out far more expensive when bought locally in the USA. Most mainstream Americans don't need rental insurance because it is included in their home policy if paid on a credit card, so the companies think anyone needing insurance is a poor risk. Furthermore, you find there's an insurance charge but it only covers third party, then you need another insurance for the car itself, then they try and sneak in personal accident as well ...

Some agencies do not allow the car to go out of Florida, and charge a big excess when you get back if you do so and have not prearranged it - all the cars have GPS trackers now.

The tolls turn up at random points and sometimes you can work through several in an hour, then go for days with none. There's one for example right outside Orlando airport. SunPass avoids the hassle, and increasingly cash payment is going, if you don't have the pass you either have to pay on a website or are prohibited. There are even quadruple carriageways which are toll on the express lanes but not on the C&D lanes.

You're on holiday - consider getting a convertible ! They are more expensive but are tremendous. Put the roof up if driving through inner city Miami and similar places, and/or have no valuables on show on city streets - people have even had hats stolen off their heads.

[bothar]

I've used Autoeurope as a consolidator who have pretty clear rates and T&Cs and they give an overview of the different companies. As stated above use the UK site and not the US one. Obviously, you'll need a credit card for most companies, but I had good service from Autoeurope when I had to change my reservation when my bank cancelled my credit card because of unrelated fraud and I had to change to a car hire company that I could use my debit card with.

The International Permit is a translation, so is not much needed when your licence is in English anyway, but it might be required by law in a strict interpretation. The car hire company won't worry.

[WHBM]

Debit card - credit card is another US issue. Debit cards are standard in the UK, and readily accepted on booking sites for advance bookings (and to be shown at the US counter), whereas in the US they are only given to people with poor credit history, and many car rental places at hire time refuse to take them.

[Ruperts Trooper]

The step-up cost for each vehicle class is very low, so treat yourself to a Camaro/Challenger/Mustang - even if you don't, treat the equivalent sizes with suspicion and go up a couple of classes anyway.

[roadtester]

Buy everything, especially including the insurance, on line in Britain before you go. The insurance comes out far more expensive when bought locally in the USA. Most mainstream Americans don't need rental insurance because it is included in their home policy if paid on a credit card, so the companies think anyone needing insurance is a poor risk. Furthermore, you find there's an insurance charge but it only covers third party, then you need another insurance for the car itself, then they try and sneak in personal accident as well ...

On the specific subject of car hire excess insurance, I used to have an annual policy for that from these guys:

https://www.insurance4carhire.com/

May work out cheaper than paying each time, depending on how often you travel and where.

[bothar]

Buy everything, especially including the insurance, on line in Britain before you go. The insurance comes out far more expensive when bought locally in the USA. Most mainstream Americans don't need rental insurance because it is included in their home policy if paid on a credit card, so the companies think anyone needing insurance is a poor risk. Furthermore, you find there's an insurance charge but it only covers third party, then you need another insurance for the car itself, then they try and sneak in personal accident as well ...

On the specific subject of car hire excess insurance, I used to have an annual policy for that from these guys:

https://www.insurance4carhire.com/

May work out cheaper than paying each time, depending on how often you travel and where.

Excess is much less common in the US than elsewhere, so this may not be needed.

[nowster]

Definitely make sure you have both CDW and UMP on the cover. Insurance is not compulsory in all states, IIRC.

[ScottB5411]

Debit card - credit card is another US issue. Debit cards are standard in the UK, and readily accepted on booking sites for advance bookings (and to be shown at the US counter), whereas in the US they are only given to people with poor credit history, and many car rental places at hire time refuse to take them.

Rubbish.

I have a debit card for my bank account, earn over $75,000 a year and also have several credit cards and an excellent credit rating.

The card you speak of is an EBT card which is totally different and only accepted at certain place with credits supplied by the state you reside in.

Debit cards can be used for car hire, however there will be a security hold placed on funds until you bring the car back, the same as the UK, so you are advised to use a credit card if you need the money in your bank account.

[Truvelo]

I have seen notices at some car hire places over there stating that debit cards are not accepted. Maybe I tend to hire cars in dodgy areas. I did speak to one employee who says the worse offenders for hiring cars are residents of the local area. So ironically they would rather rent cars to overseas visitors than someone local.

[WHBM]

I have been declined at the counter twice in the USA, mainstream brand at a mainstream airport, when offering a (UK) Visa debit card for starting a hire, which is perfectly accepted at the same rental brand in Britain, and also on their website when booking US hires and prepaying (some of it, there's always extras at the end) in the UK.

[bothar]

I have been declined at the counter twice in the USA, mainstream brand at a mainstream airport, when offering a (UK) Visa debit card for starting a hire, which is perfectly accepted at the same rental brand in Britain, and also on their website when booking US hires and prepaying (some of it, there's always extras at the end) in the UK.

There is no problem booking using a debit card or paying for bits and pieces. The issue is their ability to put a substantial hold on the card to ensure you bring the car back, not your ability to pay the fee.

[Dougman]

Thanks for all the advice so far, as much as I'd like to hire a muscle car, there's six of us going, so it'll be some sort of large SUV or minivan that we're going for!

[Truvelo]

Thanks for all the advice so far, as much as I'd like to hire a muscle car, there's six of us going, so it'll be some sort of large SUV or minivan that we're going for!

Sometimes you don't have to specify a muscle car in order to get one. I order full size or premium cars but in 2010 I ended up with this brand new Camaro with just delivery mileage. It may have been only a V6 and not a V8 but it did pump out a healthy 300bhp. I suspect the hire car company weren't best pleased when I returned it with nearly 2000 miles on the clock.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... Mexico.jpg

[Dougman]

Thanks for all the advice so far, as much as I'd like to hire a muscle car, there's six of us going, so it'll be some sort of large SUV or minivan that we're going for!

Sometimes you don't have to specify a muscle car in order to get one. I order full size or premium cars but in 2010 I ended up with this brand new Camaro with just delivery mileage. It may have been only a V6 and not a V8 but it did pump out a healthy 300bhp. I suspect the hire car company weren't best pleased when I returned it with nearly 2000 miles on the clock.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... Mexico.jpg

So muscle car and a trailer for the other passengers? I could live with that

[KeithW]

Definitely make sure you have both CDW and UMP on the cover. Insurance is not compulsory in all states, IIRC.

If you hire a car through the UK website it will normally include CDW and UMP, most states require third party insurance BUT the minimum requirement is way below what is prudent in many states and would not even cover car damage let alone personal injury and medical cover. When I was doing a lot of travelling in the states I had cover through American Express that included full hire car and third party cover that was a lot cheaper than that offered by the rental companies. As I recall New York State was the one place that you did not need to purchase extra cover as state law required it be included in the rental rates.

Be aware that the insurance offered by some rental companies in Florida is invalidated by having ANY level of blood alcohol above zero. If you have an accident and are tested they may refuse to pay out even if you are under the legal limit. Last time I picked up a car at the Budget car rental desk in Orlando they made a point of informing everybody of this.

[KeithW]

Sometimes you don't have to specify a muscle car in order to get one. I order full size or premium cars but in 2010 I ended up with this brand new Camaro with just delivery mileage. It may have been only a V6 and not a V8 but it did pump out a healthy 300bhp. I suspect the hire car company weren't best pleased when I returned it with nearly 2000 miles on the clock.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... Mexico.jpg

I once picked up a car (Chevvy Impala) at Calgary with 10 km on the clock and took it back 3 weeks later with almost 9000 km on it having driven up the Alaska Highway before bringing it back via the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system to Prince Rupert and then driving back via Prince George, Jasper and Banff. They didnt even mention the crack on the windshield let alone the mileage

I also ordered a full size car at SFO once and ended up with a Ford Crown Victoria with a 4.6 litre V8 which handled better than I expected driving up the mountain road to Crater Lake in Oregon. The car was rather under powered having a naturally aspirated SOHC engine with 200 hp to pull nearly 2 tons of car.



The Impala with the 3.5 V6 handled and pulled much better.

[Dougman]

After the suggestion to book on a uk website, I had a look at budget, as they were the cheapest on the US websites. The uk website was £220 cheaper! Thanks for that tip certainly

[Truvelo]

I also ordered a full size car at SFO once and ended up with a Ford Crown Victoria with a 4.6 litre V8 which handled better than I expected driving up the mountain road to Crater Lake in Oregon. The car was rather under powered having a naturally aspirated SOHC engine with 200 hp to pull nearly 2 tons of car.

I have driven many Crown Vics and the related Grand Marquis as hire cars. There seems to be little consistency between car sizes as I've had Crown Vics as full size and premium cars. Although I agree with you regarding the small amount of power for the size of the engine I do like the way they ride compared to the harder suspension setups of smaller cars and the 25 US MPG I've averaged in those compares well to the 1.5 Ecoboost Ford Kugas I've driven lately.