Approx. $400 for a car including insurance, presumably for at least one week (you don't say how long your vacation will be), is a decent deal. Perhaps you could shave off some dollars here and there if you book when over here but it's not like you're being ripped off at $400.

I have no experience of hiring a car in Florida, though, so perhaps $400 isn't as good a deal as I think it is.

One question: you say the car is "free" yet apparently it has a cost attached to it. What am I missing? Is the $400 just for the insurance? That's over 3x what I pay per month for full coverage here in California!

Update: I just read your other post and your vacation is for 2 weeks. I think $400 (approx. what 200 pounds comes to) is a good deal personally.

hi yes vacation is for 2 weeks free car hire but cost of insurance is 200 pounds so total cost of holiday 2 adults 1 child aged 14 14 nights from manchester 2263.00 we are thinking of getting tansfers for 28 pds each to townhouse as dont fancy driving after 9 hour flight

£200 for car insurance for a fortnight is an excellent deal. Its usually a lot more from some of the greedy UK tour operators. TCD for example usually charge £350+ for the smallest car.
Don't even think of booking a car whilst you are there because its lots cheaper getting one from a broker in the UK.

Fiesta Key are just town houses and you can get one for about £250 per week.

Taking into account the above figures it means you are paying £1500 for the flights. Last October we went to Florida for a week with an hotel thrown in for £206 each. If your dates are outside school holidays you will generally be able to get flights for less than £500 each. Just a matter of holding your nerve and booking late.

hi the first week is the school holidays where would i rent the townhouses for 250 a week been on the internet and they quote 375 on most sites, the airline has the extra legroom and tv in the back of the seats, who do you book with feel free to pm me thanks stef

I think you have a good deal there for the school holidays. This is when I normally travel i.e. last 2 weeks in July.

The car insurances with virgin are normally £22 per day, therefore £308 for a fortnight, so I would say that this aspect of your deal is brilliant, provided it gives you the cover that you need.

What company are you using?

Hi,

We are going to florida for 3 weeks (2 adults and 2 children age 15 and 12) and I found a terrific price for an intermediate car (£289 for 3 weeks for a 4 door car). Tonight my mum and 16 year old nephew decided to book the same flights and since they can't drive I am going to have to get a 7 seater minivan. Does anyone know of any good companies particularly for minivans. The initial quote I had for the intermediate was a free upgrade from compact to intermediate plus £5.00 off voucher with usrentals.co.uk. The car was with Dollar and I was collecting it from MCO

thanks

keanda

Have you called Dollar and asked how much it would cost to upgrade to a minivan? I've always found Dollar to be decent... I've used them a couple of times and never had any problems.

Hi

US rentacar.co. uk (are those the ones you meant in your post ?) have an offer on at the moment on 7 seater minivans that you will find hard to beat ; from £149 for 2 weeks incl 2 drivers ! - they also give an extra £5 off when you put in the promotion code ONLINE.

We got a great deal with them (though not with a minivan).

Hope this helps

Hi jdybnsn,

Yes it is us rentacar.co.uk. I cant see the offer for the minivans at that price though. I have been searching and they really do seem to be the most competative at the moment. I will have another look at their website and perhaps give them a call.

thanks

keanda

Here is the link for you ;

http://www.usrentacar.co.uk

The minivan price is being advertised in the bottom left hand corner, along with other deals which are being flashed intermitently.

Sorry Keanda,

I its my mistake - the price is for one week ...still a good deal though.

Hi,

Shopped around and an organisation on the teletext offered me £436 for the 3 weeks which is really good, £6.00 less that usrentalcar.co.uk The only thing is how do I know if they are credible. With usrentacarl.co.uk you only pay the deposit just now which is also appealing.

Out of curiousity is there a difference between minivan and a
people carrier,

thanks

keanda

As far as I'm aware they don't use the term 'people carrier' in the states - but that is normally what you get if you book a 7or 8 seater minivan .

...we hired a Chrysler people carrier a few years ago (the same type you see over here) - they seem to be the one most commonly allocated. We loved it ! Infact, if money was no object, then that would be what I would book just for the 4 of us !!
It was much easier to drive being higher up from the road, and very comfortable. The only downside was that it did not have a very big boot (but then what has in the US ?) but we managed OK even with 5 adults & 2 kids.

P.S. with hire companies it is worth finding out if you have to bring the car back empty or full - with many, you have to bring it back empty, and then they charge you a nice $60 or so, to fill it, which is a bit of a hidden cost since that is double the retail price of gas over there (the rest they say is handling charge) !
I think some companies allow you to bring it back full which will be much cheaper, and others allow you to prepay for a tank of fuel which is normally far more reasonable than the $60, charge you may other wise get (but do watch your credit card statements afterwards to check they have not applied a charge -this can happen when the hire terms & details are not commincated well between the agent and the hire company).

So that is another thing to put into your cost comparisons

Try http://www.uscarhire.co.uk
We have used this company 3 times and have booked again with them for May hiring a 7 seater for 2 weeks £360. This includes a full tank of petrol, taking it back empty. No extra costs and you have a choice of Alamo or Dollar. We use dollar as the office is just outside the doors when you leave Sanford Airport.

Can't wait to go, just 5 weeks

Trunk (boot) sizes in the US are no different to the UK. In fact, as the average car is larger in the US, I suspect trunk sizes are also, on average, larger. Of course, it depends on the car you get... a compact isn't going to have a bigger trunk than an intermediate sized car would in the UK.

Would a 7 seater minivan be big enough for 6 adults and luggage probably a suitcase each.