I don't think anything is taken from your credit card until you return the car. But I'm sure somebody will correct me.

i seem to remember they put an authorisation amount on your card, (just to make sure the card was good) this usually comes off your spending limit, but doesnt show on your statement unless they put a charge thru, i.e. the voucher..say for any damage, if there is no damage, or extra charges the authorisation disappears after a few weeks. ...... thanks for your reply though...

hi all - has anyone used the car hire company U -SAVE - We are flying into sanford airport and they pick you up and take you to your car which is off site about 10 minutes up the road.

Has anyone used a 10/12 seater and know the cost we will be looking at. Not going till next year but wondering how much we are looking at. 2 families going hiring a villa and flights separate.

hi carriebmw - try US rentacar.co.uk they seem to offer a good deal. we have gone thru them as our 20 year old son will be driving, a lot of companies wont insure under 25's. I know you said you were looking at a large van -but from experience sometimes its good to have 2 vehicles, maybe an 8 seater and a car, great if not everyone wants to go to the same place, or even nipping out for some shopping!!! Going to sarasota 21st april - cant wait!!!

Thanks for the info. The friends we are going with won't drive as they hardly ever do in the UK let alone in the US - they are just not happy driving anywhere really. So we will need 1 vehicle for all of us. I will check out your suggestion and see how much this type of vehicle will set us back.

just a suggestion, you may be better to ring them, they are really helpful and are on the ball. tel number is on their web site - good luck

If you hire from Dollar at Sanford be very very careful and insist on bringing back the car with a full tank of petrol or else they will precharge you for a tank of petrol at silly rates.I was charged $78.00 for a tank of petrol -this was $4.08 a gallon ,the dearest petrol in orlando was less then $3.00 a gallon .I complained and was told to bring the car back full and they refunded the petrol charge to my card.It cost me to fill the tank at a garage outside the Airport $42.00 ,a bit different from $78.00 ,also it is very hard to judge in order to bring back the car empty as Dollar wanted me to do .nearly every car arrives back with at least a quarter a tank of petrol ,which Dollar will charge the next customer for .not a bad little earner for them.
be careful.

That's not just Dollar. Almost any car hire company will charge you if you don't bring the vehicle back with gas in the tank. Usually they require a full tank but occasionally it might be less. Definitely check when you hire the car. As the poster above says, the amount you are charged will be far higher than the actual cost for filling up the tank. I'm sure the excuse for this is that they have to pay an employee to go out and get the gas but it seems unlikely that it would cost more than $30 for that.

Having worked in the car hire industry for many years (although I've escaped now!)I can answer a couple of points.
1) Credit Cards, normally your card is just checked to ensure it will cover the estimated maximum payment, this is done by authorising not charging, however, beware this will use up a portion of your credit limit for a few days. Also make sure that you get a copy of your bill at the end and check your statements for the next couple of months as car hire companies, like hotels, can add charges afterwards for things like fuel and damage.
2) Fuel, yep if your car is full when you collect it MAKE SURE you return it full. There has always been a service charge for refilling a car if it isn't returned full and it is usually around 25-30% more than if you fill it yourself. (If you want the reasoning behind it, do a quick comparison between the cost of a bottle of wine at an off-licence and the how much a restuarant will charge you for the same bottle!)

I told them at dollar I would bring back the car full,but was told no I had to bring it back empty because as from Jan 2006 this was Dollar policy .I have family living in Florida who told me this was not so.So maybe its just a rule for British visitors ,It would seem they want your money everyway.

Hi - Flying to Sanford with Thompson's in June & for first time, we're with Alamo instead of Dollar - Couple of things, firstly did like that we could go onto Alamo site and pre-register our address details etc, which will hopefully save us a bit of time at the other end - Secondly, couple of queries, we've got an all-inclusive mid-size booked, with only charges payable there being i) Full tank of petrol & ii) Car Seat for our 2 y/o - Now on point i) Anyone got any idea of how much I can expect to pay & ii) we fully intend to take our own old, car-seat, & poss replace with a buying a new one accross there - Anyone else done the same? And if so, any probs??

sorry but did a search and couldn't find any thing to do with just car hire

i'm going to orlando on the 16 sept and as yet haven't got a car
can someone let me know of a good cheep place to hire one from

thanks in advance

trev

*Edit. Merged with existing topic where you should find lots of tips Pippy*

Airline network do the best I've found. If you go through the US websites they often don't take insurance to the level required for british drivers. (US drivers' own insurance often covers them.)

With http://www.airline-network.co.uk everything is included to your (UK) requirements.

Second the above, have used airline network every time for our trips, never found a better price anywhere else (and I know where to look!).

Take the Platinum Upgrade option, usually only £15 to £25, apart from covering extra drivers it means you pick up the car with a full tank and return it empty, no re-filling charge at inflated prices and a full tank of gas at the moment is more than the upgrade costs anyway

After a great deal of searching through the net, we have just booked ours through http://www.uscarhire.co.uk We found them to be the most competitive price for fully inclusive insurance. They are also currently doing a free upgrade and 2 drivers as standard through Dollar.

Anyone wanting to hire a car for more than 28 days should try Ebookers. In fact try them anyway.

http://www.ebookers.com/index.html

Most search sites including Airline Network and the major hire companies tend to restrict you to under 28 days.

I was able to hire an Alamo hire car through Ebookers for a period of 57 days and it was over £200 cheaper than getting it direct from Alamo. It included a free upgrade and an additional driver, with a special offer that was available at the time I booked.

sorry to but in
has any one hired a car from u s car hire
they don't have an office in the airport but collect you and take you to their depo
but are they any good
looked on there webb page and some people have some complaints
they have a 83 %feed back and alamo (which we used in jan 06 )have an 88%feed back
i want to hire a pick up this year and they seem to be the olny ones that hire pickups if any one knows differant please let me know

need to move fast on this as we go on the 15 sept

also can any let me know what the weather is like as we have only gone in dec/jan before

thanks in avance

trevor

Hi Trevor

That is still hurricane season....you'll find weather info HERE

Pippy