Orlando & Florida - Questions & Answers (Part 1) *CLOSED*

Cardew

tonys wrote:

The americans are much more into coupons than our companies in Europe.Try entering
"Florida car hire coupons" on Google and investigate.I saw Alamo with coupons starting at $139 a week.

In fact if you type in Orlando coupons,or sometimes the name of the hotel you want with "coupons" added,you might get an even better price.

Some Orlando coupons for instance can save $30 per head getting into Disney.And
these coupons are on offer across America,not just Florida.

Nearly all quotes for car hire in the USA are without any insurance, tax and a host of other extras. Many Americans have car insurance policies that cover them them for car hire(rental). They will not let you have a car now without insurance and they check all policies.

I go to the USA several times a year and there is no way that it is cheaper to hire a car in the USA than getting it through UK.

Also most of the coupons are just gimmicks.

jnd

Cardew wrote:

I go to the USA several times a year and there is no way that it is cheaper to hire a car in the USA than getting it through UK.

Amex's Premier Plus Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance includes North American Car Hire Cover (CDW and top up liability). It does cost a hefty £284.95 for a family of 4 but is very useful if you go quite often to the US and always hire a car. It would work out cheaper in the long run.

http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,12756,00.asp?

Mods: Feel free to amend the link so MSE benefits.

Cardew

jnd wrote:

Amex's Premier Plus Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance includes North American Car Hire Cover (CDW and top up liability). It does cost a hefty £284.95 for a family of 4 but is very useful if you go quite often to the US and always hire a car. It would work out cheaper in the long run.

http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,12756,00.asp?

Mods: Feel free to amend the link so MSE benefits.

Thanks.
I have an annual policy(CDW,SLI,UMP etc) for rental in the USA which costs £99. Natwest do the same policy for £75 if you have their credit card. Lasts for up to 30 days on any one trip.

You have to pay taxes and odd misc charges at the car rental desk(and a tank of petrol at inflated prices) but the break-even point is about 3 weeks rental a year.

Beware trying to use Amex or my policy with charter fly/drives -with a so called 'free' car. They make their profit by selling compulsory insurance at very high prices and will throw every obstacle in the way of you using your own policy. Their insurance charges alone are sometimes double the cost of a separate car hire with full insurance.

You used to be able to get a fly drive, say you would pay for the car insurance in the USA, and then not bother collecting the car. Most have got wise to this and make you pay for insurance with your fly/drive booking.

jnd

Cardew,

The £99 policy sounds good. Do you mind me asking who's it with?

Cheers.

Cardew

jnd wrote:

Cardew,

The £99 policy sounds good. Do you mind me asking who's it with?

Cheers.

Look at:

http://www.insurance4carhire.co.uk/index.asp?curID=1&langID=1&refID=100&pID=41

whizzkid_3

can someone advise me please?
we will be in orlando for 4 days in early may and was wondering if it would be worthwhile buying maybe a 3day universal pass and a walt disney day ticket in advance or if it would simpler just to get discounted tickets when we are there?
far too much to see in 4 days-what do you all think are the must sees?

thankyou

Cardew

whizzkid wrote:

can someone advise me please?
we will be in orlando for 4 days in early may and was wondering if it would be worthwhile buying maybe a 3day universal pass and a walt disney day ticket in advance or if it would simpler just to get discounted tickets when we are there?
far too much to see in 4 days-what do you all think are the must sees?

thankyou

It depends what your interests are, and the ages of those going.

I think the majority of people would want more time in the Disney parks than Universal - but it is personal choice. I think Epcot is the big 'must see', but if you have young children it would be Magic Kingdom. Young adults would want the wild rides in Universal's Islands of Adventure.

The Disney fireworks on the lake at Epcot are worth seeing.

There are no serious discounts for the major attractions anywhere but you can save a few dollars - there are sites in UK if you do a search.

Edinburghlass_2

I researched a load of the UK ticket sites as we are going for two weeks and it is cheaper to buy a longer stay ticket before you go as Disney changed all the tickets at the beginning of this year and intoduced a UK ticket package.

orlando-ticket-deals.co.uk do a price promise on all UK ticket companies websites so if you find a site cheaper they will match the price. Others are attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk, best4attractions.co.uk, Google for Disney tickets or Florida attractions. All of the UK tickets sites seem to send out your tickets very quickly or you can pick up on arrival but with only four days it seems a better idea to get organised before you go then you won't waste any of your precious time.

Check out the UK planning board at the Dis forums here for helpful tips on how to make the best of your four days.

TrishaM

I am travelling to Orlando in July, and need to book a hotel, prefer to stay near or at Disney, anyone got any tips for getting cheap rates at the 3 star plus hotels? Or any recomendations? We will be travelling from North Carolina down to Florida. Thanks.

Poppy9

Trisha you could try www.mousesavers.com