Please check my checklist & then tell me about the airport?

Davidboy

CPU - Sanford is a dedicated airport for holiday makers. When you come out of the airport the car rental place is on the opposite side of the road. Beware traffic is comming the "other "way as you cross the road. Only 1 person is allowed to go into car rentals, all others have to wait outside. It gets a bit confusing..lots of people about, even at 11pm!! I think you go to the desk via the holday company you book with, ie Thomson, etc.

Can I strongly advise you if you are heading to Orlando/Kissimmi, that you take the toll road. It only costs a few dollars, but is usually quite empty and lets you get "used" to the car on good Freeway (Motorway). It will take you approx 1 hours drive to get to Orlando/Kissimmi but is easy to do as I say via the toll road and well sign posted. Make sure you gets some coins or small notes ie 1 dollar bills ready for the tolls before you start your drive. I think the whole journey will cost less than 10 dollars in tolls.

They have gorgeous big cars in US, automatics, usually with cruise control, air con is a must in Florida. There have been times where we have had to wait under a tree for shade while the car was running with air con on, its was sooooo hot in the car the air con had to cool it down before we could get in it.

Have a really good time. We have been there 4 times and never had a bad experience......sooo jealous.

D

Edit: Just remembered, I hope you have paid all your car hire taxes in this country it is slightly cheaper. If you have done that, then you will still have to pay for the tank of fuel when you get there, but you take the car back empty! If you need any further info then PM me.

D

trets77

make sure you have the Address of where you staying ( 1st night at least) handy as it is required info for the green Visa waiver form . your own pen is also handy as cheap biros seem to get even worse than normal at 30,000 ft.

Flight socks are cheap and not bothersome at all so if there is a slight chance they are doing to some good wear them i say. always get a aisle seat on the plane unless you know the person sitting in the aisle seat that blocks you in. looking out the window loses it,s novelty after about 10 mins for me.

a travel wallet is a great idea as is a very brightly coloured shoelace around your suitcase handle, you will be amazed how alike they look when all together at the other end espically the black ones.

you will need your paper driving liscense for the car hire, also have you checked what is and is not included with your car hire as regards insurance,

America and Canada aren,t as anywhere near as bad as sneaky rip off europe , and i have only ever been asked to pay for is fuel at good local price ....but read this before you go so you are prepared .

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article713476.ece?token=null&offset=0

a trick by criminals in destinations like Florida is to rear end your hire car then car jack you when you stop. if you are not comfortable about stopping indicate to the driver to follow you and drive to very public place or police station and sort it out there. i would not worry though , it is very very unlikely to happen

photome

posted by Davidboy

Edit: Just remembered, I hope you have paid all your car hire taxes in this country it is slightly cheaper. If you have done that, then you will still have to pay for the tank of fuel when you get there, but you take the car back empty! If you need any further info then PM me.


Not necesarily, whenever I hire a car in the USA I pay all charges upfront in the UK and include a tank of fuel and then return it empty

Davidboy

photome wrote: »

Not necesarily, whenever I hire a car in the USA I pay all charges upfront in the UK and include a tank of fuel and then return it empty

Ok, but the last time I asked to pay upfront for the fuel I was unable to do so only able to pay for all the taxes in UK, the fuel HAD to be paid for locally. I am only offering my experiences and warnings so the guy can be prepared, thats all.

D

Voyager2002

Since you have a hotel near the airport for the night before your departure, you could ask them to look after your luggage when you check out. You could then visit Glasgow for the day and return to collect your bags immediately before going to check in at the airport.

Doonhamer

If I was going anywhere for the day I would go to Braehead rather than into Glasgow. It's close to the airport and has lots of shops and activities too. Or another idea is to go to the Glasgow science centre and IMax cinema. They are also not too far from the airport.

Try and get a map of Orlando before you go so that you have a reasonable idea of where you are going. Have a look at https://www.thedibbb.co.uk for Florida advice.

cpu

There's so many good tips here I might just print the thread out, lol.

Another daft question.........> can you definately pay the tolls with dollar bills and you don't need coins/change? We have loads of one dollar bills but no coins so that was bothering us a bit especially since we arrive so late and we didn't want to faff about looking for change.

Btw we have neon (very bright neon!) pink/green/yellow etc etc luggage handle wrap arounds and matching tsa locks (wife's idea!) so we should be able to spot our cases from 10 miles away! We're making it easy to play 'spot the first timer' .

I'm sure we paid everything upfront with regards to the car hire but I'll check the paperwork shortly to make sure what's what.

Thanks a million for helping / advising us. We'll buy you all a virtual drink when we get there. :beer:

ceebeeby

Hi CPU - I second Braehead as somewhere to go whilst waiting as the airport is dismal in terms of duty free section in international. There's a bundle of shops there, restaurants etc. There's also the new Xcape that has got a fabby crazy golf bit (thinking of the oldies) or a footie school (run by Kevin Keegan), you can get a mini massage or go snowboarding!!!!! They're also opening up a cinema there .... although not sure if this is up and running yet (wasn't 3 weeks ago when I was last there).

Just a teensy note, there are roadworks crawling all around Glasgow airport at the moment, if you're going during the week allow at least 45 minutes (its only 5 mins up the road) to get back from Braehead to the airport.

Don't forget to ask if there's any free upgrades when you get to the airport (from economy to business class), I always ask, they can only say no!

Chris25

Not sure if they have a Boots at Glasgow airport but whenever we fly out of London airports (have usually had to stay in hotel the night before and unable to make sandwiches) I take my Advantage card and use that to pay for meal-deals. A lot of the food shops in the airports are very overpriced

blindman

Don't forget to ask if there's any free upgrades when you get to the airport (from economy to business class), I always ask, they can only say no

#

Aftere they stop laughing.

His party is large and has kids.

No chance.

Not sure if Flyglobespan is on here but worth a look for seats, though by now I'd assume they'll be done.