Using 3 payg in Florida and other travel questions

nappy501

Hi Everyone,

I don't go aboard very often, so I am probably overstressing about this.  The last time was the Republic of Ireland in 2022 and then before that, Spain in 2012.

I have an elderly relative who lives in Florida.  I am going to visit them in March. I have booked the return flight with Norse Atlantic, leaving from Gatwick and arriving in Orlando.

They live about 100 miles away from Orlando airport and I can't seem to find a way to get all the way there by public transport.  It doesn't appear to be too bad and then the last 20 miles is going to cost £50 as it is by 'towncar' or taxi.

I didn't want to have to drive, but I have been looking at car hire, it ranges from £9 a day up to £40 per day.  As I am going for 10 days at £40 per day will cost more than my flight to get to Orlando.  I have thought about just hiring the car, one way, for two days when I arrive and two days when I leave, so just 4 day car hire, but I would still have to get from the car hire place to my relative and back again, which I think might be 15 miles, so expensive taxi.

My other question is, I was going to turn off my phone as I didn't think I would need it.  Or that the 3 payg would be enough.  But then I started thinking about car hire and breaking down and needing a phone.  I also thought about the fact that my relative is going deaf and how much easier this would be if we could have had a conversation on the phone.  Which lead me to think that I am there for 10 days, maybe I could get them online.  So we could talk via video, at least with video, I could have a whiteboard to write on, to clarify what I am saying.  But with a chance to do this I would need internet access.  I presume like in the UK I could arrive get a cheap tablet with sim for my relative and get them set up.

I have been looking at the 3 payg for using whilst there.  I'm not sure how much data I would need, but I wondered if there is any reason why I can't buy two 3 payg sims?  This would give me 20 gb of data, which should be enough to sort out everything.

Or the other possibility is getting a local sim when i arrive in Orlando for making calls in the USA.  I wonder if it is like it is here, where the different providers have their sim cards hanging in the supermarket, you know £10 unlimited calls and text and 20gb data?

jimjames

Does your phone accept an eSIM? If so that might be the cheapest/easiest way to get connected. Used one in the States recently and it was £10 for 30 days

heatherw_01

You can get an eSIM for data.

I use my three payg sim for calls and the eSIM for data and imessage.

I use aloSIM and there are discounts for new users such as 15% off or $3 off ($ converted to whatever currency you pay in)
Their rates are great and you just buy as much data as you need. Great customer service too which I found important in case of issues.

Leavemealone

is Orlando MCO the nearest airport you don’t say where exactly you are going. Also I note you have already booked with Norse -hope you checked Trust Piiot and are well prepared!

martindow

Does your relative have a car -if so perhaps she could pick you up and drive you around when you are there.  If so it seems silly renting a car for ten days just to avoid a couple of taxi fares.  A lot of the USA is extremely poor for public transport so it's no surprise that you can't get there with that.

nappy501

jimjames said:

Does your phone accept an eSIM? If so that might be the cheapest/easiest way to get connected. Used one in the States recently and it was £10 for 30 days

it's a Samsung XCover 5, I did check it is not esim compatible.

nappy501

Leavemealone said:

is Orlando MCO the nearest airport you don’t say where exactly you are going. Also I note you have already booked with Norse -hope you checked Trust Piiot and are well prepared!

Yes, I have read some horror stories.  I have my travel insurance sorted and I am clear about the extras I will have to pay for, so I am getting really organised.

The nearest airport is Gainesville, it was going to cost nearly £200 more to fly into there.

nappy501

martindow said:

Does your relative have a car -if so perhaps she could pick you up and drive you around when you are there.  If so it seems silly renting a car for ten days just to avoid a couple of taxi fares.  A lot of the USA is extremely poor for public transport so it's no surprise that you can't get there with that.

My relative is in their 90's and no longer drive.  £9 a day would only be £90 which isn't too bad, but I'm really not sure what I would get for the money.  I just want something that is safe and won't break down.  I was hoping that others who had travelled to USA could tell me if the cheaper car rentals are okay, regarding safety and reliability.

Leavemealone

nappy501 said:

Leavemealone said:

is Orlando MCO the nearest airport you don’t say where exactly you are going. Also I note you have already booked with Norse -hope you checked Trust Piiot and are well prepared!

Yes, I have read some horror stories.  I have my travel insurance sorted and I am clear about the extras I will have to pay for, so I am getting really organised.

The nearest airport is Gainesville, it was going to cost nearly £200 more to fly into there.

But set off the extra cost of ground transport and does that make more sense.   And of course a different airline may not charge you all the extras that Nordic do? 

nappy501

Leavemealone said:

nappy501 said:

Yes, I have read some horror stories.  I have my travel insurance sorted and I am clear about the extras I will have to pay for, so I am getting really organised.

The nearest airport is Gainesville, it was going to cost nearly £200 more to fly into there.

But set off the extra cost of ground transport and does that make more sense.   And of course a different airline may not charge you all the extras that Nordic do? 

I am not having the Norse Atlantic extras, I have been careful to check and make other arrangements.

When I made my initial investigation into travelling to Gainesville or Orlando, it appeared that it would be about £100 to travel either by public transport or car hire, so I booked the flight to Orlando.

Now, I have got down to the nitty gritty, it appears that the cheapest car hire may not be the safest or most reliable.  What I really need is someone with experience to say yes it is a mistake to go with the cheapest car hire, but paying £20 per day is likely to get you something that is safe and reliable.

I have occasions when I pay extra for Enterprise and others where I am happy with Ready Rent a Car, but I don't have that experience in Florida.  I was hoping that someone on here with some regular experience could give me some more information.

Like I have found out about a Lyft app, which may cover the last part of my journey.  Someone else has explained to me that it is an Uber alternative, but I have no idea of price.

michele-p

We have been to the USA on a few driving holidays. The tricky thing can be the insurance making sure you have the right one with enough cover. We have used https://www.zestcarrental.com/ on our last few trips to US and other countries. They are based in Norfolk but cover worldwide rentals, and are very helpful if you email or call them if needed - as in a REAL person to talk to. Our hire though them was with Dollar - and all went very well, they didn't try to upsell us or talk us into any extras at pick up.

We took out the all inclusive insurance with Zest when booking, so we knew we had covered everything. 

You could do a 1 way trip for a few days, and pick up another car nearer the end - but watch out for 1 way fees in the T+Cs, not sure if this happens if you are still in the same state.

For the phone, we've had a 3 sim on 1 trip - and it worked really well. You probably won't get through as much data as you might think, use wifi where possible and maybe don't stream netfix if using data not wifi. Last year both me and husband got a Lebara sim, US is an add on pack from them, but it was great and pretty cheap, we topped up when needed, as we were away for 3 weeks and the US pack was 14 days. We had signal pretty much everywhere. You also get 100 free international call minutes a month with the sim, so you can call home for free too.

You seem quite nervous about the drive, are there no trains or shared transfer services at all to where you need to be? I've not been to Florida, but many airports have services to towns and cities.