Economy Car Hire

Economy Car Hire in the USA.

The Economy car is the smallest category of the fleet for car hire in the USA.  Often, for European car hire there is a smaller category still, called the Mini category, but for the US and Canada, Economy is as small as they go.

There is a view held by some renters that the suppliers do not, in fact, have many economy cars, and that if you book one, you are likely to actually receive a larger car. This approach is only worth trying if there is only a couple of you anyway, and you will not mind if you actually receive an economy car!  If you really are depending on receiving a Compact or something larger, then you must book that category, because otherwise, the desk clerks will be rubbing their hands together in glee at the prospect of the commission on your locally paid upgrade.  Seasoned travellers will be well aware that the cost for an upgrade appears to be completely dependent on your need for it.  The more you need it, the more it will cost! Continue reading →

Intermediate Car Hire

Intermediate Car Hire

When you are planning a holiday that involves any amount of driving it is very important to get the size of car right for the size of your party, and the various members within that party. In the US car hire world, the Intermediate category is also known as a Mid-size, and it is probably the second most popular of the various car categories. I would say that the Economy car is the one we see most bookings for when talking in terms of cars rather than people carriers or Sports Utility Vehicles – SUV’s. Continue reading →

Alamo USA Car Hire

Alamo is the most popular supplier for USA Car Hire with our customers.

Their Free choice of vehicles and consistent, efficient customer service are the main reasons for this. Alamo Car Hire is also the largest supplier of our very popular USA Young Driver’s Package. Through parent company Enterprise Holdings Group, Alamo has access to the largest car hire fleet. Enterprise also owns the self-named car hire company and National Car Hire.

Alamo was founded in 1974 with just 4 locations in Florida. It quickly grew to become the largest supplier in the USA of car rentals to international travellers with nearly 6000 locations, including over 400 airport locations. In 2005 Alamo launched Online Check-in and now has more than 170 self-service kiosks at over 60 locations.

Continue reading →

USA Car Rental One Way Fees

USA Car Rental One-Way Fees.

It’s a fact of life I am afraid, that apart from Florida and California, when picking up your US car hire in one city/state and dropping off in another you are going to have to pay a one-way fee to cover the cost of the rental supplier moving their cars around the country. Continue reading →

Alamo Choice – Dollar Choice locations

Many renters worry about which car they may actually be issued by US car rental companies.  They have spotted the type of car they particularly want to hire during research, the Ford Mustang is always popular, and will often ring around trying to see if any company can offer a guarantee as to which model they will get.  Unfortunately, the unwelcome answer to this often-asked question, is no! Continue reading →

Car rental shuttles to cruise ports – part 1 – Florida

Tourists hiring a car for part of their holiday before or after taking a cruise will need to get from the port to the rental car location or vice versa, as easily as possible. Because space at cruise ports is at a premium car rental depots tend to use a nearby facility to service cruise arrivals and departures. For this a complimentary shuttle is usually, but not always, provided. Continue reading →

Should I hire an Intermediate SUV?

The Intermediate Sports Utility Vehicle, known as the Intermediate SUV is a reasonably recent addition to car hire fleets (within the last 7 years) and has fast become really popular.  The category name may seem a little confusing because this SUV is in fact the smallest SUV category available for hire – but the Intermediate refers to its approximate capacity rather than where it sits in a ranking scale.  The room within an Intermediate SUV is about comparable to the room available within an Intermediate category car.  There is also a Standard SUV, the original Jeep Grand Cherokee is a good example of this group, and a Premium/luxury SUV which will seat either 7 or 8 depending on the model. Continue reading →

Mount Dora on a Spring Day

For one reason or another, until our last trip to Florida this spring we had never visited Mount Dora!  Sadly the train is no longer working (we didn’t get to Cypress Gardens before it closed either – or for that matter Splendid China and we drive past that every day when in Florida) but there is so much here to make it worth getting in the car. Continue reading →

Rainbow Springs State Park

Rainbow Springs is the fourth largest spring in Florida and is the head of the Rainbow river at Dunnellon, just off U.S. 41.

Of all the springs we have been to, this is the most beautiful, in a chocolate box way. The water is the clearest we have seen and appears a vibrant blue. There is a large grassy picnic area forming a natural amphitheatre to the headsprings, nestled along the tree line at the edge of the grass are picnic tables and grills. Continue reading →

Blue Springs State Park

On a beautiful, clear blue Florida morning, we headed up US 417, right on past the exit for Sanford International Airport – for us – uncharted territory. We had chosen the toll road because our destination, Blue Springs State Park, is at Orange City, and we had no wish to fight with Interstate 4 all the way through Orlando. We rejoined I 4 at the end of US 417 for just a couple of junctions before leaving at US 17 – 92 towards Orange City. Continue reading →