Info on Budget rental shuttle from Port Everglades

[waterbugohio]

Has anyone rented from budget post cruise?

 

Our flight home isn't until 6PM and we are considering renting a car for the day. Found a great rate with some of the codes given on this boards.

 

But hubby is leary as he says we will end up wasting more time picking up the car and having to drop it back off. Budget website says they have shuttle at the port? Has anyone used it? Does it sit and wait for a full shuttle? How long does it take?

 

We would like to do self disembark and get off the ship early (8'ish) but then don't want to sit and wait in a shuttle bus for an hour or more for more people.

 

Please give me your experiences

[f7prez]

We are looking to do the exact same thing. We pick up the car at the Budget office 17th Street and Eisenhower Blvd. (Port Location EV3) which is between the Hilton and Embassy Suites, and drop the car at the airport. I called to ask about the shuttle and was told it runs "every 20 minutes or so". I know the shuttles usually stay at the port until they are full, so you could be sitting their a few minutes. I plan to take a cab. It's faster and when I get to the rental office I won't be running for the rental counter with 10 other people.

[waterbugohio]

We are looking to do the exact same thing. We pick up the car at the Budget office 17th Street and Eisenhower Blvd. (Port Location EV3) which is between the Hilton and Embassy Suites, and drop the car at the airport. I called to ask about the shuttle and was told it runs "every 20 minutes or so". I know the shuttles usually stay at the port until they are full, so you could be sitting their a few minutes. I plan to take a cab. It's faster and when I get to the rental office I won't be running for the rental counter with 10 other people.

 

Hmmmm. must depend who you talk to. I also just called the Budget office.

 

The gentlemen I talked to said that they are very close and do not wait on a full shuttle. Of course he did say it depended on how many ships are in port as to how full the shuttle will be. The office opens at 8AM and they begin shuttle service right away. So if we do self disembark, we should get there pretty quick.

 

Also, you are on the Oasis, which means lots more people. I am sailing the Liberty so hopefully shouldn't be as bad. He did say though they watch how many ships are in port each day and adjust the number of shuttles accordingly, so I would hope they do the same with counter help!!

[waterbugohio]

Also looks like I cruise before you (November) so I will try to come back and let you know how it goes.

 

Anyone else do this????

[Jiffymom]

anyone have a budget discount code

[Corby114]

Budget Rent A Car discount code is BCD-Y937800. I have used it a few times recently and it saves approximately 25%. Just used it earlier today for a rental in April 2013. Be advised that no documentation was necessary at the rental counter.

[waterbugohio]

Also used the code corby gave. Saved quite a bit. Can get 8 hrs post cruise for $30.

 

Still looking for someone with shuttle experience???

[DanJ]

Most of the shuttles just do a constant loop. There are several terminals at the port and the shuttle will just start at one end and go through them all, and then head to their respective home location and start again. This will of course depend on how full they get, as they might be full before they hit the last couple terminals and have to skip them until next trip.

 

Budget is pretty close, and if you don't want to wait for the shuttle, a cab would be a minimal charge ($10 is the minimum fare from the port, and from the Oasis terminal to Budget, I can't see it running over that).

[jrmints]

Anyone know if the Budget will run us to the port after returning a car to them?

[DanJ]

Anyone know if the Budget will run us to the port after returning a car to them?

 

They do from the 17th St location, not the airport.

[jrmints]

They do from the 17th St location, not the airport.

 

Perfect. We're probably staying at a hotel right next door, so it'd be easier for us to drop by in the morning. I'm assuming we need to schedule a 17th Street to Port Everglades run ahead of time.

 

Do you know if we can park in that lot overnight to avoid ridiculous hotel parking fees?

[DanJ]

Perfect. We're probably staying at a hotel right next door, so it'd be easier for us to drop by in the morning. I'm assuming we need to schedule a 17th Street to Port Everglades run ahead of time.

 

Do you know if we can park in that lot overnight to avoid ridiculous hotel parking fees?

 

I don't think you need to schedule the shuttle ride to the port in advance, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to to look them up and call them. As for parking, that's a good question. I think Budget's cars are just in a section of the parking lot of the Quay Plaza and not physically segregated. I would assume that the plaza wouldn't allow overnight parking generally, but if you went and parked your rental car after hours in the area where the rental cars are, you probably can get away with it.

 

Or more simply, depending on what your plans are, you could just return the car the night before and be done with it. If you are calling about the shuttle, you can ask if they have an after hours key drop. Of course, you may not be able to make use of the port shuttle this way, but if parking is more than $10, you'd be further ahead paying for a cab to the port from the hotel rather than paying for parking.