Rental car from Atlanta to FLL - does anyone have actual experience with this?

[luv2cruise4ever]

Four of us on Allure of the Seas in May. Due to the age/mileage of our personal vehicles we're thinking of renting a car in the Atlanta area (we're about an hour south of the airport) and driving down on Saturday before sailing on Sunday.

 

Has anyone done this? If so, which rental car company did you use and where specifically did you drop the car off in FLL? I saw where Budget has a 17th St Causeway location with a shuttle but the website is indicating we can't rent from Atl to Fll.

 

We'll be coming in on Saturday so would need a hotel with either a shuttle to the pier or we'll have to drive over, drop everyone off then go return the car. Ugh....this shouldn't be this complicated so I'm hoping someone has some actual tried and true suggestions. When my husband and I were on the Allure in August we just flew but with 4 of us it just doesn't seem cost effective.

 

Thanks for any help!!

Alisa

[loanshark]

I've done the one-way rental car options before, and will be doing them again in June... Here is the general strategy:

 

1. One way rentals in most cases, need to go airport to airport.

2. Look at total cost when comparing companies. Some companies charge a higher rate but total cost is cheaper than other companies due to a lower amount in fees. This is particularly true in the case of one-way rentals, where you sometimes see large drop fees.

3. Run a search on Priceline and Expedia to find the best deal. Almost all other online agencies are either owned by one of these 2, or have a data feed into one of these two companies.

4. Once the best deal is found, go to the website of the car rental company you choose and create a frequent member account for free. Make a reservation on the car rental site while logged in as a member. You will normally save about 10% off the price you found on Expedia or Priceline.

5. Do not pre-pay the rental.

6. Check prices again every 2-3 days. If you see a significant price drop, as long as you followed step 5, you can cancel/re-book at the lower rate without penalty.

7. Depending on the route, you can sometimes save a lot of money by splitting the trip into 2 rentals by renting a vehicle from your origination point, to a city that is on the way to your final destination, and a 2nd vehicle from the mid-point to the actual destination. For ATL-FLL, this would mean looking at pricing to Jacksonville, Orlando, Daytona, Melbourne. Not sure of your exact dates, but I just did a quick check for the first friday in May, and 2 rentals ATL-JAX + JAX-FLL, was cheaper than 1 rental ATL-FLL.

8. If you are going to do step 7, you need to look at all of the cities.... Even though Jacksonville is cheaper, ATL-Orlando is more expensive than ATL-FLL.

 

Hope this helps!

[luv2cruise4ever]

Loanshark....this is EXTREMELY helpful!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your wisdom!

[Lido_Deck]

Four of us on Allure of the Seas in May. Due to the age/mileage of our personal vehicles we're thinking of renting a car in the Atlanta area (we're about an hour south of the airport) and driving down on Saturday before sailing on Sunday.

 

Has anyone done this? If so, which rental car company did you use and where specifically did you drop the car off in FLL? I saw where Budget has a 17th St Causeway location with a shuttle but the website is indicating we can't rent from Atl to Fll.

 

We'll be coming in on Saturday so would need a hotel with either a shuttle to the pier or we'll have to drive over, drop everyone off then go return the car. Ugh....this shouldn't be this complicated so I'm hoping someone has some actual tried and true suggestions. When my husband and I were on the Allure in August we just flew but with 4 of us it just doesn't seem cost effective.

 

Thanks for any help!!

Alisa

 

I have great news for you!

 

Your return will be much cheaper than getting down here. Every year the major rental car companies get too many vehicles stuck down here after Spring Break. On the first Monday after Easter (April 17th) all the rental car companies drop their rates to $4.95-$9.99 per day with unlimited mileage just as long as you drop the car outside the State of Florida. It will be a couple weeks before the rental car companies announce this on their web site, BUT...If you go to enterprise.com right now, put in your dates with a pickup location of...

South Fort Lauderdale

2601 S Federal Hwy

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

and then your drop off location (I used Mc Donough, GA for a faux booking) you should get $4.95 per day/ $57.51 per week with all taxes and fees included with no drop charge. Warning: If you pick up at FLL you will add $32.00 per week in extra fees and taxes.

 

The above pickup location does not have a port shuttle, but it's just outside the State Road 84/Marina Mile Port Everglades entrance and a taxi there would be about $10.

[luv2cruise4ever]

Hopefully we can still get the same great deals for the end of May....I did see where the return trip was already looking cheaper than the trip down but I assumed it was because we'll probably get the car Saturday morning and not return it until Sunday morning right before we board the ship. We plan on driving straight thru to home on Sunday. We're actually not that far from McDonough so good guess! Thanks for your help!

 

 

I have great news for you!

 

Your return will be much cheaper than getting down here. Every year the major rental car companies get too many vehicles stuck down here after Spring Break. On the first Monday after Easter (April 17th) all the rental car companies drop their rates to $4.95-$9.99 per day with unlimited mileage just as long as you drop the car outside the State of Florida. It will be a couple weeks before the rental car companies announce this on their web site, BUT...If you go to enterprise.com right now, put in your dates with a pickup location of...

South Fort Lauderdale

2601 S Federal Hwy

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

and then your drop off location (I used Mc Donough, GA for a faux booking) you should get $4.95 per day/ $57.51 per week with all taxes and fees included with no drop charge. Warning: If you pick up at FLL you will add $32.00 per week in extra fees and taxes.

 

The above pickup location does not have a port shuttle, but it's just outside the State Road 84/Marina Mile Port Everglades entrance and a taxi there would be about $10.

[Lido_Deck]

Hopefully we can still get the same great deals for the end of May....I did see where the return trip was already looking cheaper than the trip down but I assumed it was because we'll probably get the car Saturday morning and not return it until Sunday morning right before we board the ship. We plan on driving straight thru to home on Sunday. We're actually not that far from McDonough so good guess! Thanks for your help!

 

 

Of course you can get the deal for pickups by May 31st, but you need to make the reservation NOW or the quota will fill up. At that rate it would pay to keep the car for three weeks.

[ganurse007]

I know Budget on 17th st. has a shuttle service. Could you not drop your car off there and then shuttle over to the port?

Edited March 3, 2017 by ganurse007

[lsmommy]

Also check if it would be less to get a rental for the whole time and then get a hotel that allows parking.

 

 

 

Leave the rental car at the hotel and then take that car back to Atlanta when the cruise is over.

[Lido_Deck]

Also check if it would be less to get a rental for the whole time and then get a hotel that allows parking.

 

 

 

Leave the rental car at the hotel and then take that car back to Atlanta when the cruise is over.

 

They can get a rental car for $4.95 per day from Enterprise for their return, so there would be no reason to do that. Dump the expensive rental car before they get on the ship and pick up the dirt cheap car to drive home.