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Car Hire & Transportation Discuss the best way of getting around Florida.

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Old 22 Sep 21, 10:03 AM  
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wreckitralph15
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Anyone drove from Miami to Tampa?

At the moment we have flights in and out of Miami
(21st July-18th Aug)

We've had a quote for £1500 for SUV (all insurance and extra driver) for the full 4 weeks from Hertz. Picking up and dropping off at Miami.

We have seen the similar car hire with Hertz but picking up at Tampa (Ramada westshore) for £749 (small SUV) or £996 (pacific).

We can do 2 things:
1. Change the flights so we fly into Tampa.
2. Stick with Miami flights and drive to Tampa the next day (doing 1 day car hire. This will be about £140).

My reservations about the flight into Tampa is... It's the same flight as we are on to Miami but we will have a 4 hour wait in Miami before picking up the flight to Tampa.

On the return leg if we stick with the flights from Miami - they are direct into Heathrow. The Tampa flights will have a connection in Philli. The Tampa flights work out about £200 cheaper that the Miami flights but the offset of the 1 day car hire will counter balance this-give or take £60.

The cost for the car hire is exactly the same to drop off at Miami as it is to return to Tampa.

At the moment we are staying overnight in Miami and planning a leisurely drive up to Orlando. Could we do a leisurely drive up to Tampa instead? Is it about a 4 1/2 hour journey?

Suggestions welcome. Looking to trim some of the budget. The car hire seems a good place to start.
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Old 22 Sep 21, 11:42 AM  
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toonarmani
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We’ve done Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and it’s a straightforward drive (although a little dull).

Miami to Tampa will be similar distance/time and you can at least go at your own pace and stop as often as you want / need.

For that journey I’d rather drive than kill 4 hrs in the airport and add the extra risk of luggage issues for an extra flight leg.
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Old 22 Sep 21, 12:37 PM  
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HORSE
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Originally Posted by wreckitralph15 View Post
At the moment we have flights in and out of Miami
(21st July-18th Aug)

We've had a quote for £1500 for SUV (all insurance and extra driver) for the full 4 weeks from Hertz. Picking up and dropping off at Miami.

We have seen the similar car hire with Hertz but picking up at Tampa (Ramada westshore) for £749 (small SUV) or £996 (pacific).

We can do 2 things:
1. Change the flights so we fly into Tampa.
2. Stick with Miami flights and drive to Tampa the next day (doing 1 day car hire. This will be about £140).

My reservations about the flight into Tampa is... It's the same flight as we are on to Miami but we will have a 4 hour wait in Miami before picking up the flight to Tampa.

On the return leg if we stick with the flights from Miami - they are direct into Heathrow. The Tampa flights will have a connection in Philli. The Tampa flights work out about £200 cheaper that the Miami flights but the offset of the 1 day car hire will counter balance this-give or take £60.

The cost for the car hire is exactly the same to drop off at Miami as it is to return to Tampa.

At the moment we are staying overnight in Miami and planning a leisurely drive up to Orlando. Could we do a leisurely drive up to Tampa instead? Is it about a 4 1/2 hour journey?

Suggestions welcome. Looking to trim some of the budget. The car hire seems a good place to start.
Have you tried a search picking up the car up in Miami, but at a location other than the airport, and returning the car to the airport. That might work out a lot cheaper & you can just get a taxi / Uber / lyft to the location
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Old 22 Sep 21, 02:20 PM  
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wreckitralph15
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I've tried everyway I can think of. Doing Split rentals, picking up from outside the airport, picking up from Disney, Orlando hotels. All rentals are $$$$$. I am open to suggestions so please feel free to offer any more.

Thanks All
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Old 22 Sep 21, 02:45 PM  
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archibald
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We're flying with BA into Tampa via Phili and out of Miami direct to LHR which was much cheaper (with large suv) than flying in & out of the same destination.
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Old 22 Sep 21, 03:28 PM  
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sotagals
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I've been looking at this and the cheapest option I found was a one day rental from Miami and swapping the car out at Hertz in Fort Myers.

Returning that car to MIA didn't add anything extra.

It was £1093 for 2 weeks airport to airport versus £100 for the one day plus £378 for Fort Myers so £478.

I checked towns all over Florida to see where was cheapest. Obviously driving the the west coast route from MIA to Orlando isn't ideal but £600 is a big saving.

It might be worth checking for your dates. I was looking on Auto Europe.

Edited at 03:41 PM.
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Old 22 Sep 21, 03:48 PM  
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bonnies mum
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Can’t help the car hire question though we have driven Miami to AMI before and it was fine.
Re the airports. We have flown through Miami several times, apart from the shuttle to and from the car hire centre it was straightforward though security very busy. Where would you clear customs & immigration? I’m assuming it’s Miami (sorry if that’s wrong but it’s usually your 1st stop into the US) then that would certainly put in a good bit of your 4 hrs & let you walk straight out at Tampa.
We have also flown back to the UK from Tampa via Phili. Tampa airport was really easy to navigate and would happily fly from there again. Phili was incredibly busy and difficult to move around as it was mobbed. We had a short connection and we were a bit anxious to make sure we made the connection, that didn’t help. The actual connecting flight didn’t bother me and gave us a bit of a leg stretch before the transatlantic leg.

Edited at 03:49 PM.
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Old 22 Sep 21, 04:23 PM  
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sotagals
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Forgot to say, if you can swap out the car somewhere off the I75 , Naples, Bonita, Estero, Sarasota etc it will save you trailing into Tampa with all the usual traffic issues.

You'd be able to go straight from I75 to I4 east on the motorway.

We did breakfast in Tampa (super early, Alligator Alley , see the sea at Naples, couple of shops on the way and were in Orlando by 3pm.

Hopefully the airport car price will be sorted by next year and all these work arounds can be cancelled !

Edited at 04:26 PM.
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Old 24 Sep 21, 02:06 PM  
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7SeasSailor
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I've driven from Miami to Tampa, going along alligator alley and then north its 4 -5 hours depending on time of day and traffic. There isn't any service plazas as there is on the Turnpike but there are plenty of eateries sign posted along the route. Alternatively there is a number of shopping outlets well signposted along I75 as well. Avoid the mall at University Town Centre which is up level with Sarasota, its very expensive and not much choice in the food court.
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Old 25 Sep 21, 09:28 PM  
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fredflintstone
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A lot of dealing going on here. For your period the 750 seems cheap for 28 days at Tampa. I notice Tampa is not from the airport. Is Miami from airport, as airport prices seem to be a lot higher at the moment. Have you checked prices off site at Miami or North Miami, Sunny Isles or Fort Lauderdale (not aiport) to see if these give better rates, then getting a taxi to the location. They have fixed taxi rates as far as Fort Laud I believe.

If you are staying in Tampa area then driving is just a boring 4-5 hours, but if going onto Orlando so need to add exchange time and say 2 hours for Tampa to Orlando, so a full day lost stuck in a car.

PS the drive to Tampa seemed a lot longer than Orlando, but there again a screaming kid for most of the Tampa journey might have accounted for that during the grandchilds I don't like car journeys phase .

Edited at 09:32 PM.
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