Budget shuttle to Port Everglades

Has anyone used the pre-cruise shuttle to Port Everglades from the Budget car rental return recently?

Looking for any feedback about how busy it was, any problems getting a pick up, etc?

I haven't used it, but I have heard it's pretty busy, being a city location rather than a larger airport location. The good news is that it's close enough to the port that should you either just miss the shuttle, or can't get on it on the first trip, that a cab to the port will be quite cheap.

I've used it (17th St. in the Quay Center) twice now. There is one shuttle bus that keeps doing a continuous loop into and out of the port. How crowded the bus is usually depends on the port load for that day. Saturdays and Sundays during cruise season in Florida (Mid November thru April) are most likely going to be your busiest days.

Best advice I can give is to drop your luggage with the porters at the pier along with other travelers in your group and then return the car. If more people did this on super busy days, things would go much smoother, as there's only so much room available for luggage on the shuttle.

It still works great, no worries if you allow yourself plenty of time.

Enjoy your cruise!:)

Thanks Dreamer

We did the same thing last year with Dollar (pre drop the bags at the ship). The Dollar location was kind of a cluster but we did get on a shuttle quickly thanks to the lack of luggage.

Sounds like Budget is probably the same type of setup.

Thanks for the feedback!

Okay this is interesting, what is the budget shuttle?

I'm looking to rent a car for four days when we get off the ship to visit family in PBI but still flying into and out of FLL and we usually rent from Budget.

I was planning on just taking a cab to the "airport" location.

Flying in we come the day before and using hotel shuttle for transportation hotel/ship.

TIA

Brighton,

Budget has a car rental location that is a few blocks away from the entrance to the Port.

Address:

1515 SE 17th Street Causeway, Fort Lauderdale

They run a shuttle bus to the ships and back for people getting on/off the cruise ships.

That said, cabbing it to the airport is also an option in Fort Lauderdale since FLL is fairly close to the port. For me it kind of comes down to the cost of the cab ride vs the hassle of trying to catch the shuttle bus.

Okay this is interesting, what is the budget shuttle?

I'm looking to rent a car for four days when we get off the ship to visit family in PBI but still flying into and out of FLL and we usually rent from Budget.

I was planning on just taking a cab to the "airport" location.

Flying in we come the day before and using hotel shuttle for transportation hotel/ship.

TIA

Alamo and National have a free shuttle bus that runs from the port to the car rental centre at FLL. They usually have pretty good rates if you want to check them out. But, a cab to the airport is pretty cheap as well ($15-20 at the most) if you want to rent from Budget, and I would say that renting from the airport is probably a lot easier and with a much better selection of cars than 17th St, especially if you sign up online and use whatever their program is that lets you go straight to the car.

Brighton,

 

Budget has a car rental location that is a few blocks away from the entrance to the Port.

 

Address:

1515 SE 17th Street Causeway, Fort Lauderdale

 

They run a shuttle bus to the ships and back for people getting on/off the cruise ships.

 

That said, cabbing it to the airport is also an option in Fort Lauderdale since FLL is fairly close to the port. For me it kind of comes down to the cost of the cab ride vs the hassle of trying to catch the shuttle bus.

And the difference in price using the 17th street location vs FLL for the pickup...sometimes those added airport fees can also make a difference...it has on occasion for us.

Alamo and National have a free shuttle bus that runs from the port to the car rental centre at FLL.

Yes, they are the only ones who do.

OP and others, Budget at FLL does not shuttle to and from the port - we know this from experience.

...cabbing it to the airport is also an option in Fort Lauderdale since FLL is fairly close to the port. For me it kind of comes down to the cost of the cab ride vs the hassle of trying to catch the shuttle bus.

Absolutely agree with you. A cab between the two points has never been more than $15.00 for us.

.

Langley - Budget has a location a few blocks from the port that does run a shuttle. It is not from the airport location at FLL, I believe it is in a strip mall.

Thanks all, think we will go with the cab and since our flight out is FLL we will just have the car rental shuttle on departure.

Budget has "Fastbreak" all your info is on file. Never rented FLL but if like PBI, you get the keys at baggage claim and the shuttle drops you at the car. We love that.

We are renting a car that does not have a shuttle from Port Everglades to FLL, do you think we could take the shuttle from another rental company to FLL or would we need to Taxi?

We are renting a car that does not have a shuttle from Port Everglades to FLL, do you think we could take the shuttle from another rental company to FLL or would we need to Taxi?

Sorry but the shuttle driver will usually ask for your reservation #...best for you to just take a taxi.

Thanks all, think we will go with the cab and since our flight out is FLL we will just have the car rental shuttle on departure.

Budget has "Fastbreak" all your info is on file. Never rented FLL but if like PBI, you get the keys at baggage claim and the shuttle drops you at the car. We love that.

FLL is different than PBI. I haven't used Budget in either but I imagine the Fastbreak is the same deal Alamo has. With Alamo at FLL, we just walk across the bridge from the terminal to the rental car centre, go right to the row of cars, pick one we like and take it. We stop at the garage exit where the guy in the booth scans the car and swipes the credit card (might look at license too, can't remember), and away we go. At PBI, we had to check in at baggage claim and take the bus across the road to the lot. Much easier to get a car at FLL. Now, if you come into a different terminal at FLL, you would have to take the shuttle bus to the rental center, but terminal one is connected to it and you just walk across.

And as said, Alamo and National both operate the shuttle bus to the port (and back if you have a reservation for after the cruise). It's not the blue and green Alamo/National buses you see at other airports, it's a regular size transit bus with a funky everglades type paint job. And yes, they check to make sure you used Alamo and National before the bus leaves.

Langley - Budget has a location a few blocks from the port that does run a shuttle. It is not from the airport location at FLL, I believe it is in a strip mall.

Yes, that's what I said. :D

...Budget at FLL does not shuttle to and from the port - we know this from experience.

(red emphasis mine)

Yes, they are the only ones who do.

 

OP and others, Budget at FLL does not shuttle to and from the port - we know this from experience.

 

 

 

Absolutely agree with you. A cab between the two points has never been more than $15.00 for us.

.

I am currently renting a car from Budget at FLl, When you rent a car at the airport, you have to pay a drop off charge of $60 additional to drop off your car to Budgets location near the port for the shuttle. I called Budgets customer Relation twice and in both cases, they said the drop off charge is $60.00. Next time I will not use Budget car rental, but use others that I have used in the past that have shuttles to and from the port with no additional charge

i have never had a drop off charge at the 17th st location, try renting through Costco.com, best rates for car rentals, 2nd driver no charge.

Just like hotels, people get too hung up on free shuttles with car rentals in Ft Lauderdale. Everything is very close there. Do your shopping around and find your best price and if you need to take a cab to the port after dropping off the rental, then go for it. And remember, some of the city locations that offer shuttles aren't the most convenient for getting in and out of (meaning they might be busy and only a couple people working). You might save 15 bucks on a cab and spend an hour in line both waiting to drop the car and get the shuttle. You almost never wait when returning a car to the airport, drop and go, grab a cab and be at the pier 5 minutes later.

Just like hotels, people get too hung up on free shuttles with car rentals in Ft Lauderdale. Everything is very close there. Do your shopping around and find your best price and if you need to take a cab

I have to agree we shopped around with different discounts and even taking cab to FLL was cheaper.

Off ship right to cab and with Fastbreak picked up contract that was waiting for us no line and right to car.

Only line was ship and CBP. I had no issue with paying for cab or quick ride in it to airport.

FWIW

Budget has a car rental location that is a few blocks away from the entrance to the Port. Address: 1515 SE 17th Street Causeway, Fort Lauderdale.

We found two Budget car rental agencies that both used that same address but had different prices:

1515 SE 17th Street Causeway, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States (F07)

Port Everglades Shuttle Service, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States (EV3)

Any explanation?

Last year I rented a car at FLL and dropped it off at 07 and had no additional charges. I just made reservations for the reverse (07 to FLL) and it looked the same as if I did FLL to FLL.