Rental car Drop and pickup Miami

[swemto]

Hi. We are booked on a Cruise from Miami. We are flying in from sweden and will pickup a rental at the Airport. As i understand there is no rental desk at the port of Miami. Swedish agents for the rental Companys have no clue, they suggest me to return the car at the Airport. I did some research and found that Budget got a station at 89 SE 2ND STREET. If i read every thing right there is a shuttle to the port. Have anyone of you used this location and service? is it possible to pickup a rental from this location after the Cruise.

 

Can someone advise for us , regarding drop and pickup of rental car at the port of Miami that would be great.

[islesdave]

Hi. We are booked on a Cruise from Miami. We are flying in from sweden and will pickup a rental at the Airport. As i understand there is no rental desk at the port of Miami. Swedish agents for the rental Companys have no clue, they suggest me to return the car at the Airport. I did some research and found that Budget got a station at 89 SE 2ND STREET. If i read every thing right there is a shuttle to the port. Have anyone of you used this location and service? is it possible to pickup a rental from this location after the Cruise.

 

Can someone advise for us , regarding drop and pickup of rental car at the port of Miami that would be great.

 

I've never used that one, I'm cruising from Miami in January and dropping my rental car off at the Dollar location at 3900 NW 25th St with shuttle to the port.

[Demonyte]

OP: Select a rental company with a shuttle to the airport. I always prefer using Alamo as with them on bigger airports one can select their car independently from a line in the garage - that way you're not at the mercy of what they assign. Once we had to change the car to different make and model (within the booked category of course) because our luggage didn't fit in to the trunk of the first one.

 

The city locations are in my experience much more crowded, have less availability, etc, etc.

 

I recommend using either rentalcars for com or uscarhire for com as an agent, those two have had the cheapest prices I've seen (I've used the first several times and am booking with latter for our upcoming trip).

 

I've never used that one, I'm cruising from Miami in January and dropping my rental car off at the Dollar location at 3900 NW 25th St with shuttle to the port.

 

That is the address of the rental car center (RCC) of Miami airport (accessible from the airport terminal via the people mover). Dollar has a shuttle to the port too - as you said.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Demonyte

[swemto]

Just to clearify a few facts. We will arrive 3 Days prior to the Cruise, and after the Cruise we will go to Orlando for a few Days. Do you still recommend pickup and drop off at the Airport?

[Demonyte]

Just to clearify a few facts. We will arrive 3 Days prior to the Cruise, and after the Cruise we will go to Orlando for a few Days. Do you still recommend pickup and drop off at the Airport?

 

Yes, that is exactly what we do in January (we will go from port to airport to pick up a car and drive to Orlando).

 

We always drop off the car at the airport when going to port in Miami and vice versa.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Demonyte

[swemto]

Yes, that is exactly what we do in January (we will go from port to airport to pick up a car and drive to Orlando).

 

We always drop off the car at the airport when going to port in Miami and vice versa.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. So let the search begin for a rental.

[NoName]

I also recommend getting a car from the airport. It is super easy to return to the airport and a very convenient shuttle will drop you off at the port and even pick you back up when you return. It couldn't be easier.

Kim

[the wandering two]

Have flown in/out of Orlando and sailed from/to Miami on transatlantic itineraries many times.

Always hire a car for a one way rental, have used Hertz at 229 south east 2nd street Miami, they have a shuttle bus to/from the port.

 

Mark

[swemto]

I also recommend getting a car from the airport. It is super easy to return to the airport and a very convenient shuttle will drop you off at the port and even pick you back up when you return. It couldn't be easier.

Kim

 

Is the shuttle free? or is there a fee from the Airport?

[hbe]

Is the shuttle free? or is there a fee from the Airport?

 

I believe only Alamo and Dollar have shuttles to and from the port. I have used Budget once at the location you mention and it was terrible. It would have been so much faster just to return the car to the airport. Check with Costco for rentals, they usually have the best prices.

[Demonyte]

 

Always hire a car for a one way rental, have used Hertz at 229 south east 2nd street Miami, they have a shuttle bus to/from the port.

 

 

My last time picking up a car from Hertz's downtown location there was a long (30 minute wait) line outside the building and when I finally got to the counter, they didn't have the prebooked car for me.

 

I've used airport location (and different company) ever since as in there one can wait in line inside, there are more customer service reps and more cars - standing on a curb in rain with luggage in downtown Miami isn't that fun way to end a cruise.

[Demonyte]

Is the shuttle free? or is there a fee from the Airport?

 

I can only speak about Alamo/National but the shuttle is free for the customers, meaning that you need to have either the return receipt (going from airport to port) or rental confirmation (from port to airport) with you and the driver will check those before letting you to board the bus.

 

Of course it's good idea to tip the driver if they help you with your luggage.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Demonyte

[swemto]

thanks for all your help.

I have now a rental from Alamo at the Airport. It was about 20 usd cheaper than Budget.

 

Hope Alamo has a few shuttles from port of Miami when the ships arrive.

[Demonyte]

Hope Alamo has a few shuttles from port of Miami when the ships arrive.

 

 

They have several shuttles (I've seen at least one van and few buses) that drive pretty much continuously when ships are in port.

 

Shuttles are the same ones that also transport National customers (Alamo's sister company) so those can have also National's green decals on besides the Alamo's blue.

[jlajr]

If all else fails, I believe you could return the car to the MIA rental car center, take the MIA Mover to the airport, and take a cruise line shuttle transfer from there to the cruise terminal. However, you might have to book the cruise line transfer in advance.

[Demonyte]

If all else fails, I believe you could return the car to the MIA rental car center, take the MIA Mover to the airport, and take a cruise line shuttle transfer from there to the cruise terminal. However, you might have to book the cruise line transfer in advance.

 

 

In that case taking a taxi directly from RCC would be both faster and cheaper (two persons in a taxi is about half the cost per person compared to cruiseline transfers) - we did that in January when there were so many people waiting for the Alamo/National shuttle that there was still a bus load worth of people waiting when the full packed shuttle left.

[CruiserRob]

My last time picking up a car from Hertz's downtown location there was a long (30 minute wait) line outside the building and when I finally got to the counter, they didn't have the prebooked car for me.

 

I've used airport location (and different company) ever since as in there one can wait in line inside, there are more customer service reps and more cars - standing on a curb in rain with luggage in downtown Miami isn't that fun way to end a cruise.

 

I second the experience at Hertz downtown Miami. We waited over one hour to get to the counter and then waited more than another hour to get the prebooked car that they didn't have. Go elsewhere.

[watchdiva]

Rent your car and return it to MIA Airport, then taxi to the cruise terminal. It took us 25 minutes max from the time we disembarked the shop until we were picking up our rental. Waiting to get on a packed shuttle doesn't seem like a great way to start a vacation. The taxis charge a flat rate from MIA to the terminal.

[goodml]

We've done this many times and have never had an issue with shuttles being overly crowded. We have been very impressed with the car rental centre and shuttle system at MIA and Alamo in particular runs big buses down to the port dropping off and picking up quite frequently. It's a great system.

[Demonyte]

We've done this many times and have never had an issue with shuttles being overly crowded. We have been very impressed with the car rental centre and shuttle system at MIA and Alamo in particular runs big buses down to the port dropping off and picking up quite frequently. It's a great system.

 

 

Same here. The occurrence I described above has been the only time for us and we have done that roundtrip close to ten times now.

[KevP]

Does anyone know what time the Alamo/National shuttles start running from the airport TO the POM? Would they take us down there as early as 9:30am? Thanks

[xcell]

Also try to prebook everything and use their kiosk to speed up the rental process. My last cruise took me 10-15 to line up and get the car...very efficient.

 

Plus always look for last minute deals on their website (so don't pre-pay otherwise you are locked in).

 

I had a minivan rental for almost $150/day and then a week before I got it for $75.

[swemto]

I prebooked by swedish agent and got a full size with full coverage for about 140 USD for 4 days.

In swedish measures that's cheap as chip's

Edited December 5, 2015 by swemto

[Demonyte]

Does anyone know what time the Alamo/National shuttles start running from the airport TO the POM? Would they take us down there as early as 9:30am?

 

They start running even earlier than that because they need to transfer the disembarking passengers from POM to RCC too. :D

[fshagan]

As Demonyte mentioned earlier, if you are picking up a car at MIA after your cruise you must be able to show your car reservation before boarding the bus at the port.

 

We've done this a couple of times with National (Alamo's sister company and I think they use the same buses). It is very easy, but on our return trip to MIA to pick up a car there were several people who could not find their paperwork and were not allowed to board the bus.