My husband and I were planning on traveling to Miami last year during the Christmas holidays. We have 4 kids, so you can imagine the airfare alone cost somewhere around $2500! So we decided to rent a minivan for the trip. When I searched the web-sites of the local car rental companies, the price for a 1 week rental was about $800 and included 800 miles. The average price I was getting was around $800 - $1000. I knew that we would be traveling almost 3000 miles, so paying for mileage wouldn’t work. I called one of the local rental agencies and spoke with a rental agent. I was initially told that their company doesn’t rent vehicles traveling out of the tri-state area. Just as I was about to disconnect, he asked to place me on hold and came back on the line with a package rate of $1500 that included 3000 miles. I learned a quick lesson that day, that in these harsh economic times, just about everything is negotiable. Had I just booked on the site and paid for mileage it would have been a lot more expensive. By the way, the trip was wonderful, the rental staff was knowledgeable and even threw in a GPS for about $40 for the entire trip.
November 14th, 2008
This is a fax received from Shenni Bubb.
We’d traveled a fair way, and now we were right in the heart of bustling Fort Lauderdale. Almost time to stretch the legs, refuel the car and change drivers. But first and foremost, I was going to choke the life out of Lola and Tahlia my two best friends. ‘Summer Holiday’ is an excellent song, yet my driving companions had killed my love for it hours ago. Lola certainly had a nice voice, and Thalia should not give up her day job, but her singing was tolerable. But, there’s definitely a limit to how many versions of one song you can tolerate. I’d hate to think what they both do for an encore!
The sun was strong and the skies were that typical aqua blue, with not a cloud to be seen. It was my turn to sing “New York.” This was what I’d be saving up for, for so long. A vacation to beautiful New York with my best friends. The fun we’d had along the way was awesome, the scenic views a treat indeed, and the panoramic mountain views were magnificent. Yet we were now in Fort Lauderdale, and this is where the trouble began. We’d no sooner refueled, grabbed a burger and coke, turned the car on and then realized we had trouble. Expensive trouble, the car kept holding back, it was the motor. Yes, Lola’s little Volkswagen had gone to Herbie Heaven.” It was expected eventually, but right now wasn’t a good time at all.
Fortunately Lola had been born and bred in Lauderdale, she knew where an excellent independent car rental establishment was. Tahlia and I couldn’t comprehend why Lola was laughing so hard, until we realized that we were right across the road from it! There it stood, ‘Quality Car and Van Rental.’
An independent, family owned business, which had been there for seven years. Not only family owned, but family operated as well. We had cash, but none of us had credit cards, would they rent a car to us? They sure would, and they also offered an airport shuttle service as well. But usually prior arrangements must be made.
We were all over the required age of twenty one, although we had wished they’d ask for proof of age. Well there’s no harm in hoping, when you’re fifty and a bit I guess! But they did want other identification of course. We had a wide range of cars to choose from and these were: Vans, luxury cars, Suvs, trucks, and a medley of economy rated vehicles as well. We chose a luxury car, well why not, for years we’d saved up for this holiday!
The service was second to none, fast and friendly. We also were given a rate which was excellent in comparison to what we later found the larger hire companies charged, such as Dollar, Hertz and Thrifty. In actual fact, Thrifty is not thrifty, unless you’re used to paying with gold nuggets and have the name of Rockefeller.
We were close to the Ft Lauderdale airport as well as Port Everglades. And having been told that the company also offers a shuttle bus service, both to and from there bought music to the ears. That’d certainly save on taxi fares from our motel.
They certainly are a company that goes out of their way to gain your business. They also offer transportation to Miami International and West Palm International Airports.
Our holiday was excellent, the rates we payed for the car rental saved us in excess of $150 in comparison to elsewhere. The service was excellent, and we also understood why the company rates a three star for customer service, and expertise, in the car rental business.
December 26th, 2007
