U.S. Rent A Car's Car Hire USA Blog

The Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys must rank up there among the top must roads to drives.

The spectacular bridge has attracted many film makers. Its film ‘credits’ include scenes in True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious, the James Bond film Licence to Kill, CrissCross, and Up Close & Personal.

It runs over a channel between the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait, connecting Knight’s Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys.

Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys, where the road is called the Overseas Highway.

Have you ever driven this?

What was it like?

Can you think of other must drive locations?

Hi all,

Just a quick heads up, we have received information today confirming that the new Chevrolet Equinox 2010 now falls in to the Standard (Mid-Size) SUV category and not the Intermediate as per previous models (2006-2009).

The new Equinox, apart from being bigger, now gives better miles to the gallon and is considered a much greener Sports Utility Vehicle.

Old Style Equinox

New Style Equinox

Alamo now advertise their Intermediate (compact) SUV as a Ford Escape or similar.

Obviously this will not effect usrentacar customers as we rent vehicles in category types and not make or model as per our terms and conditions.

Regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

U.S. road signs can be confusing below are a list of the most common sign’s you’ll come across while driving in the USA.

Interstate Route Marker

US Highway Marker

Give Way Sign

Cross Roads ahead

Hopsital

No Right Turns

Right Turns Only

Left Turns Only

One Way Traffic

Road Narrows Ahead

Pedestrian Crossing Ahead

Are there any sign posts you’ve come across that you think may help others?

Search for Cheap Car Hire USA

Hi all,

It was nearly 5am when we set off to be Richard Branson for a couple of hours. I was really tired, a bit cold and wondering if this was the stupidest thing I’d ever done.

We drove away from International drive for about 30 mins in a large 8 seater minivan. The driver informed us that the launch site was an old hippy camp and the owner loved hot air balloons and let them launch from there for free.

We got stuck in straight away and started to help put up the balloon, part of the experience was getting your hands dirt and mucking in.

There were 2 other balloons due to fly that morning and I think due to my help we were the last to actually set up!!

The heat from the burner was incredible and I’m pretty sure I lost an eyebrow.

We set off a little after 8am, slightly later than usual.

Not a view for someone who is scared of heights. The feeling of being very high up in a balloon is something I would highly recommend.

The views were breath taking.

Our landing on the other hand was something to be desired, we “crash landed” in an orange tree field and had to wait to be rescued, while holding down a very heavy hot air balloon!

Regards,

Simon,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

Hi,

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. I thought I’d share some of my pictures of the excellent animals they have there.

Hope you enjoy these few photo’s, I know I really enjoyed the whole Busch Garden experience from collecting the bus on international drive to riding the very scarey SheiKra.

I would recommend it to everyone.

Once I upload some more photos of my holiday I’ll blog about them as well.

Regards,

Simon,

www.usrentacar.co.uk

Hi,

Below are the top 10 questions we are asked regarding Car Hire in the USA.

1)

Q: What do your rates include?

A: www.usrentacar.co.uk/whatsincluded.aspx

2)

Q: What documentation do I need to collect my hire car?

A: Upon collection of your vehicle the lead driver must produce our car rental Evoucher (proof of payment), a valid credit card in the lead driver’s name (for security deposit) and their full driving licence. You may also be asked to present your passport. Please note all additional drivers must also produce their driving licence.

Car rental voucher:
This is accepted by our car rental partner as proof of prepayment.<br><br>

A valid credit card:
This must have sufficient funds available to cover any required deposit.

Driving licence:
If you have a new style licence, then it is imperative both the credit card and paper parts are taken.

If any of the above are not produced the supplier may refuse the rental.

3)

Q: What is the difference between Fully Inclusive and Gold?

A: www.usrentacar.co.uk/whatsincluded.aspx

4)

Q: Can I do a One Way Rental and how much do they cost?

A: One way rentals are permitted on all vehicles the Economy 2 door and 4 Door will be more expensive than other vehicles. The costs for one way rentals vary but are always paid for locally, directly to the supplier. Please find below an approximate guide price.

Distance Cost

0 – 200 miles $50.00

201 – 500 miles $100.00

501 – 1000 miles $300.00

Over 1000 miles $500.00

Always look in our special offers section to see what deals we have on for one way rentals.

You can email or call in and we can check a more specific price with the suppliers themselve.

5)

Q: Can you I hire a Ford Mustang?

A: http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/ford_mustang_hire.aspx

These are just a small taster of the questions we get asked, for more answers please either call our reservation department on 0845 226 8523 or use our FAQ section

Regards,

James,

www.usrentacar.co.uk

Hi all,

It seems like an age since I last blogged. James has been doing a sterling job keeping the whole thing ticking along nicely and as per a similar pattern last year the number of readers has gone up since his efforts, which again is a blow to my fragile ego.

Farnborough Airshow

This week begins the 2 week noise disaster (for us anyway) called the Farnborough Airshow, The Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) is one of the world’s most iconic global aviation events and is enjoyed by more than 150,000 visitors, however for us its a nightmare. We are located directly opposite Farnborough Airport so for the next 2 weeks I’d like to apologise in advance if our reservations agents repeat this line quite a lot “I’m sorry I can’t quite hear you, the new Boeing  787 Dreamliner is flying over our building”!

Server Migration

This week will also see the migration of our sites to a larger more powerful server, traffic this year to usrentacar.co.uk has increased by over 50% added to that the increased interest in bargainvillas.co.uk and our poor little server couldn’t handle the traffic. So this week will see significant improvements in speed to our site, which can only be a good thing.

Awards

I’m delighted to see we have been nominated for Best Car Hire Website in the annual Travolution Awards and have picked up 2 nominations for Car Hire Company of the Year and Best Car Hire in the prestigious British Travel Awards , best car hire award is a public vote, so please feel free to vote for us.

Facebook and Twitter

This month we have been forced to relaunch our facebook fan page, an error made by ourselves mean that’s  from over a 1000 fans we are back to a lowly 33, please feel free to follow us on facebook for special promo’s, news and features.

Our twitter account keeps going from strength to strength @usrentacar now has 773 followers. Our sister site floridacarhire.net has also just launched its own twitter account @floridacarhire and is due a revamp very soon.

Car Hire 2010

With regards to the U.S. car hire scene, I can safely say availability wise this has been the worst year I can remember, 7 Seater minivans, 8 seater minivans and 12 / 15 seater minivans have sold out in certain locations quicker than ever. On a positive note hopefully this will encourage suppliers to either buy more vehicles or release more to the inbound market.

With competition so tight this year I would expect to see further consolidation within the market place.

To come…

This month we hope to announce a tie up with a major brand that would benefit usrentacar customers immensely.

We also hope to re-launch floridacarhire.net a sneak preview is available here floridacarhire sneak preview

We also hope to be able to book car hire for 2011/12 season in every location by the end of this month, at present we have negotiated prices for Florida and California.

Thanks you for reading,

Until next time,

Kind regards,

Gavin Boswell,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

Hi all,

With peak season in full swing we are over run with new reviews from our customers regarding the suppliers service, here are a few I thought you might be interested in.

Alamo

Mr D Cook – good choice of cars.

Mr M Ayres – Meet Sally. Our BRAND NEW Ford Mustang Convertible. We couldn”t have wished for a better car! We picked her up in Virginia and left her in Boston. If you ever drive her, treat her with respect and send her our love. Enjoy.

Mr P Womack – Excellent service,great car, would recommend and use again.

Mr D Herring – They tried to charge me an $2.66/day airport user fee on top of what I had prepaid. I showed them the contract where it states that the airport fees are includede and they removed the charge.

Budget

Mr J Gardiner – A very smooth & efficient car hire experience would definitely use this supplier again.

Mr I Bennett -This website was espescially good for me as it reduced the cost of the $25 Young Person’’s surcharge for 2 weeks use of a car in Florida.

Mrs B Smith – Vehicle spotlessly clean, easy pick up and drop off. Very easy to drive considering size. Overall, a problem free experience and will definitely use on our next trip.

Mr J Walker – Other than a grumpy unhelpful assistant when collecting car, we were very satisfied. We have booked through Florida car hire several times and have are will be happy to do so again.

Dollar

Mr A Smith – The car supplied was almost new with only 415 miles on the clock and in immaculate condition.The only negative comment i could make is the long wait at the desk when collecting the car but this was at 9 p.m. and there was only two people on duty.I did notice when we returned the car at 3 p.m. that there was more staff on duty and the queue was very short.This is only a minor point however as the overall experience was excellent and i would definitely recommend this supplier.

Mr G Williams – Quick and easy to use web site, prices very competetive, overall Service cannot be faulted. Collected car from Dollar desk in San Francisco, and returned to desk in Las Vegas. All documentation okay, all bookings perfect. Faultless and best service I have used for US Car Hire!

Mr K Leighton – We had a choice of vehicles from the line of SUV’’s. May have helped that we arrived early in the day (9am). Service was good from Dollar, but don”t like the way that they always try to add on extra insurances. Didn”t take the “extra” cover though wether this makes me wise or stupid I”m not sure.

We are still the only USA car hire company to include reviews from real customers and now have a data base of over 20k. Thank you to all our customer who provide this invaluable feedback.

Regards,

James,

Car Hire Reviews from usrentacar.co.uk

Miami International has unveiled its new consolidated rental car garage, a facility that will house 16 rental companies and their 6,500 cars.

Located east of the airport, the building’s first three levels are dedicated to storing and maintaining cars and the top floor is a customer service lobby. A fleet of buses will transport travelers to and from the terminals, eliminating the need for rental companies to operate their own shuttles.

The $480 million facility is the first phase of a broader construction project by the Florida Department of Transportation to build a major “intermodal center” that will house the county’s metro rail and buses, Amtrak and possibly high speed rail service.

Hi all,

With the open in full swing I thought it was appropriate to blog about the golf courses available in Florida.

I found some great information on espn detailing golf courses around the USA below are a list of the top 10’s in Miami, Orlando and Tampa.

Miami

1. Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne
6700 Crandon Blvd. Key Biscayne, FL (7.6 miles from City)
305-361-9120
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

2. Turnberry Isle Resort & Club (South)
19999 W. Country Club Dr. Aventura, FL (15.4 miles from City)
305-933-6929, http://www.turnberryisle.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

3. Doral Golf Resort & Spa (Blue)
4400 N.W. 87th Ave. Miami, FL (8.4 miles from City)
305-592-2000, http://www.doralresort.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

4. Don Shula’s Golf Club
7601 Miami Lakes Dr. Miami Lakes, FL (9.9 miles from City)
305-820-8106, http://www.donshula.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

5. Turnberry Isle Resort & Club (North)
19999 W. Country Club Dr. Aventura, FL (15.4 miles from City)
305-933-6929, http://www.turnberryisle.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

6. Jacaranda Golf Club (West)
9200 W. Broward Blvd. Plantation, FL (23.9 miles from City)
954-472-5836, http://www.scratch-golf.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

7. Colony West Country Club (Championship)
6800 N.W. 88th Ave. Tamarac, FL (30.8 miles from City)
954-726-8430
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

8. Carolina Club
3011 Rock Island Rd. Margate, FL (33.8 miles from City)
954-753-4000, http://www.carolinagolfclub.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

9. TPC at Heron Bay
11801 Heron Bay Blvd. Coral Springs, FL (37.1 miles from City)
954-796-2000, http://www.pgatour.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

10. Doral Golf Resort & Spa (Gold)
4400 N.W. 87th Ave. Miami, FL (8.4 miles from City)
305-592-2000, http://www.doralresort.com
Golf Digest Rating: 3.5 Stars

Orlando

1. Walt Disney World Resort (Osprey Ridge)
3451 Golf View Dr. Lake Buena Vista, FL (3.0 miles from City)
407-939-4653, http://www.disney.go.com/disneyworld
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

2. Walt Disney World Resort (Eagle Pines)
3451 Golf View Dr. Lake Buena Vista, FL (3.0 miles from City)
407-939-4653, http://www.disney.go.com/disneyworld
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

3. Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge (Challenger/Champion)
9000 Bay Hill Blvd. Orlando, FL (9.1 miles from City)
407-876-2429, http://www.bayhill.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

4. Eagle Creek Golf Club
10350 Emerson Lake Blvd. Orlando, FL (13.1 miles from City)
407-273-4653
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

5. The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes
1700 Alaqua Lakes Blvd. Longwood, FL (13.7 miles from City)
407-444-9995, http://www.legacyclubgolf.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

6. Grand Cypress Golf Club (North/South)
One N. Jacaranda Orlando, FL (13.9 miles from City)
407-239-1904, http://www.grandcypress.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

7. Grand Cypress Golf Club (New)
One N. Jacaranda Orlando, FL (13.9 miles from City)
407-239-1904, http://www.grandcypress.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

8. Grand Cypress Golf Club (North/East)
One N. Jacaranda Orlando, FL (13.9 miles from City)
407-239-1904, http://www.grandcypress.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

9. Grand Cypress Golf Club (South/East)
One N. Jacaranda Orlando, FL (13.9 miles from City)
407-239-1904, http://www.grandcypress.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

10. Orange County National Golf Center & Lodge (Crooked Cat)
16301 Phil Ritson Way Winter Garden, FL (15.5 miles from City)
407-656-2626, http://www.ocngolf.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

Tampa

1. The Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort (Copperhead)
36750 Hwy. 19 N. Palm Harbor, FL (17.4 miles from City)
727-942-2000, http://www.westin-innisbrook.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

2. The Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort (Island)
36750 Hwy. 19 N. Palm Harbor, FL (17.4 miles from City)
727-942-2000, http://www.westin-innisbrook.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

3. Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club (South)
12900 Lake Jovita Blvd. Dade City, FL (30.7 miles from City)
352-588-9200, http://www.lakejovita.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

4. Hernando Oaks Golf Club
5230 Delacroix Drive Brooksville, FL (32.9 miles from City)
352-799-9908, http://www.hernandooaksgolf.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

5. The Club at Eaglebrooke
1300 Eaglebrooke Blvd. Lakeland, FL (33.5 miles from City)
863-701-0101, http://www.eaglebrooke.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

6. Legacy Golf Course at Lakewood Ranch
8255 Legacy Blvd. Bradenton, FL (37.3 miles from City)
941-907-7067, http://www.legacygolfclub.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

7. Oak Ford Golf Club (Myrtle/Palms)
1552 Palm View Rd. Sarasota, FL (44.2 miles from City)
941-371-3680, http://www.oakfordgolfclub.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

8. Oak Ford Golf Club (Palms/Live Oak)
1552 Palm View Rd. Sarasota, FL (44.2 miles from City)
941-371-3680, http://www.oakfordgolfclub.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.5 Stars

9. Saddlebrook Resort (Palmer)
5700 Saddlebrook Way Wesley Chapel, FL (17.7 miles from City)
813-973-1111, http://www.saddlebrookresort.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

10. Saddlebrook Resort (Saddlebrook)
5700 Saddlebrook Way Wesley Chapel, FL (17.7 miles from City)
813-973-1111, http://www.saddlebrookresort.com
Golf Digest Rating: 4.0 Stars

Have you played any of these courses?

Would you recommend any others?

Regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk