GPS - Rent From Car Rental Co. or Bring From Home

[genman36]

My wife and I and another couple are going on the POA in May. I've been doing research on CC and find it very helpfull.

 

Question - What advantages are there to renting a GPS from the car rental company vs bringing one from home? I read somewhere that the car compaies units have pre-programed POI's and return addresses. I also read that some of them will tell you interesting facts as you drive by certain areas. I'm sure our Tom Tom from home won't do that.

 

Looking forward to our trip. Many thanks in advance!

 

Genman

[genealogyfan]

I would say just bring yours from home - why spend the extra money for something you already have

[Daniel1313]

We ALWAYS bring our own GPS. It is crazy to pay the price the rental car companies charge to rent one. A few dollars a day would be one thing, but I have seen some that want to charge $24.95 a day.... CRAZY !!!!

[Middleager]

I'd bring my own GPS. I'll be renting at Oahu and at a few ports that I know we'll really use it. I guess on the long plane rides, we can see a lot of favourites in.

[mydreamvacation]

I got this great app for my iPhone called GPS Nav 2 it is free or only like .99. I bought the upgraded world maps for when we are in countries that I don't want to roam. It is very easy to use and works for walking and driving!

[pbmcjm]

We will be on the POA in June and I will bring my own GPS. I will be programming it ahead

[lacyspring]

I cruised POA last month and Thrifty was charging $12.95 a day for GPS. That could really add up if you are renting a car nearly every day. We had to rent one in Hilo because we forgot ours on the ship; the one benefit was that it did have a sort of travel guide feature that would point out stops and give you the history of things as we passed by, but my husband said you can download those things onto your GPS before you leave.

 

All the other days we used our Garmin. We didn't pre-program it (mainly because I was being lazy), but we rarely had any trouble finding our points of interest in the GPS, and the couple of times we did we just did a quick search on our phone to get the location's exact address, punched that in, and got there easily. Definitely worth the $100 or so we saved by bringing our own.

[realmccoy]

We always bring our own. We purchased a small garmin (under $99) just to take when we travel and need to rent a car.

[wave breaker]

Just purchased a Garmin Numi 50 x model something or other. The new one anyway. On sale at Staples for $139 with free map upgrades. Here is your tip of the day. Figured for ten days in Hawai'i it is paid for instead of renting one each day. Word of advise although most GPS say they include maps of the Us THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE HAWAI'I !! Be sure to purchase a unit that is specific about that. Good luck.