Positive rental-car experience in Miami

[MoncriefJ]

I just returned from a cruise on the Celebrity Millennium, and I wanted to share our experience (positive, compared to a lot of posts I saw on the topic before I left for my trip) with dropping off and renting a car close to the Port of Miami.

 

If you AREN'T flying into Miami (or Ft. Lauderdale) on the same day as your cruise from the Port of Miami--and my partner and I weren't (we had been visiting family members in Florida for a few days previously)--consider renting/dropping off your car not at the airport but in downtown Miami. I can't speak for any other company, but we had a very positive experience with Hertz at their downtown location.

 

Some tips: when renting online (or calling, for that matter), you want what Hertz calls its "Miami Downtown HLE" location. This seems to have moved recently (maybe its old location accounts for the negative experiences I read about before my trip), and the current location is the one Hertz lists on its website: 229 SE 2nd Street.

 

We had been on the Gulf Coast of Florida before the cruise, and we rented a car at the Ft. Myers airport and dropped it off at this location the day of the cruise by about 1 pm. A Hertz van was waiting after the drop off, and we went directly to the Port of Miami (POM), which is 5-10 minutes away. It was a seamless experience with no waiting-- not even at the POM check-in counters! (A first for me; I've only cruised out of Seattle and Amsterdam before, and had long waits to embark in each place.)

 

Upon our return, after a quick ship disembark, we returned to the spot outside the POM terminal where we had been dropped off a few days before, and waited all of about 5 minutes for the Hertz van. We confirmed the van was going downtown (it was) and not to the airport, and off we went with only one other couple aboard the van. A short line at the Hertz counter, and we were back in another car, in another one-way rental, this time with an airport drop off, to spend the day driving around Miami before going home.

 

As the van pulled away from the POM, I saw long, long lines of other cruisers waiting for... I'm not sure: maybe other rental-car vans, maybe for their spouses who had parked in the garage, whatever it was, I was glad to be in and out of the POM and in a rental car by about 9:15 am (our disembark was maybe 8:30, before US Customs).

 

I just felt I had to give my positive review to people wondering what to do about rental cars. Unless you're going directly from the airport to the POM (and obviously a lot of people do do just that), you don't need to rent a car at the airport. Driving in downtown Miami was not the big deal I thought it would be: we took I-95 to I-395/1A east and the first right exit on Biscayne Blvd. Down the fairly calm Biscayne a ways, and right on SE 2nd Street. (Obviously consult your own map before you go. :))

 

One other thing I'll mention, only because I personally dislike elevators and have claustrophobia: at this location (which is basically a parking garage) the rental car drop-off is on the fifth floor, and the car pick-up when you return is on the third floor. For nearly everyone, this won't be a problem, but if you have issues with elevators, I can tell you there are no accessible stairs to take up to the fifth floor so you have to take an elevator.

[Turtles06]

OP: thanks for taking the time to post. My partner and I will be doing something very similar in a couple of weeks -- flying into FLL a couple of days before our cruise leaves from Miami and visiting friends and relatives. We've already got a Hertz car booked and plan to drop it off at the same place you did near the cruise terminal, so I'm happy to hear of your good experience. (And the Hertz folks told me on the phone of the new location, but it was good of you to flag that for people who might be booking on line.)

 

Happy travels.

[JohninDC]

Thanks for a detailed review! :)

[MoncriefJ]

You're both welcome. I was as surprised as anyone at how well it went, because I had images of long lines, too few shuttles and too few rental cars. So I thought I'd share the good news that I was wrong.

[Turtles06]

Now that my partner and I have returned from our crossing and actually used this same Hertz location, I have to report that our experience was the exact opposite of the OP's. In fact, after many decades of renting cars all over the country, including from Hertz, I'd have to say this Hertz location near the Port of Miami is THE WORST Hertz location with which I've ever dealt. It is set up completely ineffeciently and stupidly; as a result, we and many others wasted a lot of time there.

 

Here are the facts. My partner and I arrived at FLL several days before our TA out of Miami. We rented a car from the Hertz location at FLL, and, as planned, dropped it off at the Hertz location near the Port of Miami, where Hertz runs a free shuttle for you over to the port.

 

To drop off the car, you must pull into the ground floor of a multi-level parking garage. The Hertz office is right there by the entrance, but you can't return the car there. No, you must first drive up to the fifth floor, where there are Hertz reps waiting for you, but these Hertz people are NOT authorized to check in your return. Nope, all these folks are permitted to do is circle the fill level of your gas tank and note your mileage. They do NOT have the small, hand held devices that would let them check in your car on the spot, devices that other Hertz locations (and other rental companies) have had for a zillion years.

 

As a result, you then have to take your rental contract AND all your luggage (considerable if you are heading off on a 2-week TA) and cram your suitcases into a narrow elevator in the garage and go back DOWN to the ground level. There, you get to stand in the same line with people waiting TO RENT CARS, a transaction that takes considerably longer than returning a car. We waited an enfuriating and needless half hour or so in this line just to complete the micro-second transaction of officially returning our car (which had been checked in up on the fifth floor of the garage). When I finally got to the head of the line, I asked why the Hertz reps who were taking the cars on the fifth floor did not have the hand-held check in devices (that everyone else has had FOR YEARS) and I was told "we're working on it." Really? "Working on it?" That's how antiquated this Hertz location is, and how little they care about the time of their customers.

 

Worst. Hertz. Location. Ever.

[miamiyogi]

Thanks for the post and review on your experience here in Miami. There are a couple of options for renting a car out of downtown Miami. Usually though Miami is opposite of most cities, where renting from the airport USUALLY is cheaper than most off site locales.

 

I don't know if it helps but usually the small vans are going to downtown and the large bus is going to the rental center at the airport.

 

@Turtles

 

Nope, all these folks are permitted to do is circle the fill level of your gas tank and note your mileage. They do NOT have the small, hand held devices that would let them check in your car on the spot,

 

Unless you want proof (receipt) you have paid for your rental. There is no reason to wait when you have turned in the car.... simply leave. If they gave you an inspection report, take that with you, don't turn it in.

 

It is advisable to wait for the receipt as it may come into play in case you need to dispute some after the fact charges, but those cases are rare. The one time I had a problem, I contacted MasterCard and they took care of it with no effort on my part.

 

Hopefully now the Hertz people have the handheld thingys and this is a non-issue.

[MoncriefJ]

That's too bad you had such a negative experience, Turtles. I asked my partner (as I mentioned, I'm claustrophobic and hate elevators, so he dropped me on the ground floor of the garage while he drove to the fifth floor) about his experience up there when he dropped off the car, and he confirmed what you said about there being no handheld, checkout receipt-makers up there. I guess we're just really lucky there wasn't a line at the counter and the vans were right there, because we weren't hampered at all by lines or waiting either on the drop off or the pickup after the cruise. I've got no vested interest in the matter either way, so it's good you've warned others about your awful experience.

 

What is "TA," by the way? (I'm new to this board, well, I was when I made my post.)

[miamiyogi]

What is "TA," by the way? (I'm new to this board, well, I was when I made my post.)

 

TA=Transatlantic