Ft. Lauderdale Airport

[JJHA04]

Me and my wife are flying in on the 22nd from L.A. Were on American and have never been to this airport. Anything I should be aware of. We have a rental car, is that near the terminal. Any useful info. would be appreciated. Were sailing on the Star Princess on 3/26. Thanks.

[DanJ]

FLL is a pretty easy airport to deal with. The rental car desks are right down at baggage claim. You go there, sign your stuff, and you'll go outside to the shuttle vans. The van will take you to the car lot which is right next to the highway on the east side of the airport. to return teh car, you pull into the airport from US1, and hang a left to the rental return area. When we returned our car, we asked what was the easiest way to get to the cruise terminal, and the guy at the counter said "in our van". So we hopped in, and the guy that runs back and forth from the lot to the airport terminals ran us over to the ship for no charge. Who knows if any of them do that now though.

[Keith1010]

When you return your car to the airport, if you are going directly to the cruise ship terminal they have buses that take you from the rental car area directly to the port which is nice.

 

Keith

[Bequia]

Me and my wife are flying in on the 22nd from L.A. Were on American and have never been to this airport. Anything I should be aware of. We have a rental car, is that near the terminal. Any useful info. would be appreciated.

 

You'll be arriving at terminal 3, concourse F. Things have changed a little since DanJ's been here. All of the major car rental agencys share a rental car garage on the airport property surrounded by the terminals. Basically, you'll gather your luggage and hop aboard an airport operated car rental shuttle. From your terminal it's less then a 5 minute ride to the car rental desk. ;)

Here's a link that will give you a clearer picturer:

http://www.broward.org/airport/parking_parking_locations.htm#airlines

[DanJ]

Well, it has only been 5 years LOL. Thanks for the update :)

[FlyerTalker]

A number of the "off-brand" rental agencies still have off-airport facilities.

[Bequia]

A number of the "off-brand" rental agencies still have off-airport facilities.

 

Right you are ;)

[bflowngs]

Does anyone know if Avis provides a shuttle to the cruise terminal??? Also, I am thinking of dropping my luggage off at the cruise terminal before returning car to airport. Any problems doing this????

[kelmac]

Does anyone know if Avis provides a shuttle to the cruise terminal??? Also, I am thinking of dropping my luggage off at the cruise terminal before returning car to airport. Any problems doing this????

 

The shuttle is a mixed bag. We have tried to use it twice, both times there were so many people, with all their lugguge, that we just gave up and went down stairs and took a taxi. If you are cruising on an off day, it would probabaly work, but Sat or Sun, you might have to wait for some time. One couple who we waited in line with, arrived at the cruise port 45 minutes later than we did.

Perhaps the system will improve with time??

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[Lady Hop]

Does anyone know if Avis provides a shuttle to the cruise terminal??? Also, I am thinking of dropping my luggage off at the cruise terminal before returning car to airport. Any problems doing this????

 

We did this on our last cruise. We had a rental van to drop back to the airport. And we just drove right in where the buses park (At the Miami Port) and the porters came right over to the van and happily took our luggage. Actually they were racing each other to us...Chasing that tip!... We caught the shuttle back from the rental car agency and it was much easier! Cant remember what car rental we used though.

 

This was on Carnival Glory in 2004. I dont know about other lines.

 

Good luck

[gizmo]

The shuttle is a mixed bag. We have tried to use it twice, both times there were so many people, with all their lugguge, that we just gave up and went down stairs and took a taxi. If you are cruising on an off day, it would probabaly work, but Sat or Sun, you might have to wait for some time. One couple who we waited in line with, arrived at the cruise port 45 minutes later than we did.

Perhaps the system will improve with time??

 

Enjoy!

Kel

 

I am very confused. There is no upstairs/downstairs for Avis. You are in the Avis lot, when you return the car and there is a shuttle that will take you to the pier. It is the same type of bus that takes people back to the airport after dropping off the car.

 

I have never had a problem. Once when waiting for the shuttle it seemed to take a long time. The Avis rep had no idea where the guy was, so she put us in a car and one of the Avis reps took us to the Pier.

[Bequia]

I am very confused. There is no upstairs/downstairs for Avis. You are in the Avis lot, when you return the car and there is a shuttle that will take you to the pier. It is the same type of bus that takes people back to the airport after dropping off the car.

 

That's all changed sine the airport car rental center opened. All of the major car rental agencies are under one roof now in the center of the airport complex surrounded by the terminals. There are no longer individual car rental shuttle buses that pick you up at the terminals. They now share county operated buses that make the loop around the terminal picking up car rental customers for all of the agencies. They share fuel pumps, car washes and mechanics bays on the ground floor. There are no longer any car rental "lots" on the airport property. It's all under one roof now.

Hope that sorts out some of your confusion.....;)

[gizmo]

My understanding was that Avis was not part of this.

 

Is there someone out there who can verify this?

[Bequia]

I can verify it. Avis is most definately a part of it. Here's the address from their website :p :

Ft Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport - FLL

600 Terminal Drive, 3rd Floor, Rental Car Center, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33315 , U S A

(1) 954-359-3250

Sun-Sat Open 24 hrs

 

The new consolidated rental car parking facility at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport will accommodate 12 rental car companies in a nine-story facility that will accommodate 9,000 cars, as well as a full range of rental car concessions and visitor parking. The design of the garage integrates with the airport surface transportation systems, providing easy terminal access as well as convenient access to and egress from the airport. Connections to the terminals are achieved with a pedestrian bridge and a dedicated busway for shuttle buses. The design provides for a future automated people mover, and for the addition of one floor of parking. The garage consists of five stories of rental car concessions and four stories of airport public parking on the top floors. Public parking floors will accommodate 1,200 cars per floor, for a total of 4,800 passenger parking spaces. Level one of the facility includes a maintenance area (quick turnaround area) with fueling, washing, vacuuming, and staging for up to 1,000 rental cars. Levels two, three, and four include customer counter areas and “ready” spaces (ready return area), with 1,000 cars per level. Level five includes additional storage and an overflow area to accommodate 1,100 to 1,200 cars.

 

[Bequia]

My understanding was that Avis was not part of this.

 

Is there someone out there who can verify this?

 

Here's another link that will clear it up for you ;)

 

http://www.broward.org/airport/parking_transportation_rentals.htm

[jaxon41]

Would anyone know if there is some sort of shuttle from Ft. Lauderdale's airport to the cruise terminal in Miami? Or the cost of private transport? I am having trouble finding direct flights from Chicago to Miami, but can get direct with Southwest to Lauderdale. I have plenty of time to investigate, but thought someone might know.

[Bequia]

Tri County Airport Express is the shuttle service that will transport you to the port for $18 per person.

When you arrive at the airport, collect your luggage and go outside the baggage claim area, lower level, curbside, contact one of our starters (customer services reps.) wearing a white shirt with "AIRPORT EXPRESS" in red on the back of the shirt and an emblem on the sleeve and over the breast pocket. Let the starter know what service you are interested in and he/she will assist you.

http://www.floridalimo.com/Pages/sharedr.html

[jaxon41]

Tri County Airport Express is the shuttle service that will transport you to the port for $18 per person.

 

When you arrive at the airport, collect your luggage and go outside the baggage claim area, lower level, curbside, contact one of our starters (customer services reps.) wearing a white shirt with "AIRPORT EXPRESS" in red on the back of the shirt and an emblem on the sleeve and over the breast pocket. Let the starter know what service you are interested in and he/she will assist you.

 

http://www.floridalimo.com/Pages/sharedr.html

 

thank you so much -- I just found a link to an air consolidator on another thread, and it looks like I can get a direct flight to Miami, so we will see how prices are closer to my target date. This board is just fantastic -- I learn so much and am helped so often.

[DanJ]

Just a small thing, but are you referring to the flights as direct, or are the websites? Direct and non-stop aren't always the same thing, depending on which website you read. Most of the time direct means same plane, but it could involve a stop-over somewhere. Just be careful of the phraseology. Southwest MDW-FLL is probably non-stop.

[FlyerTalker]

Some definitions to help when talking with airline agents:

 

Non-stop: You takeoff at your departure airport and land at your destination with no stops in-between.

 

Direct: You have one flight number between your departure and destination airports. This often means that you have the same aircraft the whole way, but not always, especially on international itineraries. DL, UA and NW will sometimes have a domestic segment attached to an international flight with the same flight number, but not necessarily with the same aircraft. This is known as a "change of gauge", and you WILL have to leave your plane and board another one, perhaps at a far-away gate.

 

Connecting flight: You have two or more flight numbers, and will be changing aircraft at the points where the flight numbers change. In addition, some of the flight numbers may be "direct" in that there is a stop in the middle, but no change in flight number. That time for the change of flights/aircraft may incorrectly be called a "stopover" - it is merely a "connection".

 

A stopover is when your journey has a break of more than either 4 hours or the first flight out, whichever comes last. This results in a different fare calculation - sometimes a stopover is allowed in a fare, sometime it results in a triangle fare calculation.

 

So, all non-stops are direct flights, but not the reverse. Also, some direct flights may involve a change of planes, while virtually all connections require a change (99.99+%). In changing flights, you may be taking a stopover or just connecting.

 

Post any other questions, if you need more info.

[jaxon41]

yes, good point -- I will remember it.