Dollar from Miami

[vickk17]

Has anyone rented from Dollar at Miami, how did you find the service as I have hear Alamo are slow?
What sort of std SUV do they use?
Can you choose your car?

[Katys Grandad]

In the near future (May/June?) all the car rental companies will move into a purpose built facility at the airport so to some extent it will depend on when you are going. It's a bit of an unknown but in my view the new facility has to be better than the existing set-up which involves an often crowded shuttle ride. I've rented from Miami a lot over the years and Dollar is busy but you can be lucky or unlucky with the queues an any particular day. I wouldn't say that the wait is any better or worse than, say, Orlando International.

As far as vehicle choice is concerned, I don't think Dollar allow you to choose the vehicle anywhere. I can't help on the SUV but I'm sure others will.

[ellie]

Hi Ken.

We, too have frequently picked up cars from Miami, and as Katy's Grandad so rightly says, it can be busy or it can be fine - just depends on the time of day. It will certainly make life easier when the facility is opened, and they are all in one place. However, the shuttles are regular and just outside the terminal so it is not a huge problem.

Although Dollar don't allow you to choose a vehicle we have never found it a problem to refuse one which we thought was not up to scratch. Obviously it depends on the time of day, and how many vehicles they have.

[Jill]

You will still have to pick up a shuttle as the new transport hub is still 'off airport' but is at the junction of NW25th and Le Jeune, so is alongside the airport. It is also close to the junction with US27.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Jill
You will still have to pick up a shuttle as the new transport hub is still 'off airport' but is at the junction of NW25th and Le Jeune, so is alongside the airport. It is also close to the junction with US27.
[/quote]

Thanks Jill.

I've just had a look at the new facility website for the first time and see it will have a common shuttle for all the firms there which is definitely an improvement although no shuttle at all would have been nice. I also noted that this system will run for 2 years until a new rail link (the MIA Mover) is completed. That's very different and might even be unique for airport car rental.

My only concern is how this will be funded. Usually, it's through a 'Customer Facility Charge' which I certainly wouldn't welcome.

[Jill]

It was originially intended to be a public/private project and the hope was to be to also attract shops, hotel or convention centre. I do not know how they went about it in the end.

[SteveandJan]

Hi Ken, I have used Dollar in Miami and encountered no problems

[lissybubs]

We have just hired from Alamo at Miami and considering it was Easter and Spring break time they only 4 people on the desks.

Hence a very frustrating 2 hours 20 min wait only to be offered a bright orange Hummer rather than the 7 seater SUV we had booked [msnmad]

Not impressed at all.

Will definitely consider Budget next time as Dollar is just too pricey for us.

[Jill]

The following is from a construction forum article about the new Miami trastport arrangements from 2012. I have posted it because of the comments on the funding. From 2012 the Tri-Rail and Amtrak will also link up to the airport so you will also have the option of linking up with all modes of transport.

Andrew's friends told us when Miami first talked about improving their transport system as the roads were so clogged the residents were against the idea. They pointed out the amount to be spent would buy everyone a new car/truck and they could not see the point of putting in a public transport system. However, whenever we have used the metro, the mover or the buses we have always found them fairly full so it must work. It is also cheap to use.


MIAMI -- Workers are breaking ground Friday on a new extension of the Metrorail line that brings the Intermodal Center at Miami International Airport one step closer to reality.

Plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounded the groundbreaking ceremony for the 2.4-mile extension of the Metrorail.

"This is the first major extension of our Metrorail system in over 20 years," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. "We cannot minimize the importance of it. This will actually close the loop from the airport -- Miami International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the United States -- to downtown Miami.

The Earlington Heights connector will link downtown Miami with the Miami International Airport through the Miami Intermodal Center, which is currently under construction and set to open in 2010. Once the connection is built, it will be a straight shot to downtown. All riders will have to do is get off at the Brickell stop or stay on the line to Coconut Grove or even Dadeland South, Local 10's Todd Tongen reported.

The bulk of the $526 million project will be financed by the People's Transportation Plan, a controversial half-cent tax that was approved in 2002 after politicians made some promises they never delivered, Tongen reported.

On Friday, politicians admitted an east-west corridor has been a long time coming, but when it is finished, it will be good for business.

"Half of our passengers are business travelers. So they are coming here to do business primarily in downtown, and now you have a very quick and easy way to get straight to downtown," said MIA spokesman Greg Chin. "In one business day, you can fly in, go to downtown and fly out the same day."

Outspoken critics of the tax, like Miami-Dade County Commissioner Carlos Jimenez, are lobbying to repeal the tax, something that did not sit well with the mayor.

"Quite frankly, I find that irresponsible because we wouldn't be here today. We wouldn't even be here to connect the MIC to the Earlington Heights station, connect this loop, if it wasn't for that surtax," Alvarez said.

Jimenez was not at Friday's announcement.

Work also has begun on the MIA Mover, an electric tram that will connect the airport with the Miami Intermodal Center.

If the project runs on time, the Earlington Heights connector will open in 2012. When it is finished, it will not only cut down congestion, but it could change the way people visit Miami.

"Especially for tourists that don't want to catch a bus or don't want to rent a car and they want easier access to their hotel downtown and whatnot, so I think it will be good for the city," said Metrorail user Giovanni Carbo.

So Miami joins a exclusive club of US cities with heavy rail connections to their airports. What other cities besides NYC, Chicago and SF are there?

We have been waiting years for this

[vickk17]

Many thanks for all your replys. I have used Miami about three years ago but that was 11pm on a Sunday night with National. We got to choose our own car but the place was quiet.

This time we land at 10pm on a saturday night near the end of July and as we are staying in Marco Island I plan on staying the night at the on airport hotel and then taking the shuttle bus for car hire at 10am on the Sunday morning so I don't know how busy the rental place will be and at the moment are undecided between Dollar and Alamo. I used Budget in Orlando through US car hire last year and had no problems other than I thought the Dodge Journey was out of place in the 7 seat SUV bracket so I was hoping for a better selection from Alamo or Dollar