Renting a car

First timer in Key west, and wanted to know who to rent a car from . We are flying from Philadelphia to Maimi, and renting a car, because it is expensive. Would we be better off flying on a turbo prop (Puddle jumper) I think it is called or renting a car for the 5 days we are there. I don%26#39;t know what the rates are. We need a car for 4 people. I would appreciate any info.

Renting a car

Its up to you yes a car is expensive but the drive is Great. Ther are many places to stop on the way. However make sure you have a late afternoon of early evening flight as it is a long ride home to MIA.

If it is a weekend traffic is a problem if you are in a hurry. I drive everytime as the wife doesn%26#39;t like puddle jumpers. I would suggest that youstay a night or two in Key Largo on the way home to breakup the trip and so you wont be as unhappy when its time to leave Key West. A midsize car after all the taxes is 400 for me for a 10 day trip so figure about half of that for you. I have a full size car. I am from your area and will be going in november for MOTM.

Renting a car

There are people who love the drive and look forward to this as part of their vacation. But I always fly from Newark to one of three places in Florida then take the Continental Connection plane from there to Key West. If you drive you lose much of the first and last day, time you could spend exploring Key West.

If you catch a really early flight, 7:00 ish, you can get to Key West by 12:30 and using a taxi be at your hotel by 1:00. Taking a 1:00 flight home will generally get you into Philly by 6:00 and you are home by 7:00. This maximizes the amount of time on the island. Once you get to know your way around, you can drive in on a subsequent trip.

You can easily spend a week in Key West and never drive anywhere.

Pjk

Count me among those who hate the drive! Yes, we%26#39;ve made it several times when the cost of the hop from Miami to Key West is too expensive, but we avoid it when we can. You definitely will NOT need a car once you%26#39;re in Key West, and it%26#39;s so much more convenient to fly out of there than having to drive up to Miami and worrying about whether you%26#39;ll get stuck in a traffic jam and miss your flight.

There are alternatives to either renting or flying in! Having a car in Key West can be a liability due to a lack of parking and often, the cost charged by some hotels is outrageous.

Look into any of these three alternatives...

Alphabetically listed:

www.betweentheseas.com

www.keysshuttle.com

www.transfloridian.com

All offer transportation to and from Miami and Key West.

Here%26#39;s another option. Rent the car, do the drive, return the car in Key West. Then, rent another for the drive back.

It%26#39;s true that you probably won%26#39;t need a car when you%26#39;re in Key West. Although, since arriving Saturday, we did take the car for a spin yesterday. El Siboney restaurant is about 8 (Long) blocks from here, so we drove over for lunch. After that, a nice drive on S. Roosevelt, then a stop at Publix on the boulevard to pick up a few more items.

We prefer to have the car for the week so we%26#39;ll have the option of driving somewhere if we like. Maybe it%26#39;s a run back up to No Name Pub for dinner...maybe just drive downtown so we won%26#39;t have to walk home. (Last night, I was in no shape to walk.)

This car is going to cost me about $194 for 8 days, plus gas. There are two of us. If we had flown into Key West instead of Ft. Lauderdale, the tickets would have cost us more than $300 more than we paid. So I%26#39;m saving some money. (In our case, driving actually got us here faster than if we would have waited for connecting flights, too.) If there are four of you, the savings would probably really justify a car...especially if you return it within 24 hours.

Check out

www.betweentheseas.com

Some good people had a brillant idea. ;)

And if you listen to Seminole Girl, you might run into somebody from right here at the forum.