Florida trip tips
We have recently done a trip to Florida. Here are some practical tips would like to share:
1. Flight
Reseguiden seems to be the most complete site to look for good deal (I do not get anything from them by saying so =) )
2. Hotel
Booking.com is our best choice. usually the best rate, and the App is great to manage cancellation, communicating with hotel, etc.. We booked 7 hotels, and everything are in one App.
3. Car
a) Be careful with the car rental company. We used "Budget". The guy at the Orlando Airport added additional insurance without asking me. Since the basic rental package is pre-paid, I just signed and get the car. But they charge this additional amount when we return the car. Wrote to their customer service, they answered like a robot. So posted a note to their Facebook, after couple of hours, they agree to return half of the money...ridiculous!
b) toll-fee. Tolls are everywhere in Florida. most rental company has "sun-pass" facility. It is stick on the wind shield. there is a nob to turn it on or off. It is a good idea to use it so that you just drive through the fast track without looking for changes and wait in ques. But be prepare to pay max USD20/month extra. We travelled 11 days with nearly 1000 miles. the toll is USD30, and we paid USD50. So They earned a lot money, but we got the convenience and saved time .
c) Navigation
GPS was included in our rental package. But we found it is far less user friendly then google map, especially for searching address, and local interest. we eventually used google map all the way. We have bought a local sim card, so we use it online all the time, and often got redirection when there were heavy traffic. You can also use it offline by downloading the area map beforehand. but the route may not be the most optimized.
4. Insurance
Most swedes have home insurance. That's enough, no need extra travel insurance. Our son got high fever, we contacted Länsforsäkring SOS. they arranged hospital. The process is not perfect, but it worked out. So always keep their SOS number in the phone.
5. Phone and WIFI
most hotels have good WIFi, but we want data traffic on the road as well. our kids want to play Pokemon =). So we went to nearby Walmart, got recommended of AT&T: USD10 for a sim card, USD45 for one month, 4GB 4G internet (beyond 4GB the speed drop to 2G), unlimitted domestic call & SMS. You may save USD15 if you purchase T-Mobile.
This gives us great freedom of using internet, and contacting hotel, restaurant, hospital, activities, etc..
6. Gluten Free
Our son allergic to gluten. We notice, although there is general awareness of gluten free, they are not doing as "gluten free friendly" as in Sweden. In most of the fast food chains, you basically only can order salad, or order burger without bun :=) . However, "Denny's" is a good one, which marked GF in their menu, and have a lot choices for GF.
7. The people
People are quite friendly in general, but not as honest as swedes. So be alert to deal with them. When our son came back from the hospital, it is over 10am, and the check out time is 11am. so I asked if we can check out a bit later. I expected to extend to 12noon, but she actually said "Oh, the room is not booked today, so you can stay until 3PM." So I feel very thankful and prepared USD15 tips when checking out, but it turned out it charged USD33 for later check out! If they told me before, I actually would be quite OK to pay for it, but this is so dishonest.
1. Flight
Reseguiden seems to be the most complete site to look for good deal (I do not get anything from them by saying so =) )
2. Hotel
Booking.com is our best choice. usually the best rate, and the App is great to manage cancellation, communicating with hotel, etc.. We booked 7 hotels, and everything are in one App.
3. Car
a) Be careful with the car rental company. We used "Budget". The guy at the Orlando Airport added additional insurance without asking me. Since the basic rental package is pre-paid, I just signed and get the car. But they charge this additional amount when we return the car. Wrote to their customer service, they answered like a robot. So posted a note to their Facebook, after couple of hours, they agree to return half of the money...ridiculous!
b) toll-fee. Tolls are everywhere in Florida. most rental company has "sun-pass" facility. It is stick on the wind shield. there is a nob to turn it on or off. It is a good idea to use it so that you just drive through the fast track without looking for changes and wait in ques. But be prepare to pay max USD20/month extra. We travelled 11 days with nearly 1000 miles. the toll is USD30, and we paid USD50. So They earned a lot money, but we got the convenience and saved time .
c) Navigation
GPS was included in our rental package. But we found it is far less user friendly then google map, especially for searching address, and local interest. we eventually used google map all the way. We have bought a local sim card, so we use it online all the time, and often got redirection when there were heavy traffic. You can also use it offline by downloading the area map beforehand. but the route may not be the most optimized.
4. Insurance
Most swedes have home insurance. That's enough, no need extra travel insurance. Our son got high fever, we contacted Länsforsäkring SOS. they arranged hospital. The process is not perfect, but it worked out. So always keep their SOS number in the phone.
5. Phone and WIFI
most hotels have good WIFi, but we want data traffic on the road as well. our kids want to play Pokemon =). So we went to nearby Walmart, got recommended of AT&T: USD10 for a sim card, USD45 for one month, 4GB 4G internet (beyond 4GB the speed drop to 2G), unlimitted domestic call & SMS. You may save USD15 if you purchase T-Mobile.
This gives us great freedom of using internet, and contacting hotel, restaurant, hospital, activities, etc..
6. Gluten Free
Our son allergic to gluten. We notice, although there is general awareness of gluten free, they are not doing as "gluten free friendly" as in Sweden. In most of the fast food chains, you basically only can order salad, or order burger without bun :=) . However, "Denny's" is a good one, which marked GF in their menu, and have a lot choices for GF.
7. The people
People are quite friendly in general, but not as honest as swedes. So be alert to deal with them. When our son came back from the hospital, it is over 10am, and the check out time is 11am. so I asked if we can check out a bit later. I expected to extend to 12noon, but she actually said "Oh, the room is not booked today, so you can stay until 3PM." So I feel very thankful and prepared USD15 tips when checking out, but it turned out it charged USD33 for later check out! If they told me before, I actually would be quite OK to pay for it, but this is so dishonest.