Logistics

[ravan]

*sigh*

Fortunately, I come from a family that *tries* to plan things. The plan at hand is my Grandmother's 90th (yes, ninetieth) birthday in July.

Currently, I looking at:

airfare from SFO/SJC (CA) to JAX/GVL (FL), only one stop please. I might consider Orlando, too

rental car, from a place that takes debit cards (I don't do credit any more, I hate being a slave to an interest rate.), so I can drive around without trying to manage a stick shift.

hotel nearby, so I don't make a pest of myself with my kid sister, her family, gma, mom, et al.

cash for food, etc, plus figuring out what to get gma for her 9th decade.

The problem, of course, is that if I don't have a "credit" card for car rental, they want to "check my credit" (WTF!!!), and thus make my already bad (due to 20 months unemployed in a very expensive area) credit *worse*.

Edit: The nearest hotel I can book online is in Gainsville, albeit they have some with rates less than $50 per night. Aren't there any nearer? Argh!

Comments

[goodnightxandgo.livejournal.com]

90th? Oh my..I'm afraid to live that long, lol.

[ravan.livejournal.com]

My Grandma is a tough old bird. I've got a picture of her in firefighter bunker gear at 80. In ten more years, I'll be going back down to celebrate her 100th, I'm sure.

[goodnightxandgo.livejournal.com]

Old women like that amaze me, lol, I could never be one of them.I'd give anything to see that picture!

[ravan.livejournal.com]

If I can find it, I'll scan it and post it.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Dollar will still take debit cards, and Alamo has been known to take actual cash as long as you're willing to fork over a generous deposit and display your return ticket.

Enterprise is variable about debit cards.

Anyway, a brief look at the Usual Suspects (JetBlue, Southwest, then Orbitz and Travelocity for the rest) reveals that Delta has the best deals for SJC to JAX -- although to be sure I also played with other combinations of SJC|SFO|OAK and JAX|GVL|MCO. I tried several arbitrarily selected seven-day periods in July, and Delta consistently came up the winner, with reasonable departure times at both ends, non-stupidly-short layovers (this is DL, so all plane changes are at ATL), and the best prices.

Hope that helps!

-- L

[lysana.livejournal.com]

Hertz also accepts debit cards. Expect to have a batch of money locked in your account as their little safeguard, but the amount is easily found out with a phone call.

[dreamingcrow.livejournal.com]

Enterprise will also take cash, with something like a $250 deposit.

[weofodthignen]

What city are you actually looking to stay in? I'm thinking Motel 6, which has swanked itself up something awful--or ask one of the locals to book a hotel for you.

M

[treecat]

I rented a car a few months ago using debit card, I believe it was from Hertz. They didn't run a credit report, they did put a deposit on hold. I think it was $250. Try asking various companies before letting one run a report, bleech!

And happy birthday to your g'ma.

[spaghettisquash.livejournal.com]

I rented from Hertz via priceline with my debit card (last month).