With a smart car rental, even students can explore Florida and Key West on a budget!
Article by: Yen-Ting YU (Cornell University)
As an international student up in upstate NY, all I wanted during a six-week winter break was to get away from sun-starved Ithaca. So when my travel buddy and I planned this escape-the-cold trip, we had two priorities: first, “on budget” — cut out non-essential spending and maximize value for money; second, “chill” — no pressure to rush through an itinerary, and plenty of rest when we needed it. Naturally, the destination we settled on was the vacation hot spot with cheap flights and easy access: Florida.
When you think of Florida, you think of Latin American culture, art, nightlife, sunshine, palm trees — and nude beaches (?). With our budget in mind, we first locked in a few must-see spots, then decided how to get around based on how accessible each one was, mixing a rental car with public transit. This travel diary mainly covers what we looked for when picking accommodations, plus our experience driving to Everglades National Park and Key West on 12/19–12/20.
[Florida] Miami accommodation tips and car rental recommendations
- Accommodations
We spent a total of two weeks in Miami, so this was more of a long stay. Here are a few factors beyond price that are worth considering when you choose a place:- Safety
Every American city has relatively safe areas and areas with higher crime rates. When planning where to stay and what to do, it’s a good idea to look up the safety of the neighborhood online — Trulia, SpotCrime and Redzone are all handy tools for checking crime rates. Miami does have a reputation as a “city of sin,” after all. The place we picked this time was closer to Miami International Airport, in a residential area on the west side of Little Havana. It’s a bit of a distance from Miami Beach, but when you’re traveling, safety comes first! - In-room amenities
When picking a place, check whether it offers Wi-Fi, air conditioning, a fridge, a microwave, a kettle and so on. If you’re staying at a hostel, look for lockable storage lockers to avoid theft. When comparing prices, we also paid close attention to whether the reviews for each listing mentioned anything about these amenities. - Nearby facilities
When choosing where to stay, see whether there’s a supermarket, a self-service laundromat and parking nearby. First, one key to budget travel is eating out as little as possible — especially in the U.S., where dining out means tips and all sorts of extra fees. Just head to a chain supermarket, grab a few bags of frozen vegetables for under US$3, or a loaf of bread for under US$1 with some cheese slices, and breakfast is sorted! You’ll also find plenty of options in the frozen food aisle for lunch or dinner. On top of that, most listings don’t come with a washing machine, so it’s best to pick a place within walking distance of a laundromat. Some downtown listings are in areas where parking is hard to find or very expensive, so check with the host or operator about free parking spaces before you book.
- Safety
- How do you rent a car?
As budget travelers, we had two main priorities when renting a car:
- Being able to filter by price
- Customer service experience
After searching online and comparing the big platforms, we chose gogoout, which ticked both boxes, to book our car.
What’s convenient about gogoout is the clean interface — just enter your planned pickup and drop-off times and locations and you can start picking a car. Besides price, you can also filter by brand, model, insurance type, payment method and more next to the search bar. If you have any questions about the service, you can click the chat bubble on the right side of the screen to ask customer support; as long as it’s during business hours, you’ll get a reply quickly.
You can book your rental right through the platform, and the map on the right lets you quickly check the distance between the pickup point and where you’re staying. Any drop-off time after early evening is charged as a full day, so we’d suggest choosing the latest slot, 11 p.m. This time we went with Thrifty’s B Ford Focus or Similar (basically the compact class), picking up at 9 a.m. on 12/19 and returning at 11 p.m. on 12/20.
One thing to note: because there are extra insurance options at the counter, the amount you actually pay will be a bit higher than the price shown on the platform. Our booking came to 145.08, and since we didn’t have credit card coverage, we bought full insurance at the counter; with 7% tax, we ended up paying 256.68.
👇️How many types of U.S. car rental insurance are there? Which one do I need?
3. Picking up the car
Pickup locations in Miami are basically all at Miami airport, open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. If you arrive in Miami within those hours, you can go straight to the Rental Car Center/Agencies on the fourth floor of the airport — super convenient.
We rented from Thrifty Car Rental this time, but only found out on arrival that we had to pick up the car at Dollar, because Thrifty and Dollar are the same company under different brands.
If you’re renting from Dollar or Thrifty, we’d suggest getting to the rental car center early. We arrived at 9, but didn’t actually have the car until 10!
When you check in, you’ll need to show your driver’s license (an International Driving Permit works too; I also brought my passport and Taiwanese license just in case). The staff will ask about your travel plans, and it’s best to have a return flight ticket. If you don’t, just answer honestly — as long as it sounds reasonable, the staff will let you through. On the right in the photo above are the notes and receipt we got after successfully picking up the car, listing the pickup floor, rental class and refueling rules.
*Things to note:
- The driver (license holder) and the credit card holder must be the same person
- It’s best to use a credit card that includes car insurance (avoid using a debit card if you can)
- You’ll pay a US$500 deposit at the counter, which is refunded two days after you return the car.
- Dollar & Thrifty cars come in different classes. The cheapest is Economy, with a smaller body that suits people who aren’t confident parking; one step up is Compact, like the Nissan 2019 Versa we rented this time.
(Car pickup area on the second floor)
(My travel buddy, delighted to temporarily have “MyCar”)
[Florida] Everglades National Park / Everglades Alligator Farm / fruit and veggie milkshake stand (Robert Is Here)
*Note: remember to bring a change of clothes and sandals
The first stop on this chill road trip was the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center in Everglades National Park. We hadn’t done much research, so we planned to come here and ask the staff for advice. This visitor center sits outside the park grounds and is free to visit, about a one-hour drive away; the other four visitor centers are inside the park, so you need to buy a ticket to reach them (US$20 per vehicle, valid for 7 days). We’d suggest driving over early, since there are lots of free tours you can join! The staff here are also incredibly helpful — tell them clearly what you’re looking for and you’ll get plenty of suggestions. We’d only planned half a day and were really keen on an airboat ride, but we arrived at 2 p.m., so the staff suggested we try the nearby alligator farm instead.
It’s about a 13-minute drive from the visitor center to the alligator farm, and admission including the feeding show and the airboat ride is US$32 per adult. Our first activity after entering was cooling off on the airboat! During the jungle airboat adventure, the guide gives a quick rundown on alligator behavior and chats about the scenery along the way. In the second half the boat picks up a lot of speed and throws in the occasional 360-degree spin — anyone in the front row will definitely get soaked, and those in the back aren’t necessarily safe either; at the very least your shoes will get wet. So if the alligator farm airboat ride is on your itinerary for the day, remember to bring a change of clothes and sandals!
On the way back, we stopped at Robert Is Here, a “fruit and veggie milkshake stand” that’s been running for 60 years. Calling it a milkshake stand undersells it — it’s more of a combined fruit market, milkshake bar and small farm. The older gentleman in the blue shirt on the left in the photo is Robert himself! Here you’ll find tropical fruits you rarely see in New York, like jackfruit, starfruit and guava. We happily headed back to our place with bananas and a bag of big, sweet oranges.
[Florida] Key West: Southernmost Point / Cuban Coffee Queen
Key West is the southernmost island and city in the Florida Keys, known as the land of sunsets and also the hometown of writer Ernest Hemingway. On our second day we got up early, packed food, and drove four hours from Miami to Key West. The weather was gorgeous — blue skies, white clouds and an endless ocean, perfect for a drive. Our first stop was that photo-op landmark, the Southernmost Point, but when we saw the long line of people waiting to pose with the big buoy, we gave up right away and just snapped a photo from a distance while people were swapping places.
Since it was a day trip totaling eight hours and I was the only driver, my friend and I decided to grab a Cuban coffee, take a stroll along the waterfront and then head back to Miami. While you’re in Miami, Cuban coffee is worth a try. I ordered a café con leche — Cuban coffee with milk, similar to a latte. It was a bit sweet for someone who usually drinks coffee unsweetened, but wonderfully aromatic.
[Florida] Returning the rental car
Our scheduled return time was 11 p.m., and the rules required the tank to be full before returning, so we first dropped most of our luggage back at our place, then used GasBuddy to find a cheap gas station and filled up before heading to the drop-off point. The drop-off location is the same as the pickup location — just follow Google Maps and the signs along the way.
When we arrived, a staff member asked us to stop where we were, checked that we’d filled the tank, gave the car a quick look for damage, confirmed everything was in order, then waved us off and told us we were free to go — the whole thing took less than two minutes. About a week later, the US$500 deposit was back in my account.
[Florida] Final thoughts
Anyone who travels around North America knows the U.S. is huge, and public transit isn’t as convenient as it is in small, densely populated Taiwan — which is exactly when having a car really pays off. As an international student, renting a car let me reach all the places in Florida I wanted to see, and the time saved and the experiences gained were simply unbeatable! I’d really recommend it: whether or not you own a car, just rent one when you fly in. And if budget is a concern, plan your trip first and build in a few days with a rental car — it’s a huge time-saver. All in all, this Florida self-drive escape from the cold wrapped up perfectly!
Learn more about self-driving in the U.S.:
[U.S. Car Rental Guide] The latest tips and nine things you need to know! – gogoout
[USA Self-Drive Travel] Driving around the USA made super EASY – gogoout
This article was translated by AI from the original Chinese version.
