We’re lucky enough to be off to Orlando next month for the ‘big’ family holiday thing. I wondered if those that have experienced this reckon it’s worthwhile paying the £80 extra for satnav when hiring a car ? We’ll be taking in the theme parks etc & a few days visiting different sites

Cheers in advance

If you’ve got an iPhone, download the “Nav Free USA” app (free) and the Florida maps before you go.
The maps are stored on the phone, so you don’t need to pay the hefty data roaming charges.

i have one you can lend if you want? we bought one for a USA road trip a couple of years ago, still be ok to use.

Mail me if you want it – in profile.

I’d say some sort of navigation aid definitely – although if there are free Apps that work well then you may as well use one.

Last year we just got a satnav with the hire car and I am glad I did, otherwise I would have got lost just collecting the car from JFK (alone in the car after being dropped off by a taxi, panic beginning to set in as I found myself going the wrong way despite having satnav as I had put in incorrect details somehow).

Everything in America is built on a grid. No satnav needed.

😉

CoPilot Live for the US is cheap, around £9, I think, and all the maps are on the phone, works on iOS or Android.
I tried Navfree on my phone, and it was really shonky, just wouldn’t give me directions, and I was trying it on a route that I knew as a tryout. Not impressed.

2nd the free app suggestion, I used NavFree last year and it was perfect. I took the SIM card out of my phone to be sure no data was used a I was paranoid about getting hammered for charges and it was spot on.

We went to Florida last year, used copilot live on iPhone 5 – very impressed.

Got one you can lend if you want

Driving in the cities in the states is easy, outside the cities not so much.

I used Waze when I was out there driving and it seems like a popular option. Also free.

Thanks for all the replies 🙂

I don’t have an iPhone but my daughter has a newish iPod touch so will give the NavFree a try first before taking you up on the kind offers of a lend & see how I get on

Thanks again

If you have a UK satnav, see how much it would cost to download the US map. We did that a few years ago and it was less than £20 on a TomTom.

Thanks for all the replies

I don’t have an iPhone but my daughter has a newish iPod touch so will give the NavFree a try first before taking you up on the kind offers of a lend & see how I get on

Thanks again

The Touch doesn’t have GPS capability, I’m afraid.*
However, it’s possible to get it to work with a GPS unit that plugs into the 30-pin dock: http://gps.about.com/od/accessories/gr/Bad-Elf-GPS-iPad-iPod.htm
Not cheap, mind, so a borrowed unit might be your best option.
*And before anyone says it will work, yes, it can, by triangulation from cell towers and wifi hotspots, but accuracy will be woeful, certainly not what you want in a car.

If you like people backseat driving and trying to read a map fine, but a stress free holiday get a sat nav the sign posts are not the best

The Touch doesn’t have GPS capability, I’m afraid.

D’oh !

Ok plan B, a colleague has offered to lend me an old iPhone 4 so will see I can get that app on there ..

navfree excellent for me (UK and california but that’s android version too)