Just a quick one.

For those that did soft landings for a week or so, and hired a vehicle, did you pay extra for GPS usage from the vehicle centre, or did you pick up a pay&go sim, stick 20$ on it and use that for google maps? We are looking at Enterprise and they have a GPS we can use for £45 per week.

I'm with Tesco in the UK and its £5 per mb, so can see that rapidly going up to a very expensive bill.

ouch!! That's a stupid amount, you can buy one for that!

If you were looking purely for a week then perhaps Speakout which is literally PAYGo https://www.speakout7eleven.ca/plans/ - if you want it for longer then I can recommend Freedom Mobile (who have awesome data plans).

Have a look on Amazon to see if you can pick one up cheap! https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07C3VZZY8/ref=s9_acsd_zgift_hd_bw_bFM0D2h_cr_x__w?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_r=T96QWVJ83T5C07BJ76H9&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=7d17ee81-7a43-53c2-a994-d91298759260&pf_rd_i=14067122011

we still use paper maps.... downloaded as hard copy if necessary

We did consider paper maps, may well print one out! My phone sadly doesn't have the space to store offline map versions. I'll see if I can get a bigger SD card and do that though, have a feeling it has the biggest one it supports. It's a fairly old phone.

We opted to do a hire car from Enterprise nearer to where we are staying, is considerably cheaper. Got a satnav with it. Will probably still look for a pay&go sim though.

Are we ok to jump in any old taxi from the airport to downtown? Google says 40-45$ is the going price. Any firms you can recommend? derailed my own thread!

They line up, you get the next one in line, you don't get to choose. You can also get sky train to downtown.

You'll set off a war if you try to get into any cab except the first one in line for you!

Different to the UK then (least as far as I've seen lol) .... Noted, thanks!

I second the motion for offline maps. Used it for France and the UK this summer, it was excellent.

OP You have a few options:

If you currently own a GPS in the UK then its most likely loaded with North America maps so just bring that with you. In case you own a GPS but it doesn't have North America maps then you can buy an SD card for a fraction of the price that Enterprise has quoted to rent a GPS.

You can also borrow one from a friend or family for this trip.

Some of Enterprise's vehicles come fitted with onboard GPS so ask for a vehicle that has one, in which case you won't have to pay extras (don't let them convince you that you do).

In case none of the available vehicles in the class that you booked have GPS then you can ask for an upgrade which if you know how to haggle without having to pay an arm and a leg then you will find something within a reasonable price. If you have previously haggled with a young wannabe at something like The Carphone Warehouse then those skills will definitely come handy. But make sure that you sign up for Enterprise's or National's membership before you travel as that will probably get you preferred treatment.

Airport locations have a much better and bigger inventory of cars although they are slightly more expensive.