Late night flight into Tampa / rental questions...counter open? Time to put on rental?

[brendie72]

Hi all,
We are planning our next trip out (starting planning REALLY early for next Jan.)
We would like to fly in to Tampa, stay there for a couple of nights (go to BG, the casino), then on to Orlando for a week.
The problem is, our work schedules only allow us to take the very latest flight to Tampa, which will probably get us there (with no weather delays) around 11:30 PM to midnight.
Does anything else have any experience with flying in this late and are the car rental counters open at this time?
Also, when we do online booking for a car rental, if we were to start our rental at, say, midnight, would we put 12 AM of the NEXT day?
It's sort of confusing.
Like, if we flew in on the 15th, and landed at 11:45 PM on the 15th, but wanted the next 15 minutes to make our way to the counter, would we put 12 AM of the 16th?
Anyone with any experience with this?
Thanks so much!

 

[IrishNYC]

Why not just fly out first flight of the next day instead of worrying? Some airport rental counters do close, but you have to check each company individually. I believe they'll stay open within reason if many flights are delayed.

 

[pens4821]

I would assume most would be open. I just googled tampa airport car rental, and clicked on the first one. It was enterprise and their hours are 24/7. You could do the same for the best rate you can find to make sure. 12 AM would be the 16th. But even if you booked 1130 the 15th and got there a little later you wouldn't be charged for the full day (in my experience of pricing rentals).

 

[brendie72]

Thanks for the responses!
The reason I'd like to be there the night before is because I don't like to leave my stuff in the trunk (hotel check in would have to be after the trip to BG) That makes me nervous. We might resort to that, though. We HAVE left our stuff in the trunk, and would have to anyway the next day at the casino on the way to Orlando.

And, this past time, we took the very first flight to Orlando, had to get up at 1AM, and were too tired when we got there to go to any parks.

 

[a742246]

Why not just fly out first flight of the next day instead of worrying? Some airport rental counters do close, but you have to check each company individually. I believe they'll stay open within reason if many flights are delayed.

I would do this also, flying in January you can count on weather delays especially on late flights.

 

[IrishNYC]

Thanks for the responses!
The reason I'd like to be there the night before is because I don't like to leave my stuff in the trunk (hotel check in would have to be after the trip to BG) That makes me nervous. We might resort to that, though. We HAVE left our stuff in the trunk, and would have to anyway the next day at the casino on the way to Orlando.

And, this past time, we took the very first flight to Orlando, had to get up at 1AM, and were too tired when we got there to go to any parks.

I totally get that. I hoped maybe you had some wiggle room in your plans. We usually fly first thing in the morning and have very little planned after landing, but for our next shortish WDW trip we're flying after work/school, so we can hit the ground running in the morning, and I hate it!

 

[jdisnut]

Hi all,
We are planning our next trip out (starting planning REALLY early for next Jan.)
We would like to fly in to Tampa, stay there for a couple of nights (go to BG, the casino), then on to Orlando for a week.
The problem is, our work schedules only allow us to take the very latest flight to Tampa, which will probably get us there (with no weather delays) around 11:30 PM to midnight.
Does anything else have any experience with flying in this late and are the car rental counters open at this time?
Also, when we do online booking for a car rental, if we were to start our rental at, say, midnight, would we put 12 AM of the NEXT day?
It's sort of confusing.
Like, if we flew in on the 15th, and landed at 11:45 PM on the 15th, but wanted the next 15 minutes to make our way to the counter, would we put 12 AM of the 16th?
Anyone with any experience with this?
Thanks so much!

My in-laws live in Tampa and we routinely take late flights into TPA, frequently landing around midnight. All the major rental car facilities will be open. You will have absolutely no problems picking up your car.

I'd recommend booking it for, say, 11:45 or 11:50 p.m. the night you will be arriving. If you get to the counter at midnight, it won't be a problem -- your reservation will still be there. TPA is a large airport that is used to late-night flights.