One Way Car Rentals

[ksloane]

I am planning a surprise cruise for my daughter during Spring Break Next year. There will be 5 of us total, so we've talked about the possibility of renting a car to get to Florida (I could also prolong telling her this way whereas a flight to Florida, she's going to get it "QUICK.") as it may be cheaper than 5 flights.

We'd have to fly back in order to be back for school so we can't use our car as it would be left in Florida.

I've never rented a car at all so this is new ground for me. I see on some of the major car rental websites that they only offer one way car rental from airport locations? That was a bummer as we are 3 hours from an airport, but I may have worked that out.

But is there anything I need to know? Is there a better time to rent? Look for deals? The cheapest I'm seeing right now is a little over $400 and I'm wondering if by the time we add in gas, if we might find airfare cheaper (I'm waiting on SW airfare to release prices in late summer/early fall before making a final decision as to what we'll do).

I'm just looking for any and all tips/advice/knowledge, you guys can give me for now.

 

[4butlers]

We use Budget for one-way rentals to Port Canaveral. They do not require you to rent from an airport. You can drop off the car and take their free shuttle to the port. Then, when you return, take their shuttle back to their location, pick up another car and drop it off at the airport.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Most of the time you will find that with one-way car rentals you will have to pay a "drop off" fee in the range of $125 - $175 on top of your reg car rental price. So expect a higher than normal total price to rent a one way rental. But you will notice in Florida the car rental companies usually don't charge the "drop off" fee.

Also remember you are booking over a holiday weekend and the prices will be higher and a lot of the coupons and discounts will be blacked out for that time period. So find discount counted deals might be tough to come by.

If your only option to rent a one way rent is from the airport location, and you are planning to fly back home, wouldn't it make since to leave your car parked at the airport in order to get home after your flight. I would hate to ask someone to make a 3 hour drive to pick me up and then drive another 3 hours to get back home from the airport.

 

[ksloane]

Most of the time you will find that with one-way car rentals you will have to pay a "drop off" fee in the range of $125 - $175 on top of your reg car rental price. So expect a higher than normal total price to rent a one way rental. But you will notice in Florida the car rental companies usually don't charge the "drop off" fee.

Also remember you are booking over a holiday weekend and the prices will be higher and a lot of the coupons and discounts will be blacked out for that time period. So find discount counted deals might be tough to come by.

If your only option to rent a one way rent is from the airport location, and you are planning to fly back home, wouldn't it make since to leave your car parked at the airport in order to get home after your flight. I would hate to ask someone to make a 3 hour drive to pick me up and then drive another 3 hours to get back home from the airport.

I actually thought of that (renting from the airport that we'll be flying back to) later. Not sure why I hadn't thought that far. Actually not because of having someone pick us up - all family here would be glad to, but because with 5 of us, no one would have a vehicle large enough to bring us back.

Thanks for the tips. We won't make final decisions until Southwest releases March airfare and then will compare the price of renting vs flying.