Rental car at airport vs at hotel

[disnutt]

We are flying into MCO the evening of Thanksgiving day. We'll be staying at the Marriott Orlando Airport one night before our real vacation starts on Friday. We want a rental car for our stay. I'm seeing three options right now and want to know pros vs cons of each.

1. Rental car pick up at airport and drive to hotel so we can leave early in morning to get to WDW. Seems like easiest method but there is the extra cost of the night's car rental and parking.

2. Ride shuttle from airport to hotel upon arrival, ride shuttle back to airport early morning pick up rental drive back to hotel to pick up family to head to WDW. Saves cost of rental/parking for night but causes a lot of back/forth time wasting.

3. Ride shuttle to hotel upon arrival and rent car at hotel's Hertz counter. I have no real idea about how this works. Also, really don't know about returning car to hotel then taking shuttle back to airport for return home.

Any suggestions?

 

[Big Willie]

You have covered all the bases with your options. However, consider that with Option #3 you do no have to take the car back to the hotel. You can return it to the airport. While this makes it a one way rental most Orlando companies do not charge any extra for picking up at a local hotel and to return to the airport. Renting at the hotel is the same as renting at the airport (normally a lot faster).

We normally opt for your Option #1. Vacation time is precious. We would rather grab the car and go than to come back to the airport to the airport. Course this all depends on price. If returning saves $50 -$100 then I'd do it. If its $25 difference than NO!

 

[disnutt]

I didn't know that they might not charge a one way fee. I'll check into that.

 

[rewok]

Also check on option #1, depending on your length of stay, sometimes adding a day to the car rental cost next to nothing. And renting from the airport brings lots of choices besides Hertz, and it could cost about the same. There are more fees on a rental at MCO, but sometimes the rate a cheaper than at hotels because of competition. I know that we got our rental at MCO instead of Disney Car Care because overall it was cheaper in the last 3 years.

 

[Rpsemont]

Just seconding what many have said
Picking up at night may not contitute an extra day - it depends when your drop time is. If you're flying out in the morning, then you probably want to pick up the rental car in the morning. But for any other departure time, it probably doesn't make a difference.
And yes, easy to return to MCO with pick up at another Orlando location.

I didn't know Hertz had a desk in the Marriot. We have rented from them before - their lot is about 1/2 mile from the Marriot - DH would just get up in the morning and walk to their lot and get the car and come back to the hotel to get us. Unless they now have a lot at MCO, returning to MCO is actually returning to their lot by the Marriot. What we have done, is DH drops us off with luggage, then goes to return the rental car and we meet at the gate.

Last time I was there, there was not a parking fee at the Marriot

And FWIW, When we were there in March and staying one night at the Marriot we decided to give DD age 16 a travel lesson. She was with a friend. So we told the two of them to get off the plane, get theer luggage and find their way to the hotel without any guidance from us.
DH and I, got our luggage, got the rental car, and met them there.
They beat us.

 

[corster]

Pick up at the Hotel. Even if the price is the same (which it generally but not always is), you might save yourself the Airport Taxes (which are charged for the duration of the rental). You can specifiy a drop off at the airport.

At some airports, i've actually intentionally rented from an Airport Hotel rather than the Airport to avoid these taxes.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Seems like easiest method but there is the extra cost of the night's car rental and parking.

You might actually save money adding a rental night, depending on your rental length. It's usually cheaper renting by the week, rather than daily.

Last time I was there, there was not a parking fee at the Marriot

Their website indicates overnight self-parking is $12.00 daily.

 

[Donna PA]

This is what we are doing and seriously for 3 people found it cheapest. We are going for 10 days, in June. we are renting a small car from Budget for 230.00 for the entire stay. I got a code from Mousesavers. We are staying at the Radisson the night before and leaving the car there and taking the shuttle over. We got the package at the Radisson which includes breakfast, and free parking and the shuttle. If we would have used Disney transportation from Orlando airport it is like 70.00 per person, not even sure if that is round trip. So for that we also have the freedom to go wherever,whenever we want after the cruise.