Tampa car rental question

AndreaDM

<font color=red>Yeah...we mainly colored that day<
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Nov 7, 2008
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We are cruising out of Tampa Oct 12-17, on the 17th we're renting a car, driving to WDW for a few days before flying back out of Tampa. Is our best bet to rent a car near the cruise port and then return the car to TPA? I know there is a drop fee when taking the car somewhere else, but it seems like the hassle of renting/returning at the same location would be a pain. Thoughts?
 
Rental car pricing is terribly unpredictable. Best bet is to price it both ways and see what the difference is. The results might surprise you!
 
Why not just price out the two options?

Oh I did, I was just wondering what other people's experiences were. We don't plan on using the car once we get to WDW, so it's basically just transportation to and from Tampa. I'm so used to Magical Express and flying into MCO, so this is different for me.
 

I do intra-Florida one-way car rentals about 6 to 12 times annually. As FCDub notes, pricing is indeed unpredictable. It just depends upon where each rental firm needs cars. I've had rates as low as $5.95/day. Other times, it can be close to $100/day.

You really do just need to spend some time checking rates. Just make sure you don't pre-pay anything. Then, continue checking rates as your trip approaches. You can modify the reservation if the price drops.

Edit: I didn't read the first post correctly. I see that you weren't talking about one-way rentals. That said, the concept of checking various pick-up/drop-off locations applies.

That said, if you're not needing the car while you are in Orlando, you can experiment with two one-way rentals. Depending on the length of your stay, two one-way rentals might be cheaper. Plus, you wouldn't have to pay the nightly parking fee.

Alamo/National has locations on Disney World property (Car Care Center, Hilton Buena Vista Palace across from Disney Springs, and the Walt Disney World Dolphin). Avis, Dollar, Budget, and Hertz can be found at the various Disney Springs Hotels (all within walking distance of Disney Springs).
 
We are cruising out of Tampa Oct 12-17, on the 17th we're renting a car, driving to WDW for a few days before flying back out of Tampa. Is our best bet to rent a car near the cruise port and then return the car to TPA? I know there is a drop fee when taking the car somewhere else, but it seems like the hassle of renting/returning at the same location would be a pain. Thoughts?
Many of the car rental providers do not charge explicit drop fees for rentals between two Florida locations. Of course, you may find different rates for rentals between two different locations as compared to rentals starting and ending at the same location, but there will likely not be a separate drop charge for the “one-way” rental.

As to renting and returning in Tampa, you may want to compare the cost of a Port of Tampa pickup with TPA dropoff compared to picking up and dropping off at the airport, possibly using Uber or Lyft to get to the car rental center at TPA. It may even be that some of the car rental providers offer free shuttles from port to TPA. We haven’t cruised out of Tampa, but have cruised out of Miami multiple times, followed each time with a car rental to go to WDW. We pick up the car at the car rental center at MIA and drop it off at either a WDW location (usually the Dolphin since we use Alamo most of the time) or at MCO depending on whether or not we keep the car during out post-cruise resort/park stay. Alamo has a shuttle from the Port of Miami to the car rental center at the airport, so this is particularly convenient. YMMV in Tampa.

When we cruise out of Port Canaveral, we rent a car at MCO or the Dolphin at WDW and drop it off at the Alamo location near the port, taking the free shuttle to the port. These one-way rentals are usually less than $50, much less than resort to port transportation by other means.
 
I do intra-Florida one-way car rentals about 6 to 12 times annually. As FCDub notes, pricing is indeed unpredictable. It just depends upon where each rental firm needs cars. I've had rates as low as $5.95/day. Other times, it can be close to $100/day.

You really do just need to spend some time checking rates. Just make sure you don't pre-pay anything. Then, continue checking rates as your trip approaches. You can modify the reservation if the price drops.

Edit: I didn't read the first post correctly. I see that you weren't talking about one-way rentals. That said, the concept of checking various pick-up/drop-off locations applies.

That said, if you're not needing the car while you are in Orlando, you can experiment with two one-way rentals. Depending on the length of your stay, two one-way rentals might be cheaper. Plus, you wouldn't have to pay the nightly parking fee.

Alamo/National has locations on Disney World property (Car Care Center, Hilton Buena Vista Palace across from Disney Springs, and the Walt Disney World Dolphin). Avis, Dollar, Budget, and Hertz can be found at the various Disney Springs Hotels (all within walking distance of Disney Springs).
Yes, we *might* be staying at the Swan and if so, will definitely do 2 one-way rentals. We may stop for drinks etc. on our way to check in but other than that, don't plan on using the car and really don't want to pay for parking if we don't have to. The trip is for Food & Wine so will only be going to Epcot and strolling the boardwalk, etc. so with that location, doing 2 separate rentals seems to make the most sense.
 













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