True? In FL, pick up rental car...drop of at any other location?

[Belle5]

I read this on-line yesterday. Someone said in the state of FL, you can pick up a car at let's say Alamo at TPA and drop it off at Alamo MCO without any kind of penalty. Is this true?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I read this on-line yesterday. Someone said in the state of FL, you can pick up a car at let's say Alamo at TPA and drop it off at Alamo MCO without any kind of penalty. Is this true?

It's called a one way car rental.
I have done it with Dollar within the state of FL between MCO and TPA. I've also done it with Alamo, picking up in Las Vegas and dropping off at Phoenix.
It's very popular between MCO and Port Canaveral.
Some charge a drop off fee and if they do, it will be listed as such. Sometimes it's still worth paying the fee than the alternative. Why pay for parking of a rental car at the port for a 7 nt cruise when you'll only want it to get you back to MCO after the cruise? In cases like that, a one way rental is worth it, even with the fees.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I don't know if it is any kind of state law or anything but I've rented from MCO and dropped off at TPA (Alamo) and never was charged a penalty. I have 2 rentals for my upcoming trip through Budget picking up at MCO and dropping off at Port Canaveral and then picking up from PC and dropping off at MCO and am not being assessed any penalty.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't know that it would show up on the rental as a "penalty" or even a "one way" fee. To find out if it's cheaper, simply check the cost to pick up & return at the same place. My guess is it's cheaper.

 

[OKW Lover]

The Florida car rental market is very competitive. For that reason you'll find that most of the time there is no price difference if you pickup and drop off anywhere in the state. However, there also may be a difference. The only way to verify is to try different combinations and compare prices.

 

[DonnaL]

As another poster has said the FL rental car market is very competitive and usually there will not be a charge, but, there can be.... so when booking go over the charges carefully. We have not done this for several years, but, on various trips we would fly into MCO and out of TPA or vice versa and at that time we never incurred a drop off charge. That said, the drop off charges are sometimes very high depending on the market area, so it's very important to check when booking...not when you get there.

 

[SilverMickey]

For some rental companies the fee with in FL has been very high. We usually Start our vacation on the beaches and end in Orlando. Some years we have had 0 drop fees and others it was close to $300.00. We never have paid the 300 as we shop around for the cheapest rate going. We have always managed to find a company that did not charge with in FL.

On 2 occasions we have "Driven out of Florida" One year we had a rental from Tampa to New Hampshire for 14 days for $112.00 The next year it was 12 days for $169.00.

 

[gmeh1]

I read this on-line yesterday. Someone said in the state of FL, you can pick up a car at let's say Alamo at TPA and drop it off at Alamo MCO without any kind of penalty. Is this true?

Yes, this is true. But, often the rates will differ for a one way rental vs a round trip rental. But, this is not only for FL, other locations work the same way.