Look for rental car alternatives

City Car Share and Zipcar are membership organizations for any person over 21 with a valid driver's license who needs a car only for short-term use. You must join their clubs beforehand, which you can do via their Web sites. They're especially useful if you only want to rent a car for part of the day (say 4 to 6 hours) or find yourself far from the airport. Their membership fee often allows you to use their service in several metropolitan areas. If using such a service, you can rent a car by the hour as well as by the day.