Car Rental help - Tampa
 

My sisters and I are flying into Tampa on February 20 for a week visit to area. We need to rent a car and from past experience it seems to be much more expensive to rent right from airport instead of off-site. I am looking for an off site car rental that has a shuttle to get us from airport. Or would it be worth it to take a taxi? We are not familiar with airport or area.

Bottom line - what is best way to rent a car for a week flying into Tampa? Thanks!

Yikes. That's a school vacation week for the Northeastern states and they flock to Florida.

Yes it would probably be worth it to take a taxi. Sometimes you can return these cars to the airport location without an extra fee so your taxi fare would only be at pickup time. Unfortunately, many of the off-airport agencies close around noon on Saturdays. What time do you arrive? There's a Hertz @ 3900 Kennedy Blvd with good pricing but they close at noon...and your flight might be late so you'd need a backup plan.

IMO, the best way is to simply rent at the airport. Taxis in Tampa aren't that cheap; Uber would be cheaper. But I can't imagine you'd save enough to make the hassle worthwhile.

Where are you staying? If at a hotel, perhaps the hotel has a shuttle from the airport that could take you to an off-airport car rental agency?

There isn't just one "school vacation week" for the entire Northeast, but it's high season for sure.

"I can't imagine you'd save enough......"

From $459 per week down to $189 per week is a pretty substantial savings and definitely worth a $30 cab ride.

Flight doesn't get into 12:30 on Saturday. Is there any other off sites rentals that are open later?
We are not staying close to Tampa.

Someone told me there were courtesy vehicles to off-airport rental car companies?

No, generally the airports do not allow pickup via a courtesy vehicle since these off-sites have not paid their airport fees.
Enterprise has some locations open later on Saturday. The closest one looks like location #5, Spruce Road, open til 2pm. It's a 2.5 mile taxi ride. There is a $20 upcharge if you want to book the car on Spruce but return it to Tampa airport. The phone number for the Spruce location is 813-282-1680 if you have questions.

The airport Enterprise wants $450 per week for a mid size car that week, the Spruce location quotes $200 for a full-size.

OK, I stand corrected. If those rates hold true, those are substantial savings.

(clark, I also salute you for googling what the OP could have googled herself. Nice of you.)

Thank you so much . really do appreciate this!

I don't know what the deal with Enterprise is, but you can get a car much cheaper than $450 a week at TPA, just check kayak. You can get one there for $20 a day (before taxes). Why is the attraction to Enterprise, I don't even like that company very well, there are many others. I've rented at TPA and it wasn't that expensive compared to offsite locations.

Feb 20 to 27 are the dates, Christina. Your kayak search must be showing rates that are about half of what my kayak search is coming up with.