Miami One Day Car Rental $60??

[mikeyd]

I hope I am missing something here. I have about 4 hours to kill in Port of Miami (POM) on the return of our cruise. Rather than paying $30-ish for a cab to the airport I thought it would be nice to rent a car for the day and go to Bayside and or a restaurant to get something to eat.

 

After doing research, I heard Alamo is the preferred car rental agency since it has a shuttle bus that will pick you up at POM and bring you to the airport car rental location to get a vehicle. Several people mentioned that Alamo has FREQUENT shuttles unlike the 2 or 3 other companies where a 45 minute wait is not uncommon.

 

So far, so good. Well when I run costs on Alamo's website, it comes back with a rate of about $35-45 and then $15 for taxes. This is with NO insurance, GPS or other cost add-on options.

 

Just seems a bit steep for a daily (actually 4 hour) rental.

 

 

I considered the Everglades tour to kill time, but it was around $45 per person and I am not sure if we'll be in the mood for it.

 

Anyone have any suggestions if I am missing something?

[setsail]

http://www.miami-airport.com/what_to_do_during_layovers.asp

[JohninDC]

Alamo, Thrifty and National share a shuttle from POM to MIA. Also check out both HErtz and Avis who have downtown locations very close to POM ($10 cab if they will not shuttle). Car prices vary widely with demand - keep shopping as prices often drop a week or two before your date. Good luck! :)

[hermitstyle]

I'm renting from Budget, which has a location across the street from Hertz, close to POM. My rental cost is $66 including taxes. That includes the rental for a compact car ($34) plus the LDW ($25.99). I'm not sure of any other car rental companies who rent hourly, so you will get the daily 24 hour rate.

[mikeyd]

I know I can't rent hourly, but often times the per day rate is MUCH cheaper if you book overnight ie 2 days. For a one day rental they kill ya.

[eandj]

Renting during peak season in S. Fl for one day is always higher than what you might expect. If your regular car insur covers for rentals, you might save a bit there by not buying from the rental company. Four hours isn't very much time. You might just look at storing bags and cabbing somewhere?

[miajordyn]

I'm renting from Budget, which has a location across the street from Hertz, close to POM. My rental cost is $66 including taxes. That includes the rental for a compact car ($34) plus the LDW ($25.99). I'm not sure of any other car rental companies who rent hourly, so you will get the daily 24 hour rate.

 

I checked out Budget as well. I noticed they do not have a shuttle. Can anyone verify how much the cab to the rental office from the port was. The rate is considerably lower than the ones I can find with a shuttle for my trip this month. Budget agent said a cab would be $12??

Thanks

Tara

[Algebralovr]

I'm doing it the other way, renting from FLL and droping off at POM-Hertz. I got a compact for $31 including tax, no insurance. I found a discount code on the Visa web site if you have a Visa card to use. This is for peak season, picking up on Friday night at 5pm and dropping off at Hertz about noon. The other issue - when do you actually need to be at the airport? Do you really have 4 hours? Is four hours enough to justify a rental car?

[mikeyd]

Good question. My flight is 3pm on Delta to Detroit. So we have from roughly 9am to 1pm to kill - so it is a true 4 hours.

 

Looking at the first link we may take a cab to the air port, check in our bags at 9am and then take the new Bus line to South Beach to wander around.

[AudenHoggart]

Check with Delta about how far in advance you can check in your bags. Many airlines will not allow it too early in the day.

 

If you have a total of four hours I doubt you have sufficient time to take a taxi to the airport, check in your bags, and then have time for a round trip bus ride to the beach (assuming you want to actually get out at the beach and not just get right back on a bus to return to the airport.)

[Marie51]

Good question. My flight is 3pm on Delta to Detroit. So we have from roughly 9am to 1pm to kill - so it is a true 4 hours.

 

Looking at the first link we may take a cab to the air port, check in our bags at 9am and then take the new Bus line to South Beach to wander around.

 

When you get to the airport early you could check to see if there are any seats on an earlier flight. My son did this for a fee of $100. His original flight was at 7pm and he was able to get on an 11am flight. It is an option to consider if you are going to pay money for a rental car anyway.

[JohninDC]

I checked out Budget as well. I noticed they do not have a shuttle. Can anyone verify how much the cab to the rental office from the port was. The rate is considerably lower than the ones I can find with a shuttle for my trip this month. Budget agent said a cab would be $12??

Thanks

Tara

 

If the office is in downtown Miami then about $12 is the correct answer. If it is closer to MIA airport, the $25 or so is closer. Address? :confused:

 

Good luck! :)

[mondello]

Good question. My flight is 3pm on Delta to Detroit. So we have from roughly 9am to 1pm to kill - so it is a true 4 hours.

 

Looking at the first link we may take a cab to the air port, check in our bags at 9am and then take the new Bus line to South Beach to wander around.

Our last flight home was also a long wait. Please note they would not allow us to check our bags more than 4 hours before our flight which would be 11:00AM for you.

[mikeyd]

Based on the feedback here and looking at all options we are going to take a cab to Bayside and got a groupon for a seafood place where we'll get lunch and kill some time and then take a cab to the airport.

 

I'll post back how it went on our return mid-March.