I need advice on rental car return

[sahmom]

We are renting a car in FLL, staying in Miami. Best rental car deal I could find was thrifty. My question is, would it be better to return the car to Miami Airport the night before, as this would relieve us of the $15.00 parking cost at our downtown hotel, or wait and do it all the next morning and take the free shuttle to the port.

 

The hotel shuttle would cost us $10.00 to the port, so it's only a $5.00 savings to take the car the night before.

 

Big question is does anyone know if the car rental compainies offer free shuttle service back to a hotel, or do they just take you to the port of Miami?

[2XCruiser]

We are flying into and staying in Ft Lauderdale a few days prior to cruise. Our rental car will be returned to Miami airport where a free shuttle will be provided to the port. After cruise we will again take free shuttle to Miami A/P from the port to pick up a rental car and return it to Ft Lauderdale A/P. We found this to be much cheaper (more money for the cruise:)) then paying for parking or shuttle service to/from Fort Lauderdale for a family of five (lots of luggage was our main concern for taxi service).

[erby2283]

What kind of rates have you guys found for your car rentals. Debating over renting a car and driving from Charlotte to Miami rather than fly. The cheapest I can find is $200 (ONE WAY)!

[adarsa3]

We are also flying into Ft. Lauderdale, and renting a car at the airport from Alamo. We'll keep the car overnight and return it the next morning at Miami airport before the cruise. We got a great rate - we're renting a minivan (we are a family of 5) for $38.95. We are also renting after the cruise in Miami and driving back to Ft. Lauderdale airport for a flight home the same night. I think the rental for the minivan was also around $40. You can't get a shuttle for a family of 5 for this price!