Car Hire in Florida

Why hire a car in Florida?

Florida is a great place for hiring a car. From large cities to theme parks, and stunning beaches and nature, it is not only best discovered with the freedom of your own vehicle, one is almost essential depending on your destination. 

Americans and those from abroad flock to the state year-round for its warm weather with California being the only state that receives more tourists. The most popular entry points and destinations in the state are listed below, but be sure to see our individual pages for each city for extensive information about what to see and do in those cities, day trip ideas, and further destinations to travel to with your car. 

Top ways to enter USA - Florida

• Orlando International Airport: The busiest airport in Florida, it is a focus city for many leading U.S. airlines.
• Miami International Airport: Less than 10 mi (16 km) from downtown Miami, this airport serves countless destinations both in the U.S. and abroad.
• Fort Lauderdale Inaternational Airport: Also known as Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood, this airport is served by a number of major airlines.
• Tampa International Airport: The main gateway to Florida's western coast, travelers flock to Tamp for its nightlife and to the stunning beaches up and down the coast. 
• Palm Beach International Airport: The third airport in the Miami metro area, PBI serves as the gateway to the upmarket Palm Beach area.  
• Southwest Florida International Airport:  The major entry point to Southwest Florida, this airport is located near Fort Myers and is popular with those heading to the surrounding beaches.
• Jacksonville International Airport: In the northern part of the state on the Atlantic coast, JAX serves the fourth largest metro area in the state. It is also a convenient place to fly into if heading to the Georgian coast. 
• By land: You can also pick up a car in another state and then drive to Florida. Major airports in nearby states include Atlanta Airport in Georgia, Charlotte Airport in North Carolina, and New Orleans Airport in Louisiana.

Top cities and places to visit

• Miami: Florida’s largest city is one of the most famous beach and party destinations in the U.S., although there is something for every traveler.
• Orlando: Home to Walt Disney World, Orlando is the world capital of theme parks and a famous family travel destination.
• Florida Keys: A stunning tropical archipelago of nearly 2,000 islands, Florida Keys is more relaxed than some of Florida’s mainland beach destinations.
• Everglades National Park: This national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to countless wildlife species. If you get lucky, you can even see some of them on one of the many tours you can take.
• Fort Lauderdale: Sometimes called the Venice of America thanks to its countless canals, Fort Lauderdale is another great beach destination.
• Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg:  Tampa with its Channel District and River Walk is an extremely popular destination both for those coming from Orlando on a short trip and those taking a whole week's vacation in the area. 
• Jacksonville - While Jacksonville has a large metro area and population, it's not often thought of as a tourist destination. There are plenty of amazing beaches nearby both in Florida and over the state line in Georgia. 
• Southwest Florida: The Gulf Coast of South West Florida is also an extremely popular destination for its beaches. 

Most popular hire car

The most hired cars in Florida are the Nissan Versa, the Nissan Altima, and the Hyundai Altima. 

Driving licence requirements

The minimum age at which one cat hire a car in Florida is 21. All car companies except Ace and Easirent allow 21-year-olds to hire. 

However, those under the age of 25 charged a Young Driver Fee by all car hire companies except Zig Zag Rent a Car. This fee varies from $12.99 per day with Clubs Car Rental to $34.99 per day with Sixt. 

Those under 25 years of age are also restricted from hiring certain classes of cars. In most cases, they are not permitted to rent Luxury and Premium. 

Americans are only required to provide a driver's license. Learners permits are not accepted. In addition, some low-cost car hire companies require drivers to have held their licenses for at least one year. 

International travelers with a license in English do not need an International Driving Permit (IDP). Those with licenses that are not in English but in a language that uses an extended version of the Latin alphabet, an IDP is suggested, but not required. 

Finally, those with licenses that are written in an alphabet that is not the Latin alphabet are required to present an IDP. Note that they are also required to present their license from their home country, too. 

All international travelers are also required to show an extra form of identification, usually their passport. 

Crossing borders

The state of Florida shares a border with the states of Georgia and Alabama. If you plan to begin a long road trip starting in Florida, be sure to choose a car hire company that allows their vehicles to be taken to other states. Most low-cost companies do not allow their cars to be taken outside of the state of Florida. This includes Ace Rent a Car, Clubs, Green Motion, Easirent, and Routes. Sixt allows renters to travel to Georgia and/or Alabama in addition to Florida. Finally, Advantage, National, Dollar, Thrifty, and Alamo allow their vehicles to travel to any state.

Toll roads

Florida has quite a few toll roads and a way of paying for them that is very important for renters to be aware of. Florida’s Turnpike is the longest toll road in the state of Florida connecting I-75, northwest of Orlando, with Homestead, south of Miami. In the Orlando area, either the Beachline Expressway or the Central Florida Greenway would be of use for traveling between the airport and Disney World or the resorts near it. Yes, you will need to take a toll road to leave the airport. 

In South Florida and in addition to Florida’s Turnpike, there are also express lanes on I-95 and I-595 which are usable only with a SunPass transponder (avoid these lanes if your rental does not have one, otherwise you will be charged $25 dollar fee along with other likely fees from the car supplier). The Sawgrass Expressway is another toll road in the area and travelers might use it to connect to I-75 from north of Ft. Lauderdale.

Most of the toll roads in the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami area do not have toll booths but instead, rely on a cashless system. Payment in these cases takes place either by a SunPass transponder or toll-by-plate, a system that captures your license plate number and sends you an invoice in the mail. In some cases, your car will have a SunPass transponder. In other cases, there will be a way of using pay-by-plate through your rental contract. Either of these will also incur a fee from the car hire provider. The only alternative is if you have your own SunPass transponder and add the hired vehicle to your account. This is only possible with some car hire companies. 

Important: If hiring from Green Motion, Ace, Clubs, Easirent, Economy Rent a Car, Horsepower, Right Cars, or Routes, keep in mind that they may use a type of transponder that is neither removable nor able to be switched off. This means you will be left with the choice of accepting their toll package or avoiding toll roads altogether. If you decline their package but use a toll road you will be charged exorbitant administrative fees. You will not be able to pay for the tolls yourself with cash (which is possible in the Orlando area) as the cash lanes also have receptors for SunPass. 

There are two different types of toll packages that car hire companies offer. One is a daily fee (that may or may not be capped for the rental period) for the use of the transponder with the total for the tolls incurred billed to the renter after the car hire period concludes. The other is a daily fee that includes unlimited tolls. Unless you plan to use toll roads often, the latter of these types of toll packages will be much more expensive.

Examples of the fees for these packages for specific car hire companies are as follows (as of August 2019):

• Green Motion - $12.99 per day plus all tolls incurred
• Ace - $6 plus tolls incurred or $10.99 for unlimited tolls
• Clubs - $7.50 plus tolls incurred or $10.99 for unlimited tolls 
• Dollar - $10.49 for unlimited tolls
• Easirent - $15 for unlimited tolls 
• Horsepower - $5.95 plus tolls incurred or $15.95 for unlimited tolls 
• National - $3.95 plus tolls incurred 
• Routes - $11.99 for unlimited tolls
• Sixt - $4.45 plus tolls incurred
• Alamo - $3.95 (capped at $19.75 for the rental period) plus tolls incurred 
• Economy - $9.95 for unlimited tolls
• Right Cars- $13.95 plus tolls incurred
• Sixt - $4.45 plus tolls incurred
• Thrifty - $10.49 for unlimited tolls
• Zig Zag - $26.70 for unlimited tolls

If you plan to use the toll package of a car hire company, be sure to include that in the final cost when comparing offers.

Most popular types of hire car

The most hired car type in Florida is an economy, followed by compact and fullsize. 

Top driving routes

• Miami - Fort Lauderdale (31 mi / 50 km) The two beach cities are basically part of the same neighborhood, and you can easily travel between them in about 35 minutes.
• Orlando - Miami (244 mi / 393 km) The travel between these two cities is just around three hours, but you’ll pass near the Everglades National Park and the Lake Okeechobee on the way.
• Miami - Tampa (282 mi / 454 km) The distance between Miami and Tampa can be done in four hours, but it will be tempting to take a relaxing break in West Florida beach cities like Fort Myers and Sarasota.
• Miami to the Florida Keys (166 mi / 267 km) No trip to Florida can be complete without making the journey south to the Keys. An archipelago off the southern tip of Florida’s peninsula stretching into the straits of Florida, the Florida Keys is famous for its beaches.

Car hire prices in Florida

• SUVs - starting at US$5 per day
• Large cars - starting at US$3 per day
• Premium cars - starting at US$23 per day
• Small cars - starting at US$3 per day
• Medium cars - starting at US$3 per day
• Station wagons - starting at US$31 per day
• People Carriers - starting at US$31 per day
• Convertibles - starting at US$26 per day

How can I save money on my hire car?

You can do a number of things to get a good car hire deal in Florida:

• Compare rates of different car providers
• Book your car well in advance
• Plan your route before you go
• Know your fuel and mileage requirements
• Visit on the month when the prices are the cheapest. According to our data, visiting Florida is the cheapest in August when hiring a car is about 35% cheaper than the yearly average and 45% cheaper than hiring a car in July.