When in Tampa, you have a wide variety of options to choose from in terms of how you want to get around. The main factors to take into consideration are cost effectiveness and convenience.
From the airport, the five main options that you have are having a friend pick you up, shuttles, taxis, public transportation or a car rental.
Although having a friend pick you up would mean a free ride around, most people don’t want to burden their friends by asking them to drive all over Tampa. Next, while shuttles and public transportation are very cost effective, they are not necessarily the most convenient because they require you to wait around. On the other hand, while a taxi can be very convenient, it can also be very expensive. Therefore, the option that is most cost effective and convenient is getting a car rental in Tampa.
When it comes to car rental in Tampa, you will find that there are a wide range of choices to select from. These choices include Dollar, Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, Budget, and Enterprise. According to most sources, Thrifty, Enterprise and Dollar remain the cheapest, and are located in the same area of the airport, which is called the Red Baggage area.
While it is possible to wait until you arrive in Tampa to rent a car, if you want to make the experience as convenient as possible, just take some time prior to your trip to reserve your rental car online, and then you will be able to pick it up as soon as you arrive in Tampa.