Is the car rental company located in the airport or is it at an off-airport location?

This would seem like an easy decision to make. Go with the one in the airport because it will be faster, right? Not so fast ... There are other factors to consider:

• Airport Concession Fees: Companies located in the airport had to bid on those locations and have to pay a percentage, flat fee or both on every car they rent from their counters inside of the airport. That cost is; of course, passed down to the consumer and can add substantially to the cost of a rental car. The bottom-line cost of cars rented from airport locations generally are at least 20% more than cars rented from the nearby off-airport locations because of these concession fees.
   
• Speed of pick up: In most cases, it will generally be a slightly faster process from the moment your plane lands to the time that you are driving away in your car rental when you rent from a company located inside of the airport, itself. This is not necessarily the case; however, during “peak season,” when lines at the airport rental car counters can become overwhelming. In Orlando, these peak times are usually around mid February (Daytona Race Week), Easter week, the 4th of July week, Thanksgiving week and from mid December to January 1st during the Christmas holidays. Also; any weekend of the year, the car rental companies that have contracts with major international tour companies can develop huge queues for rental cars when an entire planeload arrives at the rental desk before you. These international tour company contracts tend to be with some of the major rental car companies. Most rental car companies’ off-airport locations are within a mile-and-a-half of the Orlando International Airport, so the complimentary shuttle bus service that they operate between the airport and their rental locations is a quick trip.
   
• Speed of return: In this case, the car rental companies inside of the airport get a slight nod. Not having to take a shuttle bus from a car rental company’s off-airport location to the airport definitely speeds up the process. Keep in mind; however, that all of the major airlines have curbside check-in at the Orlando International Airport and that the off-airport car rental companies drop their customers off directly in front of these curbside check-in desks. This saves some of the time lost in the shuttle transfer and is more convenient than having to drag your family’s luggage from the airport parking garage into the terminal building.