Renting a car in Miami

Miami is one of the easiest US cities to rent a car in — most major companies share a single facility beside the airport — and one of the easiest to overpay in, largely because of how tolls are billed to rental cars. This guide covers the things that are specific to renting here.

Picking up at the airport

Most airport rentals are collected from the MIA Rental Car Center, a consolidated facility next to the airport at 3900 NW 25th Street, reached by the free MIA Mover people-mover from the terminal.^[1][2] See our Miami International Airport rental guide for the practical detail.

Tolls: the cost that surprises visitors

Many South Florida expressways are cashless. If a car passes a toll point without a SunPass or another Florida-compatible transponder, the system photographs the plate and, under the state's TOLL-BY-PLATE programme, mails an invoice to the registered owner for tolls over a 30-day period, plus a $2.50 administrative fee.^[3] With a rental car, the registered owner is normally the rental company — which is why rental companies route tolls through their own programmes and bill them to the renter.

Those programmes can cost far more than the tolls themselves. Hertz, for example, says that if its PlatePass service is used to pay a toll, you are charged at the tolling authority's highest undiscounted rate plus a convenience fee set out on your rental record.^[4] Florida's Turnpike notes that SunPass users pay the lowest toll rates, saving an average of 25% compared with TOLL-BY-PLATE.^[3]

State surcharges

Florida imposes a rental car surcharge of $2 per day, or part of a day, on vehicles designed to carry nine passengers or fewer, as listed in Hertz's schedule of US fees; its schedule also lists a Florida tyre and battery fee.^[4] Airport concession recovery fees and facility charges are added on top at airport locations. These appear as separate lines, so compare quotes on the total, not the base rate.

Licences and ID

Sixt's US terms flag a Florida-specific rule: certain out-of-state US licences marked "DO – Not for Federal Identification" or "Driving Privilege Only – Not Valid for Identification" are not recognised by Florida for driving on public roads, and Sixt will not accept them.^[5] Visitors from abroad should carry their passport as a second form of ID, and an International Driving Permit if their licence is not printed in the Roman alphabet.^[5]

Who rents here

Both rental companies we profile operate in Florida, and Hola Car Rentals, one of the brokers we compare, lists its headquarters in Miami. Read our Sixt vs Hertz comparison for the US age, card and deposit rules that apply here, and our DiscoverCars vs Hola Car Rentals comparison if you are booking through a broker.