6 Fees That Turn a $39 Florida Rental Car Day Into $79
Florida adds $2 to every rental car bill before a renter even reaches the counter.
State law requires it.
That flat fee is just the first of several charges stacked onto a Florida rental, and each one shows up separately on the invoice.
These are the fees that turn a $39 Florida rental car day into a far more expensive one.
Note: This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Rental fees and surcharges are subject to change.
1. Covering the Concession Fee
Every major rental company at Orlando International passes along an Airport Concession Recovery Fee, and it’s one of the largest single charges on the bill.
The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority doesn’t publish one flat percentage for this fee, but a nationwide breakdown of rental car fees put a comparable charge at just over 11% of the rental cost.
On a $39 economy car, that works out to roughly $4.29 added before anything else touches the bill.
It isn’t padding.
Rental companies owe the airport authority a cut of every dollar they earn from a counter on airport property, and this line is how they recover it from the driver instead of eating it themselves.
2. Paying Florida’s Rental Surcharge
Florida adds a flat $2 a day to short-term rentals of any vehicle built to carry fewer than nine passengers.
The law is Florida Statute 212.0606, and it applies for the first 30 days of a rental.
Two dollars sounds small.
But this charge lands on every rental in the state, airport counters included, and it’s the one fee on this list with no exceptions carved out for a traditional car rental company.
3. Funding the Airport’s Facility Charge
Orlando International’s Customer Facility Charge jumped from $6 to $9 a day in November 2024, a 50% increase approved by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.
The fee caps at seven days, so a week-long trip tops out at $63.
That ties Los Angeles International for the highest facility fee of any U.S. airport, and the money funds a $2.2 billion consolidated rental car center the airport plans to open by 2032.
4. Covering the Vehicle License Fee
Rental companies also add a Vehicle License Recovery Fee, and it’s separate from the state’s own $2 surcharge above.
This one covers what a company pays Florida to title and register every car in its fleet. The same CBS News breakdown puts it at $2 to $5 a day.
This article’s running total below uses $3, about the middle of that range.
It shows up every time.
Stacked against the concession fee, the state surcharge, and the airport’s facility charge, it’s another charge that has nothing to do with mileage or damage waivers.
Florida Taxes the Fees, Not Just the Rate
Florida’s 6.5% combined state and Orange County sales tax doesn’t stop at the $39 base rate on a Florida rental.
Florida Statute 212.0606 confirms the state surcharge itself is taxed the same way, and Florida rental companies generally treat the concession fee, the facility charge, and the vehicle license fee as part of that same taxable total too.
Add up the first four fees on a $39 car, and you’re already at $57.29 before tax.
Tax on that full amount adds another $3.72, pushing the fees nobody can opt out of to $61.01.
5. Adding a Toll Convenience Fee
Rental companies at MCO also sell a toll transponder that can add up to $4.95 a day, whether the car ever crosses a toll road or not.
Skip it.
Florida hands out a free Visitor Toll Pass at MCO terminals with no daily charge attached, so a renter only pays for the tolls driven.
6. Choosing the Fuel Service Option
Rental companies price a full tank at pickup, and Enterprise’s own policy admits its rate for fuel missing at return runs above the local pump price.
Florida’s statewide average sat near $3.87 a gallon in mid-August, according to AAA.
Come back three gallons short after a day of local errands, and that penalty alone can add more than $10.
That’s optional.
Fill the tank yourself before returning the car.
It’s the one fee on the list that costs nothing at all.
Add it to the toll fee, the state surcharge, the facility charge, the concession fee, and the vehicle license fee, and a $39 Florida rental car day lands close to $79 once tax touches every layer.
Psst! See exactly how a Florida airport rental bill adds up, fee by fee. Sort the table or search for the fee you’re paying.
The Off-Airport Math
Orlando International’s Concession Recovery Fee and Customer Facility Charge both exist because the rental counter sits on airport-leased property.
Move the pickup a few miles away, to a neighborhood branch instead of the terminal, and those two charges typically drop off the bill entirely.
That’s more than $14 a day back in a renter’s pocket.
On the $39 example above, skipping the concession fee and facility charge, plus their share of the tax, is what makes that difference, though it usually means a rideshare or shuttle to get there first.
Florida’s $2 state surcharge and the vehicle license fee still follow the car wherever it’s picked up.
Enterprise and other major brands run neighborhood branches away from the terminal too, including locations along Kirkman Road and South Orange Blossom Trail.
On a five-day rental, skipping the concession fee and facility charge adds up to about $70 back, often enough to cover a rideshare there and back too.
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