Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) is the primary commercial airport for the San Joaquin Valley and three national parks: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyo.
FAT car rental counters are conveniently located in the in-terminal Car Rental Centre located a few steps away from the baggage claim area. Rental car drop-offs can be made at the adjacent car park.
Fresno (Grant Portter via Unsplash)
To determine which rental car companies offer the best vehicles across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), TravelMag.com carefully researched prices, availability, policies and customer reviews of the 9 car rental companies operating out of FAT. Here are our findings:
Most affordable: Enterprise
Filling out the top dozen positions of the cheapest cars on popular car rental site, rentalcars.com, you’ll find vehicles supplied by Dollar. However, we’ve chosen to recommend Alamo and Enterprise in this particular category thanks to their vastly superior customer feedback. Enterprise and Alamo are essentially the same company, so it’s not surprising to see them both offering similar cars, at similar prices. Nonetheless, while Enterprise had multiple options on our researched dates, Alamo’s selection was somewhat limited. Enterprise cheapest option over the pre Christmas period was the Mitsubishi Mirage at a little over $160 per day.
Best for Luxury: Hertz
When researching the luxury category, we found Hertz to have the best selection of vehicles at FAT. Hertz’s fleet incorporates cars like the BMW X1, Lexus RX, and Volvo XC60 on their books. For the more eco-conscious drivers, they even offer a variety of popular hybrid cars and the Tesla Model Y Range as a car rental option. With a range of 330 miles, you obviously need to plot your trip carefully to ensure you don’t run out of juice in one of the national parks.
Best for Minivans: Alamo
With a slightly limited selection of minivans on offer at FAT airport, we found Alamo to have the best options. Apart from the great customer reviews it receives, Alamo includes additional drivers over 25, a free tank of fuel and unlimited mileage in its price. Prices for vehicles at FAT for a Dodge Grand Canyon kick off at just over $160 per day which curiously isn’t that much different to what you’d pay for a regular rental car. If you are a smaller group of eight or less, then you might want to check out Dollar’s options. They might not be the quickest to attend to people, but they certainly had some cheap options for mid-sized families.