Located 5 miles south of downtown Milwaukee (Wisconsin), on Lake Michigan’s western shore, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is a relatively small airport with a single terminal serving 38 destinations.
Departure gate at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (Photo: ECP via Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Reading up about travellers experiences, it’s generally felt that it’s as cheap to rent a car at the airport at as it is in Milwaukee, so you might as well rent one on arrival. The rental car centre can be found on the lower floor next to the main entrance.
To determine which car rental companies offer the best options across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), TravelMag.com conducted research into all f the agencies at MKE airport. Our findings are as follows.
MOST AFFORDABLE: DOLLAR
According to user feedback and through our own research, Dollar has the cheapest car rentals at MKE. On the sample dates we looked at (mid-October), Dollar had the best rates with both the Chevrolet Spark and Hyundai Accent being leased out at a little over $50 per day. Dollar picks up an overall score of 7.9/10 on rentalscars.com with users complimenting the speed of drop off, conditions of their cars and probably the most important of all, value for money. If, for whatever reason, you’d prefer another agency, then we’d recommend Alamo which offers equally competitive prices across its range of cars. Open: Sunday to Friday; 7am – 8pm, Saturday; 8am – 5pm.
BEST FOR LUXURY: ALAMO
As well as being the best option in the Most Affordable category, Alamo offers a great selection of luxury rental cars at MKE with competitive rental terms. Alamo’s fleet includes premium editions of popular sedans such as the Nissan Maxima and Cadillac XTS. For those who love to cruise motorways in the open air, they also rent out the Ford Mustang Cabrio convertible. For something more family-orientated, Alamo offers the 7-seater Chevrolet Suburban. Out the five car rental companies operating at the airport, they receive the best overall score on rentalscars.com. Open: Sunday to Friday; 7am – 8pm, Saturday; 8am – 5pm.
BEST FOR MINIVANS: AVIS
With its numerous tourist attractions close to the airport, there’s no shortage of places to visit in and around Milwaukee. As is the case in most US airports, Avis is present and at MKE they rent out minivans and full size vans for families. For a large groups, they have a 12-seater Ford Transit while for smaller groups, a Chrysler Town & Country which costs about $130 per day. The Chrysler Town and Country set the tone for luxury minivans in the early 90s and continues to be a very comfortable car with leather-trimmed and heated seating plus an excellent stereo system. Small details perhaps, but on long trips those features can count for a lot. Open: Monday to Thursday; 7am – 12am, Saturday; 7am – 8pm, Sunday; 7am-10pm.