Best rental car at TYS

Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, Budget, and National all operate at TYS. They're the right choice for business travelers on corporate accounts, renters who value loyalty points and status, anyone arriving at TYS who wants the simplest possible process, and any trip where a crossover or standard sedan is the right vehicle.

The combined inventory of the five chains at TYS is effectively unlimited for standard vehicle classes. If you need a midsize sedan, an SUV, or a minivan for your dates, one of the five will have it. That breadth of availability is something Drive865 can't match with 12 vehicles.

The cost of that availability: a 20–45 minute counter wait after most flights, counter overhead built into the rate, and a hard-sell sequence at the counter. All manageable, just plan for it.

Drive865 is the right choice when the car is part of the trip. If you're flying to Knoxville specifically to drive Tail of the Dragon, the Cherohala Skyway, or the Foothills Parkway, the vehicle you're in matters. Enterprise doesn't have a BRZ. Hertz doesn't have a Supra. Avis doesn't have a Miata. Drive865 does.

It's also the right choice for renters who hate the counter experience. No counter, no wait, no upsell. You land, follow the directions in your booking confirmation, enter the lockbox code, and drive. If you've already signed the rental agreement and you know the process, most guests are driving within about 15 minutes of baggage claim.

For drivers under 25, Drive865's young-driver fee is disclosed upfront at booking, with no counter overhead stacked on top the way there is at the chains.

Turo hosts operate in the Knoxville area and some list TYS as a delivery location. Turo's value is variety: the marketplace aggregates hundreds of privately owned vehicles across every class, including exotics that neither Drive865 nor any chain carries. If you want a Porsche, a Corvette, or a fully wrapped truck for a weekend, Turo is where you find it.

The tradeoffs with Turo: pickup logistics vary by host (some deliver to the airport, some require a rideshare to their lot), platform fees increase the listed rate by 15–25%, and the experience depends entirely on the individual host. It works well when you find a reliable host with a specific vehicle you want. It's inconsistent enough that we'd hesitate to recommend it as a default for business travel or first-time renters.

Drive865 is itself listed on Turo, so if you book our cars through Turo, you're booking the same vehicles at a higher platform-fee price. Direct booking is usually the better deal.

Business trip to Knoxville, standard sedan or SUV needed, want loyalty points: on-airport chain (Enterprise or National).

Flying in to drive the Dragon, the Cherohala, or the Smokies, want a sports car or enthusiast vehicle, fine with contactless pickup: Drive865.

Specific exotic or unusual vehicle, flexible on pickup logistics, comfortable with peer-to-peer rental variability: Turo.

In a hurry or first-time renter who wants the simplest process: on-airport counter.