Drive865 vs Enterprise at TYS

Enterprise rents cars at scale. Their value is reliability, availability, and a standardized process that works the same way at any airport in the world. You know what you're getting. For a business trip to Knoxville where you need wheels from the airport to a client site and back, Enterprise is completely correct.

Drive865 rents specific cars for specific trips. The fleet is small and curated — every vehicle was chosen because it fits East Tennessee roads particularly well. If you're flying to Knoxville to drive Tail of the Dragon, the Cherohala Skyway, or Cades Cove, the car matters as much as the road. Enterprise doesn't have the right car for that trip. Drive865 does.

On-airport rental companies at TYS pay the airport a concession fee — roughly 10–15% of revenue — which is built into every customer's rate. This is standard practice at all major airports. The customer doesn't see it as a line item; it's just baked into the daily rate.

Drive865 is off-airport and doesn't pay the TYS concession fee. That savings passes through to the daily rate. On a three-day rental, the difference is usually $30–60 in the customer's favor booking with Drive865, all else being equal. On a five-day rental, it's often over $100.

Use Enterprise when: you need a car in the next two hours and Drive865 is booked. You're traveling on a corporate account with a billing code. You're a frequent renter who values Enterprise Plus status. You need a specific vehicle class (large pickup truck, premium SUV, specific model type) that Drive865 doesn't carry. You want a physical counter as a safety net if anything is wrong.

Enterprise's counter experience is also genuinely better for renters who have never done off-airport pickup before. First-time renter who's never used a lockbox, flying in alone at 11pm, slightly uncertain about the whole thing? Enterprise's process is simpler to explain to someone who's never done it.

Enterprise: exit the plane, walk to the terminal rental counters, wait in line (varies from 5 to 45 minutes depending on flight volume), show license and credit card, decline or accept five upsell offers, receive a stall number, walk to the rental garage, inspect the car, drive.

Drive865: exit the plane, take the Economy Lot shuttle from baggage claim (far right curb) to Stop C-1A, walk to Section Orange 1, enter the four-digit lockbox code, take the key, put the lockbox in the glove box, drive. Pre-flight, you've already signed the rental agreement online. The 5–15 minute process is the whole thing.