TYS // Alcoa, TN
Rental Pickup at McGhee Tyson Airport
Contactless airport pickup for TYS arrivals. No counter, no line. Exact location, directions, and lockbox code arrive with your booking confirmation.
Quick answer
Drive865 serves McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) with contactless lockbox pickup. There is no Drive865 counter in the terminal. Exact pickup location, directions, and lockbox code arrive with your booking confirmation. Most guests are driving within about 15 minutes of baggage claim.
Key facts
- Airport code
- TYS
- Pickup
- Contactless lockbox for TYS arrivals
- Location details
- Sent with your booking confirmation
- Counter wait
- None
- Baggage claim to car
- About 15 minutes for most guests
- After-hours
- Same process, any hour
How TYS pickup actually works
Drive865 is not a counter-based rental company at TYS. There's no Drive865 booth at the airport. You book online, sign the rental agreement before you travel, and pick up with a lockbox code.
Exact pickup location, directions, and the lockbox code arrive with your booking confirmation. We also send a photo of the car once it's in place, so you're not hunting. Most guests are driving within about 15 minutes of baggage claim.
The lockbox sits on the exterior of the vehicle with a 4-digit code. Inside the lockbox is the key. After you have it, unshackle the lockbox and put it in the glove compartment. You'll need it again for drop-off.
- Book and sign the rental agreement before you travel
- Use the location, directions, and lockbox code from your confirmation
- Open the lockbox on the car's exterior
- Stow the lockbox in the glove box and drive
Why contactless, not a terminal counter
TYS does have on-airport counter rentals: Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, Budget, National. They work fine. They also have lines after every flight, mandatory damage-walk inspections, hard-sell upgrades, and a credit card hold that ties up several hundred dollars for the trip. Contactless pickup skips all of that.
The other thing you get: real cars. Counter rentals at TYS are typically mid-size sedans and crossovers: fine for a business trip, wrong for the reason most people fly to Knoxville. If you're flying in to drive Tail of the Dragon or the Smokies, the car matters as much as the road. Drive865 picks the car around the trip.
Return
Return is the same process in reverse. Follow the drop-off instructions in your trip emails, photograph where you left the car, lock it, scramble the lockbox code, and head to your terminal. Refuel before drop-off (closest station is on Maryville Pike, a couple of minutes from the airport area).
Drive times to nearby destinations
| From | To | Minutes | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| TYS | Downtown Knoxville | 20 | 12 |
| TYS | Maryville, TN | 15 | 9 |
| TYS | Gatlinburg, TN | 70 | 47 |
| TYS | Cades Cove (Smokies) | 80 | 50 |
| TYS | Deals Gap (Tail of the Dragon) | 85 | 65 |
| TYS | Asheville, NC | 120 | 115 |
Good fits from this pickup
See full fleet →
Picked for this trip
2021 Toyota Supra 3.0 Premium
Fly-in halo car. Modern, fast, comfortable enough for the airport-to-Dragon drive. Most-requested pickup for TYS arrivals.
From $233/day
Picked for this trip
2020 Subaru BRZ Limited
The default flying-in-for-the-Dragon pick. Lightweight, manual, RWD. Easy to drive into city traffic, perfect once you're on the road.
From $190/day
Picked for this trip
1995 Mazda Miata Base
Top-down on the Foothills Parkway is twenty minutes after pickup. The Miata is the rental that turns the drive from the airport into part of the trip.
From $200/day
Picked for this trip
2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser Trail Teams
Flying in for the Smokies, Cades Cove, or any trip with gravel detours. Body-on-frame, 4WD with a rear locker, and comfortable on the 60-mile run from TYS to the park.
From $110/day
Picked for this trip
2021 Subaru WRX STI Limited
Manual AWD turbo. The pick when the trip pairs scenic driving with weather uncertainty: equally happy on the Dragon, the Cherohala, or a rainy Smokies day.
From $210/day
Picked for this trip
2023 Honda Odyssey Sport
Family fly-in with kids and gear. Real eight-seat capacity, a real interior, and the most comfortable airport-to-mountain car in the fleet for the school-aged crowd.
From $125/day
Frequently asked questions
Is Drive865 at the McGhee Tyson terminal?
No. There's no Drive865 counter at TYS. Pickup is contactless: exact location, directions, and lockbox code arrive with your booking confirmation. Most guests are driving within about 15 minutes of baggage claim.
What if my flight is delayed?
Not a problem. The car is ready regardless of when you arrive. There's no pickup window or counter that closes. We get a lot of red-eye and last-flight-out arrivals and they work fine.
How early can I pick up?
We stage the car ahead of your trip start time as a matter of course. You'll usually find it ready an hour or two before your scheduled pickup. If you're arriving meaningfully early, message us and we'll move the drop-off up.
Is there a credit card hold?
No upfront hold like a counter rental. You pay for the trip through normal Stripe checkout at booking time. Damage policy is in the rental agreement you sign before pickup.
Where do I return the car?
Follow the drop-off instructions in your trip emails. Photograph where you left it and message us. If you're in a hurry to catch a flight, text us and we'll confirm the closest acceptable drop.
What if I can't find the car?
Text us. We have GPS, we know exactly where it is, and we'll walk you to it. Worst-case it's a five-minute reroute. The location pin in your trip emails is also typically accurate to within a few spaces.
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