Out-of-towners who call Miami home will find getting there for Christmas this year an extra strain on the wallet. According to a new survey compiled by CheapCarRental.net, renting a car in Florida’s southern tip over the Christmas period will cost visitors close to quadruple what they are used to paying.

On an average day, a typical budget car rental in Miami costs a daily rate of $30. Come the week of Christmas, however, that rate will be rising to $111 per day. Such a price hike represents a 268% increase over the everyday rate, positioning Miami as the highest-percentage rate-spiker of the 30 cities surveyed.

Miami isn’t alone in its Christmas car-rental gouging though. Other cities instituting significant price-increases include Los Angeles (+91%), Chicago (+95%), Honolulu (+194%) and Orlando (+218%).

Not all cities, however, are playing Scrooge with heavy price increases. Many have initiated only moderate rate-hikes. New Orleans (+25%) and Atlanta (+18%), for instance, aren’t using the Christmas holiday as an excuse to jack their car-rental costs sky high. And for some lucky home-for-the-holidays visitors to certain cities like Washington, D.C. (–6%) and Dallas (–16%), renting a car for Christmas will actually be less expensive than usual.

The following table shows the ten cities with the most costly car rental rates for the 2011 Christmas period. The percentage increase, based on a comparison with regular rates, is shown next to each city making the cut. The prices illustrated reflect average rates for the cheapest available car during the period spanning December 23 through December 28, 2011.

1. Honolulu: $147 (+194%)
2. Miami $111 (+268%)
3. New York: $99 (+70%)
4. Boston: $70 (+135%)
5. New Orleans: $69 (+25%)
6. Jacksonville: $68 (+118%)
7. Philadelphia: $57 (+90%)
8. Orlando: $51 (+218%)
9. San Diego: $50 (+85%)
10. Las Vegas: $49 (+63%)

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