Roadboy's Rules for Traveling Well for Less - Rental Cars

Roadboy's Travel Tips: Part 2: Destination Transportation

After two plus decades I figure it is time to update my "Traveling Well" posts from 2010.

As I've always written I believe travel should be something to remember, never a chore. So I plan trips to experience places for business and unique places for fun. Whether for business or pleasure I just like to travel in comfort and pay fair prices. 

 

My original three posts covered the techniques I use to select and secure great prices for Airlines, Rental Cars, and Hotels. Of course after all the years the core facets of my travel have evolved past just airlines, hotels and rental cars.

 

In 2022 I simply don't need to rent cars as much as I did in 2010. Nowadays I find driving in many places simply induces stress. 

 

Roads are much more crowded and pricey privatized toll roads have bloomed. In many cities it is as hard to find a place to park as it is to drive. Now even many basic service hotels charge for overnight parking. I mean really, when exurban freeway hotels like the Doubletree Hotel near the Airport in Grand Junction Colorado (with no urban life to be found around it whatsoever) starts charging to park a car overnight, well things have gotten pretty nuts. Add the rapidly expanding trend toward costly "congestion" tolls in places like Singapore and London and the true cost of that rental car explodes.

So I've changed this post from a focus on "Rental Cars" to "Destination Transportation".


Destination Transportation

1. Mass Transportation

Twenty years ago travel options were pretty cut and dried. I'd fly to a destination for business or leisure and upon arrival rent a car. Few airports (especially in the United States) offered any multi-modal transportation options.

 

Now for many of my destinations I opt for public transportation / urban rail. The game changers are apps like Rome2Rio and Google / AppleMaps. With these tools I am able to determine if I really even need a rental car at all. 

 

To put it into perspective, I've sold all the rental car stock that used to be in my retirement portfolio. I think the car rental industry got fat and sloppy and now must rethink itself from the ground up.

 

I now plan to land and catch comfortable commuter trains at airports wherever I can. And there are lots of places to do that now:

• Amsterdam, 

• Athens, 

• Chicago (O'Hare and Midway), 

• Dallas, 

• Denver, 

• Lisbon, 

• London, 

• Madrid, 

• Newark, 

• Phoenix (Note: the light rail stop serving to Phoenix airport IS NOT a safe place to be in the evening)

• Portland, 

• Salt Lake City, 

• San Francisco,

• Seattle, 

• Singapore,

• Washington DC National 

 

And very soon (now!) Washington Dulles (and even LAX) will finally join the list of airports with rail links.

 

In cities where I can ride light rail I supplement travel needs with Uber or Lyft rideshares. No rush to refill the car at the airport or time spent checking in a car. 

Notable exceptions to any practical local rail options are Las Vegas and (mind blowingly) Manhattan. Neither offers convenient rail connectors anywhere, just taxi's and car rentals. 

 

But that is just another reason Roadboy avoids Las Vegas. 

 

Even some major global destinations stand out in the "shame" column. Barcelona's beautiful El Prat airport is an island with no convenient rail transport. But for now there is a decent local bus that makes a zillion stops or a pricier express shuttle to Plaza Catalunya). 

 

Another disaster is Paris CDG. In Paris I stick to the express bus service to / from the Paris Opera. The nearby train is creepily unsafe. 

 

Yet in both cities I'd still never consider renting a car, because once you arrive in the urban core of either city Metro service is superb.

So I save my car rental activity to places where no other option exists. You have to rent a car on Crete, or in Costa Rica, or even in Myrtle Beach. 

 

So here are my tips.

 

 

Car Renting Tips

 

1. Size: In rental car world size is relative. While I consider a full sized car something at least as big as a Camry or an Accord, rental car company might say a smaller car is "full size". So read the category list of each company carefully.

 

2. Check for road worthiness:

Currently car rental companies are painfully short of cars now, so much of what they are currently renting has more miles and is sometimes not as roadworthy as would have been expected in years past. Be sure to examine tire tread and don't leave if the "Check / Service Engine / Tire Pressure" light is on.  

 

3. Check for damage: 

Lately some rental car outlets (particularly smaller franchise locations on one-way rentals) have started nitpicking small windshield stars and scratches in places you can't see (like under door panels and on the roof of vans, etc.) All stuff the car probably had at check out. So before I leave an airport I use my phone to video record conditions. If any damage is bigger than a quarter tell the attendant at the booth to note it on the contract.

 

4. Get the best deal

In most cases I am no longer willing to prepay for any non-refundable rentals. So I rarely use my old friends Hotwire or Priceline. Life happens and a sudden illness or family emergency can cause you to need to quickly change even your most solid travel plans. 

 

I start looking for rentals at websites that show all the prices (CarRentals.com for example). Then I go to Costco Travel or AAA, and compare their prices. Costco prices are frequently great.

 

For distant future travel, I make rental reservations as far in advance as possible and then check back periodically to see if prices have dropped. In the case of a trip to Greece the prices tripled from the time I reserved until the time we arrived. On another trip rental rates plunged a few days before my trip. So I just cancelled and rebooked.   

 

5. Don't buy costly upsells

Rental car companies cream novice travelers. I see it all the time. I'll be at the counter reciting my string of "No's" and next to me is a young couple buying everything offered without a clue that their weekly rate just quadrupled.

 

Remember, the reason they make you stand in endless lines at airports is to sell you stuff. That is why business travelers all try to avoid counters by using express services. 

 

In most cases the only upgrde you might need is a toll tag. You won;t likely benefit from the prepaid gas option. Expect the "our gas price is cheaper than local gas stations" pitch. What they don't say is you probably won't use the whole tank, but they charge you for one. 

 

If you have AAA you don't need road service either.

 

But the biggest rip-off is insurance.  Before you go somewhere check with your car insurance agent. You will probably find out that you are fully covered for rentals. However, if you are traveling for business some personal insurances may not cover you, so talk that out with your insurance agent and employer. 

 

Also check what coverage your credit card delivers. And remember if you take any coverage from the rental car company at all you're credit card coverage usually evaporates. 

 

Personally, I buy annual travel insurance plans for myself and all my staff. The one we buy (Allianz AllTrips) and it includes rental car insurance.

 

Now lets talk about the rental car companies. Surprise, after years of consolidation, you now pretty much rent from just one of three mega companies.       

 

• Enterprise Group

Enterprise / Alamo / National 

At Enterprise it used to take forever to rent a car. First you met and become best friends with a smiley young rental agent that looked like they were in some religious cult. Then you'd fill out endless paperwork and endure the up-sell. Then they'd take out a clipboard walk around the car with you. All of it a huge waste of time.

To their credit when I'd return Enterprise cars and they asked how their "service" was, I was honest. I told them I felt they wasted 15-20 minutes of my valuable trip time. And frequently they offered 10-15% off my rental. 

 

Alamo is not a favorite of mine. Alamo cars were frequently dirty and service is slow. 

 

National used to be my favorite company using the Emerald Aisle. You'd just go pick the car you wanted and drive out. But their prices steadily increased to absurd levels and we quit using them. 

• Avis Group

Avis / Budget / Payless / Zipcar

Avis is a big legacy rental car company. It has lots of shuttles but is typically pricier than their offspring:

Budget and Payless. If you don't have an express service with Avis avoid them, their counter lines are legendary.

 

Budget offers a Fast Break program which, when it works, is good. Pricing is typically a little above Thrifty, but well below Avis. But at many airports Budget and Payless shuttles just never come....

• Hertz Group

Dollar / Thrifty / Firefly

Hertz is the other big legacy company. Hertz cars were always nicer. They offered frequent shuttles and astronomical prices. Hertz was where business travelers on expense accounts rented cars. But, since bankruptcy, the Hertz arrogance toward leisure travelers that aren't carrying leather briefcases has dropped.

Dollar and Thrifty frequently offer great rates and express services but they also feature epic wait times for airport shuttles.

 

The others:

 

• Silvercar (now Audi on Demand or some such thing)

A few years back I felt this wonderful app based rental car company was the future of the car rental industry. Then Audi bought it and methodically and systematically destroyed it. Rhetorical question: If they handle rental car companies like this......Anyway, in most markets Silvercar is no longer a viable option for travelers.

 

• SIXT:

A European company that rents some very lovely cars. But service is really uneven. One of my worst car rental customer experiences ever was from SIXT counter agents in San Jose California. As soon as the counter agents saw my Arizona drivers license they proceeded to lecture me (I am not making this up) about how the stupid the politics are in my state.

 

First of all, I have to live everyday with Arizona's stupid politics, I don't need anyone to assume I support it. But, more importantly, I was offended by the lecture and suggested they focus on just renting me the damned car. 

 

Funny, that was my last SIXT rental.

 

• Advantage, Fox,  etc.

Normally I'd say life is too short for these companies. Lines are long. And, they frequently don't have the car promised upon arrival.  Plus they frequently have dirty and infrequent shuttles. But to be fair Fox really came through on one occasion in Seattle (and I gave them credit in my blog). So if cash is tight and you have time to wait, well maybe they are worth it.

 

 

So what about Turo?

If you don't know about Turo, check it out. 

 

Turo is the AirBNB of car rentals. It is app based and you rent a car from a host not a company. I've used it in 4-5 destinations so far. In all but one case I rented from only top rated hosts. But in all cases the hosts were great, the cars were clean, the rates were fair and, delivery was fast (in two cases I just picked up the car from an airport parking lot using code and a key locker). 

 

No line, just go to the car, document the condition in the app and drive off. 

BUT remember. The big thing with Turo can be pricey delivery charges. They also charge for mileage etc. 

 

So do the math to see if Turo is a good deal for you or not. Also check with your insurance to make sure you are covered.

That's how Roadboy does it. 

Roadboy's Travels © 2010 2022