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Simon · Jun 1, 2009, 03:27 AM

I'm planning a trip from San Francisco to San Antonio by car this fall. I'm flying out of SAT so I need to get rid of the car there. I checked Expedia for offers and although they had a few not so expensive ones a month or so ago, they're now all pretty expensive. Especially the >$750 drop fee seems way too high. It's just for the two of us so a small car's fine.

Any suggestions on how to find inexpensive rental cars?

Shaddim · Jun 1, 2009, 05:48 AM

Try Travelocity.

Simon · Jun 1, 2009, 07:19 AM

Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately they offered almost the exact same prices as Expedia. Including the $750 drop off charge.

Oisín · Jun 1, 2009, 08:13 AM

Is $750 really that much for a OWF from CA to TX? Seems quite reasonable to me, offhand …

residentEvil · Jun 1, 2009, 10:35 AM

look for dealerships/private dealers who need to get a car from your starting point to ending point. i know people who have done this after they retired...you get PAID to do it. some much per mile. gas will be paid as well. you will have to pay for hotel/meals if you are doing in multiple days though.

they have done everything from cars/truck to RVs.

mduell · Jun 1, 2009, 11:31 AM

How long are you going to spend driving SFO-SAT?

Laminar · Jun 1, 2009, 02:05 PM

Boy, the Lounge really is a terrible place, isn't it.

SSharon · Jun 2, 2009, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

look for dealerships/private dealers who need to get a car from your starting point to ending point. i know people who have done this after they retired...you get PAID to do it. some much per mile. gas will be paid as well. you will have to pay for hotel/meals if you are doing in multiple days though.

they have done everything from cars/truck to RVs.

I have a friend that just yesterday told me she is driving a car from NY to the midwest and is being paid not only for gas/tolls, but also for lodging. Definitely worth a shot looking into this.

Simon · Jun 2, 2009, 08:23 AM

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look into that.

residentEvil · Jun 2, 2009, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

I have a friend that just yesterday told me she is driving a car from NY to the midwest and is being paid not only for gas/tolls, but also for lodging. Definitely worth a shot looking into this.

paying for lodging now? very cool. my friends didn't get that option

residentEvil · Jun 2, 2009, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by Simon

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look into that.

also look for people who are moving; because many rent a truck to move they may not be comfortable towing a car...so they look for people to drive it for them.

andi*pandi · Jun 2, 2009, 01:43 PM

see if the rental agencies have drop offs outside the airport then you can avoid the fee? Am I reading right $750 fee?!!!?

SpaceMonkey · Jun 2, 2009, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

see if the rental agencies have drop offs outside the airport then you can avoid the fee? Am I reading right $750 fee?!!!?

The company needs to pay someone to transport it back to the original location.

andi*pandi · Jun 2, 2009, 03:16 PM

I kind of thought rental companies did business by someone else renting their car and driving it someplace else. Huh.

Simon · Jun 2, 2009, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

Am I reading right $750 fee?!!!?

Yeah, that's it.

If a real employee actually drives the care all the way back to the Bay Area, needs to stay at a motel for one night, needs about $100 worth of gas and a $120 flight back I can understand the fee. Of course what I'm really expecting them to do is get some poor schmuck to do it for $3 an hour, sleep in the car, drop off a couple of bags of coke on the way, and hitchhike back.

I'm just surprised they don't work these things out by having other renters drive the car towards its origin. Traveling salesman problem, anyone?

andi*pandi · Jun 2, 2009, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Simon

I'm just surprised they don't work these things out by having other renters drive the car towards its origin. Traveling salesman problem, anyone?

This is what I thought as well. I am confused. Pretty certain I've rented cars one-way before without such a horrendous fee. Which companies are you searching? Hertz etc?

SpaceMonkey · Jun 2, 2009, 03:46 PM

There may be certain one-way trips that are common enough that the rental car company can better predict whether a certain number of people are likely to travel one way or the other, and thus alleviate the need for a one-way fee, but when you consider that they also need to depend on having various model types available in all locations, I imagine that the logistics of depending on having other renters drive the car toward its origin would be a nightmare. I'm not sure how rental cars are titled, either, so there may even be an insurance issue in re-renting an out-of-state car in a different location.

Oisín · Jun 2, 2009, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

There may be certain one-way trips that are common enough that the rental car company can better predict whether a certain number of people are likely to travel one way or the other, and thus alleviate the need for a one-way fee, but when you consider that they also need to depend on having various model types available in all locations, I imagine that the logistics of depending on having other renters drive the car toward its origin would be a nightmare. I'm not sure how rental cars are titled, either, so there may even be an insurance issue in re-renting an out-of-state car in a different location.

In Europe at least, both these points are the main reasons OWFs exist. It’s illegal in most countries to rent out a car not registered in that country, and the rental companies can’t rely on someone else just happening to come in and needing a car for a trip the other way fast enough to get the car back to where it belongs in the time frame required.

Had it been, say, SFO to LAX, I’m sure the OWF would have been very low, if there’d even been one: the rental companies must get at least one customer per day wanting to go from LAX to SFO as well. From Austin to SFO, though? That’s rather a long trip, and not necessarily one they’ll see that often. And they can’t just take it there ‘in steps’ (such as Austin – El Paso – Phoenix – Las Vegas – San Francisco, for example), ’cause that would just add to the uncertainty, requiring four separate rentings to go a certain way. It would take too long.

Of course, it also depends on whether or not SFO or Austin is a key city to the rental company. Often, if you drop off a car in a key city, they’ll have it taken to a central depot in that city, from where a truck will just take all the cars going in a certain direction and drop them off one by one—that’s cheaper than having individual drivers driving each car all the way, and therefore, OWFs are lower for key cities.

Laminar · Jun 2, 2009, 04:14 PM

Speaking of car rentals, does this wording sound awkward to anyone else?

Oisín · Jun 2, 2009, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by Laminar

Speaking of car rentals, does this wording sound awkward to anyone else?

Yes.

Simon · Jun 2, 2009, 04:28 PM

Actually, I was first supposed to fly out of Austin. It turns out several rental car companies wouldn't even do SFO-AUS one way. When I rescheduled my stay in TX I decided to fly out of San Antonio. Those same companies then offered one way rentals, but with drop off fees in excess of $750. Just out of curiosity I also checked Dallas and Houston. In both cases the fees weren't any lower so obviously San Antonio isn't the problem. I guess it's just the distance.

RAILhead · Jun 2, 2009, 04:51 PM

andi*pandi · Jun 2, 2009, 05:41 PM

how long are you taking to get to san antonio?

kayak.com shows no fee for orbitz:

Kayak.com Search Results

lexapro · Jun 2, 2009, 11:11 PM

Autodriveaway - Frequently Asked Questions

and

Drive Away Across the U.S.A. - GoNOMAD Mini Guide

i have zero experience with both.

Simon · 03:30 AM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

kayak.com shows no fee for orbitz:

Thanks for that link. Kayak.com seems to show the same prices as everybody else in the US. But... When I go through one of their European sites they show way lower prices. While Expedia and Kayak.com both listed Hertz for $2300 Kayak Germany claims "Auto Europe" (never heard of them before) offers the same type of car for $800.

I know some companies also don't list the drop off fee as such. They just include it in the base price.

paul w · Jun 3, 2009, 11:13 AM

I've been reserving cars on avis.fr for ages - the rate is always lower. This worked up to a point - until one time the person called bullsh*t and would let me have that rate (apparently they were aware of it being abused by local)s. From now on my wife rents in her name, shows up with her French passport and license and all's good.

So if you can't back your foreign tourist story up, beware.