Car Rental - NYC help me figure out logistics

Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:23 AM
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Car Rental - NYC help me figure out logistics

I'm thinking about going to visit a friend in Bridgeport CT at the end of March. I am thinking we might fly into NYC late on a Thursday night and spend the night and the next day in the city. Then rent a car and drive to Bridgeport and spend the weekend with them and then return the car to the airport when we fly out Monday.

I know it's probably cheaper to rent a car at the airport, and I'm willing to drive in the city, but I don't know about parking a car overnight. Anyone have any thoughts about the best way to do this?

Note: I will have to have a car with me in Bridgeport.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:28 AM
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"I know it's probably cheaper to rent a car at the airport"

Actually it's cheaper NOT to rent at the airport. Renting at an intown location saves on additional airport fees.

Just make a reservation with a pick-up at a different location. I stayed at the Hilton on 6th a lot and would pick up a Hertz car at the garage across the street. Drop off at airport. Easy peasy.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:35 AM
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It might not be cheaper to rent a car at the airport. My understanding is that the San Francisco Airport rental agencies add a stiff fee to rentals, a fee that is not imposed on city rentals. NY airports may have a similar fee.

In addition you will have to pay for parking in the city, unless you are staying in the outer boroughs. I recommend that you find a rental agency on the west side and take the west side highway up to the Sawmill River Parkway to the Cross-county Expressway to get out of the Manhattan.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:43 AM
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or you could take the train.

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:51 AM
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Thanks to everyone who answered. I never thought about the fact that it might be cheaper in the city as I know cars from the city are expensive, but you all may be right that it will still be less than airport cars with airport fees.

J62, I have to have a car. Yes, I know there's a train from NYC proper to Bridgeport, but I will need a car while there, and it's a whole lot easier to drive directly back to the airport rather than taking the train then transferring to a cab especially with a 3 year old and a car seat.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:56 AM
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It is NEVER cheaper to rent at an airport. Have you not done this before? Every airport rental has a surcharge.

Your best bet is to rent in the city when you need to go to Bridgeport and not before. Dropping at the airport shouldn't get you hit with the airport rental surcharge.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:56 AM
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Actually, in NYC it's almost always cheaper to rent at the airport.

Unless you are renting during the off-season DURING THE WEEK ONLY the airport is usually cheaper. Weekend rentals in the city are phenomenally expensive (over $100 a day sometimes), but weekday rentals can be much cheaper, as can Enterprise, which usually runs out of cars every weekend. You have to price everything out to see which works best for you because season really varies, and late March is still not going-to-the-country season, so you may get good results from either the airport or an in-city rental.

You pay about $25 to $40 per night to park a car in the city.

If it were me, I'd take the commuter train Metro North to Stamford and rent a car there. It will be a lot cheaper than renting in NYC (and probably cheaper than renting at the airport), you won't have to go back to the airport to pick up a car, and you won't have to deal with having it in the city, paying both rental and parking charges. You can also rent at New Haven and drive back to Bridgeport, but I don't think the rates will be any cheaper there, and the car-rental office in the train station there is unpleasant and busy.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 07:59 AM
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I didn't think of this initially, but if you do want to drive the car back to the airport, then renting at Stamford may not work after all. There may be a big drop-off charge because you are crossing state lines. Price everything out to see what works best.

But if you want to take the train back to 125th Street from Stamford and then jump on the M60 bus to LGA, renting in Stamford still makes sense.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 08:03 AM
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"especially with a 3 year old and a car seat."
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 08:45 AM
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I rent cars in Manhattan all the time and it is one of the few places where the weekend rates are higher than the weekday rates. You will shocked at the cost.

I would consider one of Doug's alternatives.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 08:46 AM
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There is no need to par in the city. Just don't rent the car until the day you are leaving to go to CT - and be sure when renting to price with an airport drop off. For many agencies this is no ore expensive but some do charge extra for this.

I would rent from the largest office you can to ensure you get the level of car you need and also a car seat (assuming you are not bringing your own) since they do sometimes run out.

Best offices - since you will have to cab to the agency with your luggage are near either the FDR or the west side highway - since then it's a straight shot out of the city on the parkway and least time on city streets.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 10:40 AM
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Doug's suggestion of taking Metro North out of the city and renting in CT makes lots of sense. Look at Stamford, Fairfield as well as Bridgeport.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 12:22 PM
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I will have a car seat with me. We've traveled a lot and I think it's too much to take a cab to grand central then train to CT then rent a car. Much easier to have a car either straight from the airport or renting it close to our hotel.

Now where is that list of the few hotels that provide free parking???

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions, I knew it was going to be complicated and all the suggestions have proven that.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 01:51 PM
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Don't know if this would be convenient.. but there is a Courtyard by Marriott on East 92nd street near York Avenue. York ave leads right into the FDR at 96th St. In the same block as the hotel.. but two blocks down on 90th street there are both Avis and Hertz rental places. Again, easy access to FDR.
East 92nd St is out of the way… but there are two buses that start their runs at 91st and York.
The 86th St. crosstown runs over to West End Avenue. The M31 runs down York to 57th Street and then West to 11th Avenue. Also, if you want to go Downtown cabs usually take the FDR.. which makes for a fast trip.
The hotel gets good reviews on Trip Advisor. ( I've never stayed there because I live in the neighborhood.)
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 03:44 PM
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"Now where is that list of the few hotels that provide free parking??? "

The one often recommended on the board has been the Travel Inn, but the parking is no longer free. $20 now

http://www.thetravelinnhotel.com/
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 04:03 PM
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Remember the old adage - 'jumping over dollars to save dimes" and remember that time is money too. Traveling with a toddler and baggage will be difficult enough.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 06:40 PM
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There's no list. There's no hotel in Manhattan that offers free parking.

I get why you might want to rent the car in the city, so just find a car rental office near your hotel. They are all over the city. I don't necessarily agree with you, even though you have explained your reasoning, but I get it.

I still can't recommend you rent at the airport because that's really silly and just costs you hundreds of dollars for no purpose. It will be the most expensive airport transfer in the entire universe. But renting in the city can be done. Book as far in advance as possible .. as in just the moment you settle on a hotel or even now.
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Old Mar 4th, 2015, 06:54 PM
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I've done a rough estimate of costs and it's cheaper to rent a car in the city and drop it off back at the airport including a taxi from the airport. It's the extra day that makes the difference.
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Old Mar 5th, 2015, 05:06 AM
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So do that. Look for a garage near your hotel (within 2 or 3 blocks is fine, but realize that avenues counts as 2 or 3 blocks themselves). Icon parking operates the largest number of garages in the city; Imperial (ipark.com) is often cheaper. Hotels offer some of the highest parking rates in town, so definitely book the parking yourself to save (all but the largest hotels put your car in a nearby garage anyway rather than their own). Times Square has the city's highest parking rates, but you can save by booking something ahead, and there are coupons available.
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Old Mar 5th, 2015, 02:21 PM
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I have hit the triangle on the posting above. Not only is it a commercial posting, it doesn't make sense.
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