jaguar7777777

Hi, I posted a similar question for a previous holiday some time ago and was wondering if anyone has an update. We'll be flying from the UK in the Spring of 2013 to Austin, Texas. We're renting a car for 14 days and will be ending up in Little Rock AR. Is a rental car drop-off fee inevitable? We'll want an SUV, so any suggestions as to where to get the best rates would be helpful.

Thanks!

BigRuss

Have you not checked with the various rental agencies? They do quotes online.

Hertz/Avis/Budget/Enterprise/National, etc.

tomfuller

I doubt that you have a direct flight from UK to Austin.
Where does your flight to Austin originate?
Could you fly to DFW and rent from there to go to Austin?
When you return the car to Dallas, take Amtrak train #22 to Little Rock. The drawback is that the train arrives in Little Rock at 11:31PM. The train leaves Dallas at 3:40PM which makes it a 8 hour trip. The fare is $91/pp which would beat the drop off fee.

jaguar7777777

Thanks guys, but our plane goes to Austin via Chicago and we've already booked it. Our road trip takes us into Louisiana, Mississippi and Memphis, before finishing in Little Rock. I've checked the big car rental companies and they all seem to have the drop-off fee. The best I can find for a midsize SUV for 14 days is $670 with Alamo, via ebookers.com, which includes a $150 drop-off fee. I suppose that's not too bad. What do you think?

tracys2cents

Are you a UK citizen? If not, you can still book at hertz.co.uk as long as you make the booking in the U.K. Hertz might, but probably won't, ask for verification that you were in the U.K. at the time you made the booking.

Hertz has no drop fees for Brits or Aussies, Alamo usually doesn't either.

NorthwestMale

As it is a manageable 515 miles between Dallas and Little Rock, a likely way to slash costs considerably would be to hit the ground in Austin, rent a car (or even TWO, if need be)... for a quick one-way rental TO Little Rock... where you would then pick-up the SUV for your 2-week rental, returning it in the same place two weeks later.

Of course you'd have to price this with ALL things considered (including gas)... but the rate you cite isn't bad at all... that is like, FIFTY dollars a day including the one-way fee for an SUV, no less.

I can't imagine you're going to improve significantly on that, no matter how you finesse it.

SusanCS

515 miles between Dallas and Little Rock??? It's 320.

spirobulldog

I think NW meant Austin to Lil Rock. Although, I don't understand his statement about renting two cars(or even one for that matter), then driving all the way to Little Rock to rent an SUV. You now will have two drop fees if you rented two cars.

Your price sounds like a good deal to me. An SUV with a drop off fee-that is cheap, IMOP.

It seems a bit odd to me to fly in from the UK to Austin and depart out of Little Rock too. I would assume things would be much easier, cheaper, and less connections to fly on AA from Dallas or Delta from Atlanta or Memphis.

tracys2cents

Again, there are no drop fees for U.K.citizens, they only screw U.S. citizens for that!

NorthwestMale

IF there are no drop-off fees, and the daily rates are the same (for one-way rentals, and for one-location rental/drop-offs) then of course there is no problem.

However, even when there is no drop-off fee... the daily rate tends to be SKY HIGH on one-way rentals... so anybody would know to rent a one-way sedan (or two)... for a quick trip from (yes,) Austin to Little Rock (520 miles)... and only then get the SUV (at the higher rate) for a one-location rental/drop-off.

It seems a no-brainer for anyone facing heightened one-way rental daily rates, when the start and end are just 520 miles apart.

jaguar7777777

Thanks everyone, for your replies. Perhaps I should have explained that we want to experience Austin, San Antonio, Galveston, Lafayett, New Orlenas, south-weat Alabama (Mobile perhaps?), Natchez, Memphis and Little

jaguar7777777

Rock. We like to 'road trip' in the USA! My latest price for a mid-size SUV for 15 days (not 14 as I said previously) from Alamo is $668 including drop-off fee and all taxes. $44 per day. That's searching through www.kayak.co.uk which links me to ebookers.com. I'm quite happy with that!

spirobulldog

What do you consider Spring? It is earlier in the south than the rest of the country. Do you mean March or do you mean May/June?

spirobulldog

I see from your other post, that it is Feb/March.

What is your Iten. looking like now?
I've been to most of the places several times that you mention.
Lots to do in Memphis, Nashville, and even Texas.

The problem with Texas is that it is a super long drive to get to any of it.

tracys2cents

That's a great price for an SUV for two weeks, with the one-way drop. And, since you're from UK, the rate also includes Collision insurance and liability protection.

As has been discussed here in the forum previously, Aussies and Brits get much better deals than anyone else on rental cars from Alamo, National and Hertz.

jaguar7777777

Thanks Spiro and Tracy. As you say, we're traveling in late Feb and early March, so maybe I'm being optimistic when I say early Spring! Our last road trip (in 2011) ended in Fort Worth which we enjoyed. But we had hoped to see Austin and San Antonio and didn't have the time - hence the reason we're starting there this time with 2 nights in each. Then we're driving across Texas to Lafayette in Louisiana, but I thought it might be a long way to drive in one day so I've tentatively put Galveston in as a halfway point for one night. After Lafayette (where we might visit the recreated Cajun town of Vermilionville) we're looking at 2 nights in New Orleans, then two nights in Alabama (I've read that the Fairhope area is very nice - it's a 5hr drive from New Orleans but on the way Bellingrath Gardens are supposed to be well worth a visit). Then it'll be up into Mississippi staying in Natchez for 1 night and visiting one of the Plantation homes. Then up the Natchez Trace Parkway to Memphis for 2 nights. Then finally across to Little Rock from one night before we fly home. We'll get to see four States we haven't seen before. It should be enjoyable or, as we'd say, smashing!