travelbuff127

Hello Fodorites: You have always saved me in the past and I hope you can save me now. Planning anniversary trip out west with 11 yr old daughter this summer and cannot find a reasonable car rental to go from as far south as Salt Lake City, UT into Banff, Alberta one way. Any suggestions how to do this road trip without the car rental costing $2,000!!!! We will go for 14 nights and make stops along the way...HELP !!!!

J62

look at 3rd party brokers like autoeurope.com

I've had good success with them booking 1-way rentals within the US, but never tried to do a 1-way across international borders.

travelbuff127

J62 I tried. doesn't apply to us.

tomfuller

Are you and the family US citizens with passports?
Where are you originating from?
My best suggestion would be to fly to Vancouver BC and then either rent a Canadian rental car from there or take the ViaRail Canadian from Vancouver to Jasper and rent a car there. Return the rental car wherever you rented it and then take the train from Vancouver to Seattle.
Did you want to see Glacier NP (US)? From Seattle you can take the Amtrak Empire Builder overnight to Whitefish MT and rent a car there for the US side. You may be able to rent a car in Whitefish that you can drive into Canada to Waterton but you will have to return it where you rented it in the US.

travelbuff127

tom fuller: we are US citizens. travelling from Idaho heading north thru wyoming and montana and ending in canadian rockies.

tomfuller

A bit out of the way from Idaho but get to Spokane and take the Empire Builder (night and morning) to Seattle. Take the Amtrak train (or bus) to Vancouver. Rent your car there for the trip east to Jasper or Banff. Return your Canadian rental car in Canada. Check to see if you can drive the car into the US through Glacier NP.
I don't think a one way rental starting in one country and dropping off in another works

sludick

tomfuller, we like the Spokane airport as well. Although there are fewer flights, it's very convenient for cars and airport lodging, plus you are not fighting traffic heading up to Canada. You are the train expert, I have nothing to offer there, just wanted to add my two cents on Spokane.

Ackislander

What people are telling you in a convoluted way is that you can't do what you want. Well, you can, but it costs a lot of money, as you already know.

You can fly to Spokane or Missoula or Kalispell or Salt Lake or Calgary and do your trip, but you will have to return the car to its country of origin and to keep it inexpensive [sic] to its point of origin. You will also have to notify the rental company that you are taking it across the border.

This doesn't mean driving the same boring rout up and back, though. There are wonderful loops you can make with 14 nights.

Depending on where you live, it might be cheapest to fly into Calgary and rent there. Canadian dollars are fairly cheap now.

travelbuff127

thank you all. All good advice. Considering starting in Calgary a good option. Keep em coming. Any suggestions on accommodations and restaurants will be much appreciated. thanks all

Myer

Ahhh. Finally somebody mentions Calgary.

A real city with a real airport.

I've landed in Calgary, picked up a rental. Gone down to Glacier NP in Montana (just a 3 1/2 hour straight, level drive to Many Glacier), then driven back up to Calgary and over to Banff & Jasper (3 1/2 hours back to Calgary and 1 1/5 hours to Banff.
).

And if you have a morning flight our of Calgary there's a Delta Hotel right in the airport across the street from the terminal.

Am I a big fan of Calgary airport? YES!!! And there's a Walmart Supercenter just below the airport right along the road to the border.

Myer

And if you want to see photos of my trips to this area: www.travelwalks.com

bribell

travelbuff127 -- what did you end up doing? We are a family also planning a trip to Glacier & Banff. We land into Kalispell , MT and wanted to rent a car to return in Calgary. Did you find any car rental agencies that allow for this? What did you end up doing?

travelbuff127

Bribell - we switched our plans and are going in august. Landing in SLC and doing a loop in 12 days. Big task planning but easiest way with flights and car.

Have a safe trip!