Baldeagle

I made nonrefundable air reservations to Victoria planning to drive to Banff/Lake Louise and fly home from Calgary. Then.... I started checking car rental rates. What a surprise. The one way drop off fee is more than the two week rental if we were returning the car to the same location. From Victoria I checked flying to Calgary , taking a train to Banff, and all end up costing about the same. We prefer to drive. Any suggestions to keep the cost down? Hitchhikeing is not a consideration.

ShelliDawn

How many days were you thinking of spending in Victoria and Banff? How much time do you have in total?

One option I can think of is making a loop trip back to Victoria from Banff and flying home from there. There are different routes so you don't have to drive the same way back. For example you could take the Trans Canada to Banff, drive south through Kootenay Park and further to the #3 highway and head back west.

The only other option I can think of is the bus, but that's not something I'd recommend.

icithecat

Try Vancouver to Calgary rentals to see if the dropoff fee is much less.

krp329

I assume by "non refundable" you mean you have already booked arrival in Victoria and departure from Calgary?

Check other rental companies - I have heard that they don't all charge the same and that some don't have drop fees. Or what about trying from Vancouver to Calgary, instead of Victoria? The drop fee is because the company has to get the car back to where it came from - there are lots of rental cars going to and from Vancouver-Calgary (that is a very popular route in summer tourist season), more than Victoria-Calgary, so maybe you will find that more affordable. There is a bus that goes from Vic to Van, including the ferry ride; I hear it's very convenient.

The other thing is that maybe the drop fee will come down a lot or disappear entirely if you wait and check back later (when are you coming? I assume summer.) There are predictions of a downturn in tourism this year, so if that appears to be unfolding, rates might get better.

Baldeagle

ShelliDawn, icithecat, and krp329:

Thanks for your replies. We will be arriving in Victoria Sept. 9, 2009 (staying four days), then to Vancouver (3Days), driving 3 or 4 days to to Banff (four days in Banff) and leaving Calgary Sept. 25. Yes, I have made flight reservations to Victoria and from Calgary to San Francisco. I tried looking into renting a car fron Vancouver to Calgary, and the drop off fee is still as high as $1,000.
Thanks for your assistance.
Baldeagle

LindainOhio

I don't know how many of you are travelling but I see that a one way on Air Canada is $250 in Sept. I would think you could watch that rate and it would drop--it is still early.

I imagine that Air Canada has an e mail alert on their website.

You can also do a quick check on airfares on www.kayak.com

traveller69

I just went to Priceline and plugged in car rental from YVR with dropoff at YYC. There is no drop off fee and the prices range from around the $70 range on up depending on the car. You can actually go right through the booking process to see the final price. No drop off at all. Try checking that out. It isn't the bidding section just the booking and they have most car rental companies listed.

traveller69

One more thing - you can take the bus from downtown Victoria right to the Vancouver airport where you can pickup the car. Here is the schedule http://www.pacificcoach.com/Schedule