jedivader

My wife and I are looking into rental cars in Portland (from airport) and would like to drive it one way to Seattle (airport), but if not, we'll drive to Seattle and then back to Portland for the return. The price on everything we have checked is ridiculous, talking the cheapest being about $410 for a week and the highest being around $900 for a week. Why such high prices? Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

We just rented a car in New York (Albany) for around $250 for the week.

janisj

1) The airport location costs more. Try collecting your car off-airport.

2) More people want to drive in Seattle/Portland/the Pacific NW than do in Albany.

janisj

meant to add -- rental car rates vary humongously from one region/state to another.

qwovadis

carrentals.com cheapest comp site

Try RT rental the one way drop off charge

is usually a killer...

shuttle beteen the 2 to save...

qwovadis

Enterprise picks u up can save sometimes if u can make it work

abram

Last time we looked into renting a car at one airport and dropping it off at another, the DIFFERENCE in price between that and returning it to the same airport was $1,000 on a two week rental.

Fodorite018

If it works with your plans, take Amtrak between the two cities. If you go at peak time, tickets are $50 pp, but if you go on nonpeak days it is as low as $30. We do this often and it is a nice way to travel between the two cities.

nytraveler

Probably because nobody wants to rent a car in Albany - hardly a tourist destination. If you rented in NYC it's at least $100 per day plus possible drop off.

jedivader

Geez, did not know I was going to bring the bashing out on Albany. Albany is actually a nice place to fly into to head to the Adirondacks and into Vermont. I only used Albany as an eaxmple because it was our most recent trip. We have never had a rental car cost so much on any other trip. Usually the more people wanting to rent, the more competitive the prices are.

I have tried checking prices from non-airport locations and the price is hardly any different.

Some of the one-way fees are huge ($100+) but some were only $50 or so. The Pacific NW must just charge out the A for rentals.

The cheapest rental we have found so far is $408 for a week, picking up at PDX and returning to PDX. We were trying to not have to return to Portland and fly out of Seattle, but it does not seem like it is worth the extra cost. We will spend less in gas than what the difference is in charges to drop off at Seattle.

Thought about the train but we planned on doing things in between the two cities, so we'd need the car.

I'll try the discount sites mentioned. I have looked at Expedia, Travelocity, etc., and they are just as expensive.

tracys2cents

$410 does not sound bad for a one-way rental for a week during summer. But you could check the price for renting one day from PDX to Seattle, and then pick up a regular one week rental in Seattle.

tomfuller

Ride the TriMet light rail red line from the airport in to the Pioneer Square area. I do not see the need to rent one way since the two cities are less than 4.5 hours apart. If you have a late or early morning flight out, return the rental car where you rented it and use an airport hotel with a shuttle to the airport for your return home.
http://trimet.org/max/

jedivader

tracys2cents, I might check that out just to see.

Let me clarify our trip plans (two week trip). Fly from BWI to Portland then drive to Seattle area, then fly to Boise, then fly from Boise to BWI.

Getting to Boise is the issue. We would like to drive to seattle and then fly out of SeaTac to Boise instead of driving back to Portland and flying out of there. Even though Portland is about a 3 or so hour drive to fly out of there, we would end up essentially wasting one day back tracking.

The cheapest I have found so far (renting from PDX, returning to PDX) is about $324 total. As soon as I try a one-way, the totals hit $500+

lcuy

When are you going? A holiday weekend? or when a convention is in town or universities are beginning? I'd rent a car only where it was needed and take the train to Seattle.

tomfuller

Check flying to Las Vegas and then flying to Twin Falls Idaho (or Redmond Oregon) on Allegiant.
http://www.allegiantair.com/aaIndex.php
Rent your car in Oregon or Idaho and return where you rented it.
Fly back on Allegiant to LV for your return to BWI.
You could also ride the Empire Builder from Portland to Pasco Washington to put yourself closer to Boise.

1JAR

Are you renting a SUV? Just asking because SUVs seem to be a drop off problem. If you click on my name I posted a great "how to find cheap rental car rates" a couple of months ago: the good rates are out there..drop offs are always going to be more...but you really have to work at getting good rates these days on rental cars...
Just came back fron Seattle and we got a brand new mid size SUV from Budget at SeaTAc at total of $230. FOR 6 DAYS...

jedivader

Thanks 1JAR, I will check your post.

weimarer

Try the Hertz in Vancouver, WA (Alpine Autobody, SE Mill Plain Blvd). Looks like a fairly short cab ride from the airport, just on the other side of the river. They quoted $280/wk one-way to SeaTac.

jedivader

Thanks weimarer. Looks like three Hertz locations in Vancouver have the same priced one-way rentals to Seattle for as low as $323 total for a compact. Thanks for the help!

Luckily my sister lives in Portland and can pick us up and drop us off at the location to save cab fare.

owlwoman

When we were going from Portland - Seattle last fall, I too found one way car rentals ridiculous ($400-$500 range). Ended up taking Amtrak to Seattle, which was a very pleasant ride, then picking up a car in downtown Seattle for our week up at the San Juan Islands, the total rental for the week was less than $200, so a big savings.

jedivader

Owlwoman, we had thought about the train but we wanted to do some stuff on the way up to Seattle (Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Ape Caves)