San Francisco Car Rental Question
 

Hi all,

Booking my California trip for September.
I am renting an economy car for 10 days. Pickup San Francisco and drop off LAX. We will be starting our trip by staying in Sausalito for 3 nights and want the convenience of a car.

So……heres' the question
Alamo Pickup from San Francisco AIRPORT will cost $99 a day (total $900)
Alamo Pickup IN THE CITY on Offarrell st or Folsom St only costs $34 a day (total $310!!) Savings of almost $700!! Hard to believe.

We will be staying in Sausalito and either pickup location looks on the way. How difficult and expensive will it be to get from the airport to Folsom St or Offarrell St at noon on a Thursday? How would we do it the easiest way? Cab, subway, etc? My husband is not one to deal with "a hassle", so I want to be sure its not going to be a nightmare.

Thanks so much!!

BART plus a short cab ride or just a cab all the way into the city. Easy peasy.

I suggest you keep looking for a better price on the car. Look through your airline site, Travelocity, etc., through the sites of organizations such as AAA, AARP, through your credit card to their shopping links for often excellent discounts. I think you've quit too soon and picking up at the airport may still be your best bet.

And try RentalCarMomma for discount codes:
http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/

Check Dollar site. They often have City Specials and don't charge a drop off fee for one way rentals.

O'Farrell is easier to get to than Folsom. Take BART and exit at Powell St. A short walk.

Costco has good rates, if you are a member.

Also, book now [something that can be canceled] and keep checking prices as they do vary and drop. Often I can find some great prices just before a trip.

I just checked dollar, avis and hertz and for some reason the pickup in SFO and dropoff in LAX is VERY expensive, but not the other way around.

I know! Its weird.

It is supply and demand, how many vehicles are in one city vs. the other. Plus [airport] fees at SFO are steep!

I got these prices off of Kayak.com which I thought was a good place to find prices. I am not a member of AAA or AARP so that is out for discounts.

$300 for a 10 day rental sounds like a fabulous bargain, as long as getting to the agency in the city isn't too much of a hassle.

We stayed at a hotel very near O'Farrell St last trip. We flew into SFO, each had a 20" carry on roller bag and a personal bag. We took BART to Powell St and then walked to our hotel. Did the same going home. It was painless. It would be the exact same thing for you to do. We actually walked pass the car rental garages! Unless you are brings LOTS of luggage, it will be fine.

Wow, that is an amazing savings between the airport and in-town pickup.

Debitnm gives good advice. I live in the city and rent frequently; 99 percent of the time the savings for renting downtown are significant. Last month the opposite was true, so I took BART to the airport to pick up the car (approx. $8). Go with the lower cost--it's not a hassle.

If you are coming back into SF from Sausalito by car, be sure to prepay your bridge fare online. No toll takers, but there is still a fee.

Great, thanks all!
Can someone give me the website for the toll?

Goldengate.org/tolls

What you want is probably a license plate account, but you'll have to wait until you get your rental car to register and to enter the plate number. Make it valid only through the last day you'll have the car, so you aren't paying for the next renter's toll. You can also do a one time single payment but I'm not sure exactly how that works.

Thanks for the toll info….
When I rent through Alamo in florida the "fast pass" tolls are usually included or somehow billed to me later. I guess I will call to see if this is the case in California

Thanks Debit!

Just beware that the queue for picking up the car can be really long. From memory Alamo in SFO opened around 0900 but the queue was already going down the street at 0830. Very slow procedure as the agents try to sell you extras.

Further to the above, we were travelling with my sister who was driving and she arrived later on - was very pleased myself and friend were in the queue already or our day would have started quite late. As it was, it was just after 10 before we left Alamo.

Im taking the risk. I just signed up for alamo insider and got an even better deal in the city pickup. We were able to upgrade to a mid-size car for only $300! The airport rental would have been $850. The savings will pay for a night's hotel! So glad I have this forum!!

Keep checking the prices, they do come down, often just before the actual trip as they know there inventory and needs better.

My husband just asked a random question. Is there any issue with seeing the view on the coastal highway in a regular car? There won't be guardrails at the same height as the windows?

Steviegene, you can indeed go through the toll gates without prior arrangement and you will be billed by the rental agency later. That's fine if you don't mind paying three to four times more money than arranging it properly on your own. It's a vacation, so if you don't mind paying $20 or so for a single $6 toll, go for it.

what you want is a "one time payment account" , once you have the car you go to the web site and fill in the info. ONLY fill in dates oyu kmow you will have the car!

https://www.bayareafastrak.org/vecto...TPAccount.html

And as Neopatrick said, if you do NOT set up the account the car rental agency will do it for you and it will cost 4 times as much.

You can see fine from any sort of car. The guard rails won't really be in the way at all. We're you wondering if you needed a tall SUV? If so, not at all necessary.

janisj thanks!

Thanks all. I have booked the car and will work on the toll situation. appreciate all the help so much!

Airport car rentals are always more expensive. Two words: <b>captive audience</b>. Just like the food and beverage and snack prices are jacked up. The $10 heat lamp pizza. You have no choice so they charge a premium.

My experience renting in a big city is the paperwork, errr, mainframe computer data entry work takes forever so there is usually a long wait. I mitigated that by showing up 15 minutes before opening, that way I'm 1st or 2nd in line, rather than worst case 1-2 hours. And I'm a Zipcar member.

Also, there's supply. Even though you reserved a car, garages are smaller in a city and you may not get the exact car you want, especially later in the day. I've had to drive away with a much bigger car than I wanted, a gas guzzler, because I had no choice.

Returning can be a pain too. Long queue.

Saving $700 is huge, I would still go for the city option but know what you're getting into and plan for the worst so as not to start your vacation off in a bad mood.

And if my SO isn't one for hassles, I'd live him/her at the airport with the bags, pick the car up myself, than drive back to the airport and pick him up. Assuming traffic isn't godawful. He/She could watch a movie, read a book, stress free.

In this case, you don't want to leave SO at the airport - it's a half hour (each way) out of your way.

The BART fare from the airport to Powell St is $8.65 per person $3.20 if your are a "senior").

Just an update on this for anyone who references the thread in the future.

We easily took a cab ($40) into the city. Saved almost $700 over renting from the airport.
There was a huuuuuuuuge line at the Alamo rental agency. However, we got lucky! I had joined ALAMO INSIDERS (for free) before the trip. This entitled me to cut the line!

All around a no-hassle rental from Alamo for a great price.
Thanks all