bc

We will be flying into SEA-TAC but renting a car from a location at 801 4th Avenue (the price for the 4th Avenue location is significantly less than renting at the airport). We will be spending several days in Washington State, then returning the rental car and heading for the cruise terminal. We are trying to figure out the most efficient and cost effective way to arrange transportation. Of course, there are numerous options from the airport to the cruise ship...but not to this satellite location. There are six of us, and our current plan is for four of us to stay at the airport with the luggage, while two go rent the car and return for us. This is going to be time consuming we realize. We also have to do the same thing when we return the car....drop four off at the cruise terminal with the luggage, while two go back to return the car. My question is....what is the most efficient, quickest way for the two to return to the airport/cruise ship terminal. Taxi, is there some other kind of shuttle...or something we have not thought of? Or is there some way for the six of us to be together with the luggage for this entire ordeal? I know it would perhaps have been easier to rent at the airport, but with the cost difference the decision was a group decision and I lost.

DebitNM

Take Uber to cruise ship terminal after dropping off rental car.

[Not that you asked but -- I am not sure why all 6 of you don't take the light rail into Seattle and get the rental car. To drive all the way to airport to pick them up is a PITA. Unless you have tons of luggage, I wouldn't go back to airport.]

suze

You can all take LightRail from SeaTac to downtown Seattle and pick up the car?

The airport is a good 1/2 hour outside downtown on I-5 freeway, so by the time you leave people, taxi to downtown, get the car, drive back to get them... I'm sure you will have burned any savings (time and money both) of just renting from the airport in the first place!

suze

Returning the car wouldn't be so bad because both cruise ship docks (you don't say which one you'll be at) are at least in downtown, so doesn't have the distance/traffic/time involved like getting to the airport does.

Kathie

This is a crazy idea. What do you plan to do with the rental car? Where are you planning to drive? You don't want a car if you are going to stay in Seattle. No need for a car and traffic is terrible and parking very expensive in downtown. ($25-45 a day) And the drive to/from the airport is 30 minutes only if there is no traffic. So if you plan to drive this route during the daytime, plan that it will take closer to an hour.

If you plan to stay in Seattle, but want to take a day trip somewhere, I'd recommend you take light rail to downtown, stay downtown, and rent from a downtown location for a day for a day trip. No need then to deal with parking. Take a taxi or Uber to the rise terminal.

suze

I don't think it's a great idea (the going to & from the airport options) but I live here & it's never taken me an hour to get to SeaTac.

Kathie

Probably because you and I, being locals, don't go to/from the airport at rush hour.

Kathie

PS And I never go via I-5.

Gardyloo

I think the idea of schlepping into town then returning to the airport sounds like a pain. You're talking about people waiting in excess of an hour - could be two hours depending on the time of day, and trust me, the arrivals level of the airport is not a place you want to hang out for 2 hours.

Instead, a cab or towncar from the airport to downtown will cost around $40 - $50, so even if you need two cars you're still looking at $15 or so per person, less if you book an UberXL (Uber's van/SUV service than can handle large parties.)

Two other ideas...

1. It looks like you're renting from a Budget/Avis station, of which there are a couple in downtown Seattle. One thing you might consider is contacting Budget and see if you could pick up the car at their 1919 Fifth Avenue station instead of the one you're using. The Fifth Avenue office is across the street from the Westin Hotel, and within a block of the Westlake light rail station, so you could all take the train to Westlake then walk to the car rental office, problem solved.

2. National/Alamo and Enterprise have free shuttles from the cruise terminals to their downtown stations where you can collect and drop off the cars. (The shuttle will transport your bags with you.) So you could look at all sharing a couple of cabs from the airport to the downtown office when you arrive, then when you cruise just drop the car at the downtown office and take the shuttle to the cruise terminal.

Note I said "terminals. There are two cruise terminals in Seattle, one at Pier 66 which is basically on the water below downtown, the other at Pier 91 which is around 3 miles north of downtown in an industrial/warehouse area. A cab from downtown to Pier 66 (almost exclusively used by Norwegian) will cost around $10 - $15; Pier 91 (Princess, HAL, Royal Caribbean) will be $20 - $25.

I don't know how much you're saving or what your plans are with the vehicle, but one other thought would be to rent at the airport but only for 1 day. Use the vehicle to transport all of you and bags to your hotel, then the next day rent a new vehicle downtown to capture the new (lower) rate for the rest of your time while somebody takes one for the team and returns the car to the airport then rides the train back to the city. (Or if you're going on some excursion, just follow him/her back to the airport and carry on from there.)

bc

Well, thanks for the information...however we are NOT staying in Seattle at all. We are staying in southern Washington State for several days, and in northern Washington State for several days. Also, taking the light rail for all of us is an impossibility....yes we will have lots of luggage. With six of us and a trip of 16 days, we are simply unable to pack light (especially considering we may be dealing with variances in temps). So, although I appreciate your efforts, I guess I am unable to find a better solution than sitting at the airport waiting.

halfapair

What car rental agency are you renting from? They may have a location in downtown Seattle you can return the car to. Then take a taxi to the cruise terminal.

halfapair

I have some questions: what is the price difference for renting from the Seattle location instead of at the airport? How are the people who will be renting the car getting to the rental agency in Seattle? By taxi? Shuttle? Have you factored in that cost?

What is the cost of their trip to the rental agency? What is the "true savings" after you add up taxi rides (or whatever) to the agency, plus returning the car to the airport and then paying for a ride to the cruise terminal?

You could rent a car at the airport and then return it to a location in Seattle and take a taxi to the cruise terminal. That seems simpler and possibly even more cost effective.

Gardyloo

Giving us a little more information on your plans would have saved us the effort of laboring down dead ends and coming up with ideas only to be told "yes, but," and rendering our work useless. Have a great trip.

bc

Gardyloo...I apologize for the lack of information; however I thought I made it perfectly clear in my post that the rental car from the 4th Avenue location was a "done deal". I did not ask for options to the rental car or that location...I asked for options to get from one to the other. And the response was "This is a crazy idea." Do not worry...I will not post questions again.

Kathie

Look, when I post a plan that is unwise, I appreciate that my fellow Fodorites will tell me if it is crazy or not.

I find it hard to believe that you have been members of Fodors since 2003 but "will not post questions again"

If you want some assistance with your transportation questions, please give us enough information about your plans so that we can be helpful.

janisj

some of the most helpful Fodorites (and real Seattle pros) tried really hard to help you . . . why the snippiness?

You didn't provide complete info so they were working in sort of a vacuum trying to make this easier for you. You want to jump through hoops -- go for it. No one here tries to give bad/unhelpful advice.


BTW -- no, you don't need a boat load of luggage - even w/ variable temps. But if you think you do -- great.

suze

No, I didn't get that. And I thought people were giving some good ideas to help improve your proposed arrangements.

Sometimes on this forum you just have to say "your plan won't work as proposed".