First, Happy New Year! May our travels be the best and cheapest ever, and may our enemies inherit our hotel and airline fees.
2013 is becoming a year of excitement for our point-collecting household. My son graduated from college with a degree in engineering, and I finally say goodbye to tuition payments. Simply put – no tuition payments means more travel. I cannot match Angie’s travel schedule (who can). I have a normal job, with a boss, office, politics… you know the deal… and after 20+ years, I have 28 vacation day to work with.
The highlights of my year ahead include the Singapore Airlines A380 first-class suites experience to Australia for my birthday, Hawaii with my wife, and wherever the next “mistake” fare takes me. Angie’s pulling my arm right now about going to Anchorage in the summer (~$414 round trip from NY on United). It doesn’t end.
My son was fortunate enough to land a great job in South Carolina. Angie flew down with him 2 weeks ago to help find an apartment (related post). That was a success, and it was time for him to make the big move. The plan was for me, my wife, and son to drive one way with all of his stuff, and then us two would fly back from South Carolina.
The common problem with these types of scenarios is: most one-way van rentals have either a hefty drop-off fee or a mileage cap. Angie suggested I use Car Rental Savers to start the search, and the rates for the week ranged from $305 with Alamo to $ 1,266.71 with Hertz.
In the results, I found a great deal from Alamo: a one-way rental for 6 days, with unlimited miles and no drop-off fee for $306. We picked up van at EWR and dropped it off at the Columbia, SC airport before our scheduled flight home. I must say that the entire process was very convenient and smooth. The only problem we encountered was that our return flight was cancelled due to heavy fog conditions, forcing us to spend another night in Columbia (related post).
Has anyone else used a one-way car rental before? Sometimes it is much pricier than flying. but when it works out, it works out well!
Looking forward to meeting some of you guys at the blog dinner in NJ on February 2!
Happy Travels,
The Dad.
Hey Dad,
Yeah another “Dad” post. I’ve been eagerly looking forward to reading your next post since Sunday night when Angelina told us at dinner that one was coming this week. :)
I’ll have to remember to consider Alamo for one-ways, I usually use Avis or Hertz. I’ve yet to use Car Rental Savers, but will have to check it out. And you’re right, it’s sometimes more expensive than flying but if you have a lot of things you need to transport it’s a good option.
Until the next post…
I am trying to find a rental from Venice, Italy to Paris, France and am having problems finding anything without a one-way fee. I tried Alamo, but they don’t seem to have any cars available. Would anyone happen to have suggestions for a one way rental in Europe? Thanks in advance!
It all depends on the market. It is very easy to do one way rental in Florida and I was never charged a drop-off fee. I usually rent a SUV in Orlando and use it for 10 days before dropping it off in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. I guess it is an easy market where people also look to rent in Miami and return the car in Orlando so not a big deal for the rental car company. It might be difficult in markets where it will be almost impossible for the rental car company to return the car to the original location by using another rental. That is where they charge you an “arm and a leg” to drop the car off in a different location. Since you mentioned you got quotes from Alamo and Hertz and of course Hertz was way more expensive I wanted to ask what is your experience when renting cars with Hertz. I always look for different quotes in several websites and find Hertz to be amazingly more expensive than other companies like National, Alamo, Budget. How do people still rent from Hertz? Am I missing anything or it is just me that cannot find a good deal from Hertz whatsoever?
@Angela: Not sure how many days you will need the car in your trip to Europe but a great deal if you are spending more than 21 days is to do a short term lease program from Renault called Eurodrive. You can check the program in their site http://www.renaultusa.com/
I have done several one-way rentals: form LAX to OAK, from Manhattan to Boston, from SEA to Bellingham (BLI – where my daughter goes to school), and to and from various places in Florida. Just like any other car rental, it always requires checking the rates with every company, and I can usually find a rate with no drop fee — the farther in advance, the better.
But this year it was actually cheaper to rent a U-Haul one-way from SEA to BLI than to rent a car! (And it made IKEA shopping much easier too.)
In Europe, you will pay a huge fee to drop-off a rental (other than a lease) in a different country (but I have done several one way rentals within France without a drop fee). If you really want to drive through France, take a train to Nice or Geneva (French side of the airport). Otherwise, it’s much easier and probably cheaper to fly from Venice to Paris.
@angela-To be honest with you never rented a car in Europe.If you are traveling to a big city a car is not necessary.All capitals are serviced well by trains.
Europe is loaded with discount airlines.Don t know when you are traveling…I see one way fare in April from Venice to Paris on Easy Jet for under $80. You can also check ryanair..
by train:
By Thello sleeper train from Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Verona or Milan to Paris: There is a direct Thello sleeper train with couchettes (6 & 4 bunk) and sleepers (1, 2 & 3 bed) from Venice, Verona & Milan to Paris, and a Rome-Florence-Paris sleeper will resume from 9 December. Leave Venice 19:57, arrive Paris around 09.30 next morning! See the Thello sleeper train page for more information about times, fares and on board accommodation. You should book this sleeper train at the official Thello website http://www.thello.com (click the UK flag at the top for English, very easy to use). It’s ticketless, you simply quote your booking reference on board, passengers’ names aren’t important. If you live in Australia, NZ or Asia, you can also book the Thello train at http://www.internationalrail.com.au (Aus) or http://www.internationalrail.co.nz (NZ), with prices virtually the same.
@ traveling well for less..Glad you enjoy my posts..Hope Angie did not talk you into crossing the border to Mexico a few days ago .She is crazy that way..lol
@santastico- Thanks for your comments.
@AAL- I checked uhaul one way rentals and was quoted over $1000. The one way, no drop off rate was only available from Newark Airport to Columbia Airport..Thanks for your comments.
I’m finding it a bit difficult to navigate the website Car Rental Savers for a very similar situation. Seeking a van to help my son move from CA to TX.. I don’t see the discounts to be any different than my own research on each site. Thanks
Thanks for the information on your post. How are you able to select cargo vans from the options shown in the results within Car Rental Savers? All the vans I see listed are passenger vans, and I’m looking for a cargo van from Atlanta to Chicago, one way.
Thanks for any info you can share!
Is there any one way rental for cargo van from Minneapolis, MN to Austin, TX? I need to move my stuff in August. I search around, and they only allow to rent truck which cost over $1000.
Please Angie, trying to move my studio apartment which is more like a my bed and clothes. what is the best way to go?