On the road again...

April 11, 2006 10:03 AM

I'm flying up to Cleveland in May for a business meeting and have been toying with the idea of renting a car to drive home to Texas. What's the best way to approach this?

Along the way I'm visiting old friends each night so my only serious worry is renting a car for a cross-country, one-way road trip. I want to rent something comfortable with good gas mileage and not pay an arm and a leg for the cross-country bit.

Are there deals for this type of rental? Any specific agencies I should avoid?

posted by DragonBoy to shopping (7 comments total)

Rent a Prius. When my truck was in the shop they lent me one for a few weeks and it was a blast. It has a dashboard like a video game and 50+ mpg is nice.
posted by ernie at 10:15 AM on April 11, 2006

Have you checked the websites of major car rental companies (Hertz, Avis, et al)? You should be able to get quotes for this type of rental easily. You may have to pick up and drop off the car at the airports in both cities, as many of the smaller rental locations (even for major companies) don't accept one-way rental returns. It will probably be more expensive than airfare, once you include gas costs, but most major rental companies allow one-way rentals like this.
posted by arco at 10:18 AM on April 11, 2006

Expedia will let you search on one-way trips, but if I remember correctly from the last time I looked into it, the daily rate is 2-3x what a 'local' rental would be.
posted by ferociouskitty at 10:39 AM on April 11, 2006

You might keep your eye on the driveaway list:
http://www.autodriveawaydc.com/carlist.html
or call their office in Cleveland. It's free (minus the cost of obtaining your driving record, well, and gas) if you can find something that will work for you.
posted by unknowncommand at 10:57 AM on April 11, 2006

When you get your quote, keep in mind that there are sometimes hidden fees for a one way that aren't evident until you go to confirm.

I recently priced a one way rental from WV to CO, and the drop-off fee was over $1300.
posted by Sheppagus at 11:27 AM on April 11, 2006

I once rent a car from one of those major rental places. I forgot which one though. I started from LA, pass NV, UT, WY, into Montana, Canada, and came back to Seattle, and dropped it off in SEA airport. There was no hidden fee or anything. Just make sure when you book it online, check the final fee line-ups before you click the confirm button. Some rental places do charge a fee for dropoff at a different location, but certainly not all of them. I think I used Yahoo travel. Good luck.
posted by dy at 11:54 AM on April 11, 2006

I rent one way fairly often and find that "kayak.com" is as good as any. There usually are drop off or surcharges unless it is in the same state or region
posted by rmhsinc at 3:01 PM on April 11, 2006