Seaview, WA for a friend's wedding - do we have to rent a car?
February 22, 2024 6:23 AM Subscribe
Going to Seaview, WA with my boyfriend for a friend's wedding. We will be flying from NYC. We are car-free, very comfortable with public transit, always take public transit to/from airports even with luggage, but would appreciate some input from people more familiar with the area on whether our non-car-rental plan is feasible or if we just need to suck it up and rent the car.
The two options I've seriously explored are:
1) Rent a car, drive to Seaview, spend the weekend in Seaview for wedding events, drive back to PDX and drop off the car
or
2) Amtrak to Astoria, OR and then public transit/uber/lyft/taxi from Astoria to Seaview, reverse on the way back
The car rental looks like it will be about $400-600 and it's quite frankly money we can't really afford to spend if we don't have to, but having visited places before where public transit just isn't a thing I'm mindful that our plans that seem feasible on paper may not actually work in real life.
We will be staying at the wedding venue and Seaview looks pretty walkable, so I'm not worried about having a car once we get there - mainly the logistics of getting there and getting back. I would hate to spend $500 on a car JUST to get there and back when the cost for Amtrak looks to be about $72 ($18 each way x 2 people) - even if we have to take a taxi a couple times it's not going to come close to making up the difference. I'm aware that the Amtrak is some kind of shuttle bus and not a train, that's not a problem. I'm also aware that it only runs twice a day so that might make things more difficult in terms of hotel and flight logistics.
This will be a holiday weekend which might account for the cost of the car rental (not sure how much it would typically be).
A third option would be to rent a car just to get to Astoria, OR, drop it off, and then taxi/public transit to Seaview (and then reverse that) but that seems to introduce more logistics problems than it's worth.
Any input would be helpful! We are on a very strict budget right now so please be mindful of that in your responses.
The two options I've seriously explored are:
1) Rent a car, drive to Seaview, spend the weekend in Seaview for wedding events, drive back to PDX and drop off the car
or
2) Amtrak to Astoria, OR and then public transit/uber/lyft/taxi from Astoria to Seaview, reverse on the way back
The car rental looks like it will be about $400-600 and it's quite frankly money we can't really afford to spend if we don't have to, but having visited places before where public transit just isn't a thing I'm mindful that our plans that seem feasible on paper may not actually work in real life.
We will be staying at the wedding venue and Seaview looks pretty walkable, so I'm not worried about having a car once we get there - mainly the logistics of getting there and getting back. I would hate to spend $500 on a car JUST to get there and back when the cost for Amtrak looks to be about $72 ($18 each way x 2 people) - even if we have to take a taxi a couple times it's not going to come close to making up the difference. I'm aware that the Amtrak is some kind of shuttle bus and not a train, that's not a problem. I'm also aware that it only runs twice a day so that might make things more difficult in terms of hotel and flight logistics.
This will be a holiday weekend which might account for the cost of the car rental (not sure how much it would typically be).
A third option would be to rent a car just to get to Astoria, OR, drop it off, and then taxi/public transit to Seaview (and then reverse that) but that seems to introduce more logistics problems than it's worth.
Any input would be helpful! We are on a very strict budget right now so please be mindful of that in your responses.
Hi, I’ve lived in Portland for over 20 years. I would recommend trying to make public transit work.
Take the non-Amtrak bus! The CC Rider should get you all the way to Astoria for a few bucks. Our good friend rode this bus weekly for years. Find out more here.
posted by MonsieurBon at 7:14 AM on February 22 [2 favorites]
Take the non-Amtrak bus! The CC Rider should get you all the way to Astoria for a few bucks. Our good friend rode this bus weekly for years. Find out more here.
posted by MonsieurBon at 7:14 AM on February 22 [2 favorites]
There are lots of folks in Portland who live car free or car light and want to get to the coast. Here’s a TikTok video from a Portland person about taking that bus from Union Station in Portland to Astoria. It’s a regular, comfortable bus. This part makes sense.
Union Station is closer to downtown and the Portland airport is further out, but you can use trimet (Portland metro public transit) to get from the airport to Union Station. People do bring luggage on trimet (both the light rail max and the bus), so that would be fine. You just need to make sure your arrival into Portland is early enough to get to Union station. You might need an overnight in Astoria or Portland on either side.
The Astoria to Seaview connection is likely to be the trickiest because those are smaller towns.
Have you asked the couple if they have other friends who will be arriving by plane to Portland or driving from Portland? Or if any other guests could pick you up in Seaview? That seems like a fair question to make for what I am guessing is a destination wedding.
posted by bluedaisy at 7:47 AM on February 22
Union Station is closer to downtown and the Portland airport is further out, but you can use trimet (Portland metro public transit) to get from the airport to Union Station. People do bring luggage on trimet (both the light rail max and the bus), so that would be fine. You just need to make sure your arrival into Portland is early enough to get to Union station. You might need an overnight in Astoria or Portland on either side.
The Astoria to Seaview connection is likely to be the trickiest because those are smaller towns.
Have you asked the couple if they have other friends who will be arriving by plane to Portland or driving from Portland? Or if any other guests could pick you up in Seaview? That seems like a fair question to make for what I am guessing is a destination wedding.
posted by bluedaisy at 7:47 AM on February 22
Also is it 4th of July weekend? We have a very short summer in the PNW and folks go a bit nuts trying to get to the coast. So that might explain the car rental prices you are seeing.
posted by bluedaisy at 7:48 AM on February 22 [2 favorites]
posted by bluedaisy at 7:48 AM on February 22 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Hi, I live in Astoria and I have terrible news for everyone. The Sunset Empire Transit District had a spectacular implosion last spring and much of the public transportation - which was far from robust to begin with - has not recovered. There is no Amtrak service to Astoria. I don't think the Point bus has any connection to Amtrak other then leaving from Union Station.
ake the non-Amtrak bus! The CC Rider should get you all the way to Astoria for a few bucks. Unfortunately this bus does not exist anymore. I know the website is still there. It should not be. The only bus to and from Portland now is the Point bus, which runs twice a day from Union Station. It's slower and more expensive than the CC Rider, which I personally miss rather a lot. As far as I know, there is no public transit to Seaview. The bus to and from Naselle was recently reinstated, but I don't think it goes to Seaview.
There is no Uber here or in Seaview. There are taxis. You could conceivably call Royal Cab and get to Seaview. I would give them a call and ask about pricing. There is also an Enterprise office, so you could take the Point bus and then rent a car here. The Coast is way way behind the rest of the world when it comes to public transit, unfortunately. We're a very rural, spread out area.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:35 PM on February 22 [5 favorites]
ake the non-Amtrak bus! The CC Rider should get you all the way to Astoria for a few bucks. Unfortunately this bus does not exist anymore. I know the website is still there. It should not be. The only bus to and from Portland now is the Point bus, which runs twice a day from Union Station. It's slower and more expensive than the CC Rider, which I personally miss rather a lot. As far as I know, there is no public transit to Seaview. The bus to and from Naselle was recently reinstated, but I don't think it goes to Seaview.
There is no Uber here or in Seaview. There are taxis. You could conceivably call Royal Cab and get to Seaview. I would give them a call and ask about pricing. There is also an Enterprise office, so you could take the Point bus and then rent a car here. The Coast is way way behind the rest of the world when it comes to public transit, unfortunately. We're a very rural, spread out area.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:35 PM on February 22 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you so much mygothlaundry, that is so helpful. The Point bus looks to be the same bus that you can buy tickets for through Amtrak though I guess they are unrelated otherwise. I will call Royal Cab and get pricing for Astoria to Seaview. Does anyone know if these buses still exist? https://www.pacifictransit.org/Schedules-Maps If so it looks like there is a bus from Astoria to Ilwaco and then one I could take from Ilwaco to Long Beach which is about a half hour walk from Seaview so it might be a possibility if they do still exist.
No friends in Portland who are going that way or that would have been my first thought, and the people I know who will be coming in from NY have kids and probably aren't going to have a spare couple seats (also not sure I know them well enough for a 6-hour round trip)
posted by matcha action at 1:54 PM on February 22
No friends in Portland who are going that way or that would have been my first thought, and the people I know who will be coming in from NY have kids and probably aren't going to have a spare couple seats (also not sure I know them well enough for a 6-hour round trip)
posted by matcha action at 1:54 PM on February 22
Best answer: Pacific Transit probably does still exist; they weren't impacted by the Sunset debacle.
Long Beach is, well, very long so while parts of it are half an hour from Seaview - it kind of melds seamlessly into Seaview, actually - parts of it are much further away.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:58 PM on February 22
Long Beach is, well, very long so while parts of it are half an hour from Seaview - it kind of melds seamlessly into Seaview, actually - parts of it are much further away.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:58 PM on February 22
Would being late to this event be a disaster? Or would it be merely a bummer? What if you were late getting back to NYC?
With such a many-legged trip, odds are it that some piece of it will not run exactly to schedule. What's your comfort with that risk? Would you pay $500 to avoid that risk?
posted by Sauce Trough at 5:55 PM on February 22
With such a many-legged trip, odds are it that some piece of it will not run exactly to schedule. What's your comfort with that risk? Would you pay $500 to avoid that risk?
posted by Sauce Trough at 5:55 PM on February 22
Best answer: Renting from a local Enterprise office might be a lot cheaper than picking something up at the airport. I used to rent from my local and it was half the price of the airport.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:55 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]
posted by fiercekitten at 5:55 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]
Did you check car rental rates at Turo? The pricing should be significantly less than the major rental agencies.
posted by prinado at 6:08 PM on February 23
posted by prinado at 6:08 PM on February 23
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posted by madcaptenor at 6:53 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]