Car Hire Austin-Bergstrom Airport (pool, phones, schedule)

[austinnerd]

If simplicity of transaction and quality of vehicle are of primary concern, then the OP may want to check out Silver Car. It's a car rental service provided by Audi (all the cars are Audi's) and they've really streamlined the whole process. Biggest downsides are cost (though if you're a first time renter they usually have specials that brings the cost down a fair bit) and no airport location. They will deliver the car to you though (20m radius from NW Austin) so you could lyft to the place your staying and have the car there waiting for you and then leave it at the same location when you leave. It is an extra fee for this though ($50).

I've used it twice now and it worked great both times. Clean newer model Audi, one simple all inclusive price, great customer service.

[VAF84]

Hertz and Silvercar are my first picks. If those don't work out, I usually follow it with either Avis or Enterprise. If you have a Costco membership, you can sometimes get a better deal with Enterprise.

[TX Rover]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

If simplicity of transaction and quality of vehicle are of primary concern, then the OP may want to check out Silver Car. It's a car rental service provided by Audi (all the cars are Audi's) and they've really streamlined the whole process. Biggest downsides are cost (though if you're a first time renter they usually have specials that brings the cost down a fair bit) and no airport location. They will deliver the car to you though (20m radius from NW Austin) so you could lyft to the place your staying and have the car there waiting for you and then leave it at the same location when you leave. It is an extra fee for this though ($50).

I've used it twice now and it worked great both times. Clean newer model Audi, one simple all inclusive price, great customer service.

They’re right next to that Shell station at the airport exit and will come pick you up at the airport for Silvercar.

The least expensive route is to Uber/Lyft to your hotel or Airbnb and then find an offsite, as was suggested earlier.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by TX Rover

They’re right next to that Shell station at the airport exit and will come pick you up at the airport for Silvercar.

The least expensive route is to Uber/Lyft to your hotel or Airbnb and then find an offsite, as was suggested earlier.

Unless they've gone back to there recently, they left that location is now based out of the Audi North Austin dealer on Pond Springs. AFAIK they don't have an option to do airport pickups anymore. IIRC, they've done this in a few other cities as well ever since Audi bought them.

[TX Rover]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

Unless they've gone back to there recently, they left that location is now based out of the Audi North Austin dealer on Pond Springs. AFAIK they don't have an option to do airport pickups anymore. IIRC, they've done this in a few other cities as well ever since Audi bought them.

No ****? Damn that was fast. I guess I haven’t really flown in or out of AUS in at least two years and had just tuned that out. I used them a couple of times for work stuff a few years back - being all the way the hell up in Pond Springs definitely presents a challenge.

[Jimmyp25]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It typically costs alot more to drop a rental car off in another city because the rental agency has to replace the rental vehicle with another vehicle after it’s gone.

yes sure... im sure it does. But 2k dollars? lol cmon... I think they were going through their bankruptcy at the time so who knows exactly what made the price so high..

Thank god for this random uber guy that drove me.. It took 6 hours to get to Austin and it WAS HELL getting there. Everything was still ice.

[Need4Camaro]

It is a bit high, but to be fair I was quoted in the ballpark of $3k to rent a car from Seattle to Atlanta back when I lived there. Although that is also about 3x the distance as Chicago to Houston.

Cool you found an Uber willing to go that far. I’d personally like a lottery trip myself.

[TX Rover]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It is a bit high, but to be fair I was quoted in the ballpark of $3k to rent a car from Seattle to Atlanta back when I lived there. Although that is also about 3x the distance as Chicago to Houston.

Cool you found an Uber willing to go that far. I’d personally like a lottery trip myself.

Rent yourself a suburban way in advance for ACL this year. I do a “sober October” ever year and drive those weekends with mine. A few years back hit a 7X surge on downtown to basically Parmer/Mopac for $700

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by TX Rover

Rent yourself a suburban way in advance for ACL this year. I do a “sober October” ever year and drive those weekends with mine. A few years back hit a 7X surge on downtown to basically Parmer/Mopac for $700

Sweet! I’m guessing that was with a pool ride? My most profitable ride per mile was from COTA to downtown. The event traffic had me locked in COTA for an hour but I made about $150 from just one trip between the two.

I think they still aren’t allowing pool rides with Uber right now though … Uber is painfully slow right now. I figured it would be during the holidays but I guess I was expecting to pick back up again after 2 weeks but it hasn’t. I’m actually doing better on the weekdays (barring fitting this into my work schedule) than I am on weekends.

[StealthRabbit]

Renting a USA car and domicile in Scotland could add a lot to your 'hire car' insurance cost. Check with your carrier for personal cars. I add a 'rental binder' for $5USD/ month. But it will not cover me internationally.