Visiting Austin for 2-3 weeks, where to rent vehicle (Houston: car rental, rentals)

[remasteredx2]

Hello all,

I will be visiting Austin next month and was hoping someone would be able to inform me on car rentals. I will be landing at the airport and after going through these forums, it seems that its a bad idea to rent a car from there as prices are greatly inflated. My question then is, if I were to rent a car from a different place, how would I get there? Would they drive up to the airport to deliver the vehicle or provide a shuttle? Or take a cab? How much are fares there? Would it be worth the hassle or just pay the extra to rent at the airport?

Also, these sames issues come up when I'm leaving Austin via airport as well.

Thank you!

[EzPeterson]

For a 2 week rental with Avis (random example), you'd save $300 renting off-site. Probably a $20 cab fare each way, so a net savings of $260.

Hit up Hotwire and see what you can find near your hotel, and cab to/from.

[G Grasshopper]

Before we lived here, we would come to Austin once or twice a year. We usually stayed a week, but sometimes longer. We almost always flew into Houston and rented a car there, then drove to Austin. Its a 3 hour drive, but this saved a lot on car rental, as for some reason, cars are really expensive to rent at the airport in Austin. In addition, it probably didn't take any extra time, as we would have had to make a connection to Austin anyway, and waiting for the flight and all the airport mess probably would have taken a similar time to driving here. I can't help you with places other than the airport to rent; haven't done it.

[centralaustinite]

Enterprise has locations all over town!

[remasteredx2]

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

For a 2 week rental with Avis (random example), you'd save $300 renting off-site. Probably a $20 cab fare each way, so a net savings of $260.

Hit up Hotwire and see what you can find near your hotel, and cab to/from.

That's a huge difference in pricing, and that kind of savings is a lot for me. Okay, atleast I know I can get to the car rental places from the airport fairly cheaply and not be forced to rent from the airport itself.

Any ideas on a cheap hostel-like place or a motel that's reputable that wouldn't end with me having bed bugs or lice by the end of the trip?

[remasteredx2]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

Before we lived here, we would come to Austin once or twice a year. We usually stayed a week, but sometimes longer. We almost always flew into Houston and rented a car there, then drove to Austin. Its a 3 hour drive, but this saved a lot on car rental, as for some reason, cars are really expensive to rent at the airport in Austin. In addition, it probably didn't take any extra time, as we would have had to make a connection to Austin anyway, and waiting for the flight and all the airport mess probably would have taken a similar time to driving here. I can't help you with places other than the airport to rent; haven't done it.

I have already bought my ticket to Austin. Just out of curiosity, I checked the flights from Boston to Houston for that week and a one way flight is $56 dollars more! Thanks for the suggestion anyway!

[capitolhilltohillcountry]

With enterprise you can rent anywhere in town and return it to the airport location with no fee. The area goes from Waco to San Marcos and there all good drop off places. The closest one to the airport is on Congress by the Salvation Army.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by remasteredx2

That's a huge difference in pricing, and that kind of savings is a lot for me. Okay, atleast I know I can get to the car rental places from the airport fairly cheaply and not be forced to rent from the airport itself.

Any ideas on a cheap hostel-like place or a motel that's reputable that wouldn't end with me having bed bugs or lice by the end of the trip?

what kind of price range are you looking for? Your best bet is to go to a site like biddingfortravel.com and then priceline a hotel. You can typically get 4* hotels in downtown austin for $80/night as long as there are no big events.

[remasteredx2]

Originally Posted by Austin97

what kind of price range are you looking for? Your best bet is to go to a site like biddingfortravel.com and then priceline a hotel. You can typically get 4* hotels in downtown austin for $80/night as long as there are no big events.

Price range is lower to lowerest, haha. I'm looking more into Rusty Railway Hostel or Hostelling International prices (these are the only two i found online). At Hostelling Internatonal, i can stay for 14 days for $350 which comes to $25 per night.

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by remasteredx2

Price range is lower to lowerest, haha. I'm looking more into Rusty Railway Hostel or Hostelling International prices (these are the only two i found online). At Hostelling Internatonal, i can stay for 14 days for $350 which comes to $25 per night.

H.I. is in a killer location if you plan on going out often. Where do you plan on driving?