rental car near denver airport

[Idlewile]

I've never paid extra fees for any car rentals and I've rented many, many times, from many agencies, in many states via many sites (Hotwire, Expedia, Travelocity, Avis, Enterprise, Costco, etc.) I've never looked at online reviews or ever felt inclined to... people who take time to post about a rental car experience have only had terrible experiences. It's like searching for reviews about airlines but more useless. At any rate, I and numerous out of town guests have rented cars from multiple agencies out of DIA without an issue.

Avis, Hertz and, for the most part, Enterprise, provide the best customer service and make the rigmarole of pick up and drop off easier, if that's important to you.

Or, since you are 1) coming over the holiday and are clearly prepared to pay for holiday-priced airfare and 2) are concerned about snow driving, why don't you just fly into Eagle (Vail)? You would connect in Denver. During non-holiday time, you can get a flight from HOU-EGE for $479. Might be cheaper than shelling out for a car you are only going to use to get you up I-70. (You don't say if/where else you'll be driving to/exploring once up in the high country.)

[jamesdenver]

It's like searching for reviews about airlines but more useless.

Exactly. Everybody loves to tell their sad "flying" story as if it's the worst thing that's ever happened to them... They're conditioned to just be miserable flying regardless.

Anyway - OP: This isn't challenging: Fly to Denver, rent a car, give yourself a day of contingency in case of bad weather, then drive to Vail in the daytime (mornings are best.) i.e. If you arrive in evening just stay in Denver a night and have a good meal or check out downtown, then head up in the morning.

Or, flying to Eagle is a great idea too if budget allows. It's a beautiful/small airport. It's in a valley so no extremly precarious takeoffs/landings. And the drive from Eagle (airport) to Vail is breeze, no mountains. (about 30-40 minutes.)

[Cyborgt800]

Am I missing something? Everyone keep commenting about Vail Pass, and the divide....I don't see where the OP mentioned needing to go through there. The only thing I see is OP coming from Houston, which is SouthEast of Denver.

They just need to take 10, 20 or 40 to I-25 if they want interstates. They still must cross Raton Pass but that's not too bad usually.

OP just have good all weather tires and -20 degree windshield washer fluid....and plenty of it! Get rid of the water in the reservoir if it has plain water or higher temp fluid in it.

[jamesdenver]

They just need to take 10, 20 or 40 to I-25 if they want interstates.

Vail is 100 miles west of I-25.

The OP's original question was regarding cars at the airport. The most efficient route from DEN (DIA) to Vail necessitates driving I-70 West, including Loveland Pass (or the high elevation tunnels below it anyway) and Vail Pass. Both are quite manageable in fine weather.

I suppose if one drove from Texas they could take CO Highway 50 or 24 to 24 north to Vail. However any other route from Denver would be unnecessarily circuitous. And IMO even from the south that is less efficient than the Interstate 25>470>70=Vail.

[Cyborgt800]

^^^^ Thanks, like I said:

Am I missing something?

I read back and must've been missing that part.

[lucylinus]

I have rented from enterprise many times at DIA with no issues.

[scrapper105]

The Enterprise staff at the CO airport is incredibly nice. Love working with them.

[dude_reino]

Forget the rental altogether. First of all, you aren't used to driving in snow and Vail pass can sometimes be as bad as it gets. Second, once you get to Vail you won't use the car again until you leave. This means you will be paying an outrageous sum each night it sits in the hotel parking lot.

I suggest booking passage with CME Resort Shuttles | Denver Airport Shuttle Transportation.