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Ok I'd just like to go on record that I found this whole trip planning thing sort of stressful. Didn't want to book a flight till I'd found a hotel. My dates were really flexible, so were my airports - too flexible - I was driving myself crazy trying to check different dates and multiple airports only to know that the prices could change in a few hours.
Eventually I said screw it - and just booked the dang thing because otherwise I'd do what I always do - procrastinate till the whole thing slides on by.
No one better tell me what a great deal they got. I don't want to hear it.
So, hotel, flight - now rental car. Uh oh. NONE of the car rental places in Bozeman have unlimited miles. As in - its not even an option for more money! Capped at 150 miles per day/1050 a week or Enterprise 1400 a week. Maybe I wouldn't use that, not sure - I'm doing Yellowstone - I do expect to drive around quite a bit and don't really know how far things are from each other - plus Bozeman is 80 one way. I'd probably be ok but at 19-25 cents per mile over the cap I didn't want to worry about it.
C**P!
I'm 54 and the only traveling I've really done is for work and rental cars have always had unlimited mileage.
I start googling car rental limited miles Montana and find a lot of posts from various forums from the last couple of years asking about the same exact thing. What the heck, nonrefundable ticket, figure I'm going to have to watch every mile. Not exactly carefree.
Luckily I found a post where a person was thanking forum members for the Hotwire tip as that seems to be the only gap into getting a car rental with unlimited mileage. I booked through Hotwire and it said unlimited - hope it holds and I don't get a hard time when I get there. I had called a couple of the places direct before that and it was all only limited. One post recommended flying into Idaho and driving over to Montana!
Seems crazy to to me - btw Glacer Natl Park and Yellowstone - people are going to drive a lot in Montana, its a big state.
So (1) be very careful booking a car in Montana
(2) don't assume that flight and hotel availability are the only things you have to pre-check and coordinate when trip planning.
That's news to me! We rented a one way rental between Jackson Hole and Bozeman and had unlimited miles. This was in July. Maybe because we started in WY? We used Priceline, if it makes a difference!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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when you get to 149 miles, pull the fuse for the instrument cluster
Might not work in all situations (especially if you have a tracking gps)
Some state Rentals restrict cars & don't let you take the vehicle across state lines. Popular habit of rental car companies in border states (like Florida)
I just checked, I used my Hertz Gold, and got Unlimited miles for C car 1 week $ 300/week in mid September with membership ie aaa, aarp etc. My Corp Rate was 429/week with Col ins included. For pick-up/Return in Bozman MT
Personally, I get tired of the costs of travel into Montana and other Big Sky states. What I have been doing is to fly into Salt Lake City or Boise where the car rentals and airfares are cheaper and drive a few hours more.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles
Why 149 miles? Is that number of miles significant or is it random?
just their daily mileage cap (150), allows you to keep track of gauges for at least 2-3 hrs / day.
As previously mentioned... if the car is being tracked via satellite you may be spending some time in jail for this, but you could probably learn some other good tricks while doing time.
I just checked, I used my Hertz Gold, and got Unlimited miles for C car 1 week $ 300/week in mid September with membership ie aaa, aarp etc. My Corp Rate was 429/week with Col ins included. For pick-up/Return in Bozman MT
Anyone over 21 can sign up for Gold I think.
That's interesting because I called AAA (road membership) and they booked a car with Hertz - apparently there is some relationship? and the agent said only limited miles were available. I have to remember to cancel that.
What is Hertz Gold?
And did you book this through or for some sort of business account? I was wondering if whether there was a difference between that and private/personal.
I have no idea whether this is just Bozeman or prevalent in MT. Just never occurred to me to check first!
As for flying into Bozeman I'm regretting that a little as well. I've been emailing with some birders and apparently birdwatching is actually better around Jackson, Grant Teton and up on into the YNP area and other places outside the caldera. So its doubly good I have unlimited mileage (fingers crossed) because I might be doing even more driving than planned (Beartooth highway has been recommended)
But its ok, I'm going to YNP for YNP and the wildlife, not just birds.
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