Vancouver cruise port to Seattle

right, I wanted to trade a defective US corporate-owned car in for one from the local licensee and continue my trip. No dice, as it was a licensee-owned car and they wouldn't allow it to be returned anywhere outside BC.

I use maybe six or seven one-way rentals a year now, and I can say pretty convincingly that the only downtown locations that have been popping up on search at Costco have been the Alamo/National/Enterprise at the pier and the Avis on Hornby. They have a corporate deal with Budget and I know there's a Budget office nearby but it never ever returns anything for a one-way even when it will for a local rental.

Alamo at SeaTac does have a section sometimes of cars they want to get back to Canada - but it's not always there and yet they've never denied me a car.

Off topic, but I actually wonder if ICBC insures the fleet - both ANE and AvisBudget are self-insured for liability in the US, and I would be somewhat surprised they wouldn't use a similar structure outside the US.

In short, as a frequent one-way renter, I've never once had a single issue having an appropriate car waiting for me at Canada Place, the Avis next to the Hotel Vancouver (who seem to like me - I've been getting spectacular comp upgrades) or YVR. I've never had grief at the border going either direction, either.

The drop fees have been well-disclosed. Avis has a clever trick in some corporate agreements in that there's no drop fee, but it's 24 cents/km 40/mile for mileage charges. Alamo, when they have cars, has been the king of unlimited mileage, but getting extra days on the rental is surprisingly hard - they REALLY only want to allow two days from Vancouver to Seattle - they want the car dropped and a new contract executed. It's the only weirdness.

Off topic, but I actually wonder if ICBC insures the fleet - both ANE and AvisBudget are self-insured for liability in the US, and I would be somewhat surprised they wouldn't use a similar structure outside the US.

Thanks for the other info. Regarding this point, ICBC 'Fleetplan' is listed as compulsory for anyone who owns 20+ vehicles in the province (subsidiary companies with 51%+ common ownership are also lumped in as a single fleet, so some serious weaseling would be needed to split a rental fleet up enough to not have this forced upon them!)

Some municipalities/other gov'tal agencies like the PoPo do self-insure here but it may be unlawful for private businesses. If not, then I agree it's hands-down the cheapest way to insure a very large fleet as there is zero profit margin unlike with any actual insurance policy regardless of who the provider is.