Vancouver car rental

[jrobinso]

Has anyone rented a car from the cruise ship terminal in Vancouver? We are doing the Los Angeles to Vancouver repositioning cruise on Sapphire Princess 5/09. I'm so tired of the hassle of flying that I'm considering renting a car in Vancouver and taking a leisurely road trip home. Where is the most convenient car rental in Vancouver? I know we'll have to pay a drop off fee of some sort, but I think I'd rather do that then hassle with the flight home.

 

Jan

[Putterdude]

Has anyone rented a car from the cruise ship terminal in Vancouver? We are doing the Los Angeles to Vancouver repositioning cruise on Sapphire Princess 5/09. I'm so tired of the hassle of flying that I'm considering renting a car in Vancouver and taking a leisurely road trip home. Where is the most convenient car rental in Vancouver? I know we'll have to pay a drop off fee of some sort, but I think I'd rather do that then hassle with the flight home.

 

At the Canada Place where the Saphire will likely tie up next year Avis, Budget and National each have kisoks there. Hertz, Enterprise and Alamo are all close by and will pick you up and shuttle you to their office.

[thinfool]

I'd rather do that then hassle with the flight home.

 

Jan

 

Amtrak could be another option without the headache of drop off fees.

 

I cannot imagine what dropping off a car with a foreign registration would be like.

[vbmom87]

We booked with Alamo this past June. They have an office they share with National Car Rental right in the Pan Pacific Hotel which connects to Canada Place. No need for any shuttle with them, unless they are no longer there. It was very convenient.

[Putterdude]

I cannot imagine what dropping off a car with a foreign registration would be like.

 

They will have lots of US plated cars waiting to go back into the states. In fact if you could find one that needed to go back to CA, you may be able to avoid a drop charge.

[Travel Mom]

I have looked into renting a car for two days in Seattle and dropping it in Vancouver when catching the ship. I found it to be VERY expensive when crossing countries...or one way rentals. I wish you the very best of luck. It added too much $$ to our cruise.

 

I found in a different thread that Amtrack has a Seattle/Vancouver for $25 if you have AAA. I wish I knew ahead of time! I already booked a Seattle round trip.

[jrobinso]

vbmom87, did you return your car to a US location? So far I'm not having much luck. Of course, I'm doing my "shopping" online, and I may need to just get on the phone and make some calls. I've tried Alamo, National and Enterprise. Alamo and National both say the don't have any cars available and Enterprise doesn't seem to do one way rentals.

 

Thanks everyone for you input....keep the suggestions coming.

 

Jan

[Putterdude]

I think you are correct, phone the companies but I would phone the downtown Vancouver locations to determine how they handle one-ways into the US. If you phone a call center you are more likely to get a "NO" we don't do that. If you need the phone no's I will get happy to get them for you.

[Eileen G]

We rented from Hertz at Canada Place (there was a short shuttle ride) and turned in at SETAC and had no trouble crossing the border. There was a drop off fee but it wasn't too bad. I would check on the cost from Seattle to LA and if it were a lot cheeper I would take the train to Seattle and rent a car there.

[vbmom87]

vbmom87, did you return your car to a US location? So far I'm not having much luck. Of course, I'm doing my "shopping" online, and I may need to just get on the phone and make some calls. I've tried Alamo, National and Enterprise. Alamo and National both say the don't have any cars available and Enterprise doesn't seem to do one way rentals.

 

Thanks everyone for you input....keep the suggestions coming.

 

Jan

We actually picked up at the Vancouver airport and dropped off at Canada Place. I was just mentioning that with the Alamo onsite location, it was very convenient.

[vbmom87]

I just did a kayak search. (www.kayak.com) It showed only Hertz as an option. It was $134 a day for a compact, $139 for an intermediate.

[vbmom87]

I found in a different thread that Amtrack has a Seattle/Vancouver for $25 if you have AAA. I wish I knew ahead of time! I already booked a Seattle round trip.

 

If you haven't booked your airfare yet, you should be able to cancel your cruise. You are well before final payment is due.

[compulady]

Just asking, but, do you really think driving 1300 miles (with fuel prices as they are and drop off charges) is less hassle than flying or taking a train from Vancouver/Seattle to LA? It seems to me airport hassles add an hour or so of time to the trip vs. at least 20 hours of driving plus a hotel or motel, unless you really enjoy driving and want to see the area. I think a flight or train ticket is about $106-$150 OW.

[jrobinso]

Compulady, Our last experience with a flight out of Vancouver after a cruise was horrible..!!! We took the Princess shuttle to the airport and arrived about 10am. Our luggage wasn't there and it gradually arrived over several HOURS while we waited in a huge crowd of other confused and frustrated cruisers.When we finally got our luggage we had to wait in a line that had to be a mile long. It was a nightmare.The airfares I'm seeing right now are about $230pp one way, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't include the baggage "surcharge". So, I'm trying to avoid that hassle. However, it looks like the car rental isn't an easy solution either, so I'm still undecided.

 

vbmom87, I'll check out kayak.com (I've heard good things about that site). $134...per day?????? Now that is craziness.

 

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

Jan

[compulady]

So the hassle was more with Princess transfer handling than the airport?

Can't you just take a taxi with your own luggage? Still seems easier, but the train also seems like a leisurely option and I think is a little over $100.

[Putterdude]

Have you looked into the US Direct porgram, it is a program where you and your luggage travel from the ship to the airport in an "In Bond" situation. Here is a link for your convenience:

http://www.portvancouver.com/vanAlaCruise/content/infoPassengers/usDirect.html

[jrobinso]

thanks a bunch Putterdude, I'll look in to it.

 

Jan

[jrobinso]

Putterdude, Our last port on this cruise is Victoria so I don't think it will work for us.

 

Jan

[Putterdude]

I hadn't picked up on that but with the Victoria stop it won't work for you. The cruise ship schedule for next season hasn't been published yet but I doubt that on May 9th there are going to be the number of ships in port that you may have encountered the last time you were here and there should not be the same kind of problems. That said there are going to be a much of new-hires for the season....so who knows, however what you ran into last time is not the norm. If you really want to control your own destiny then I would suggest a cab or Airporter to YVR.

www.yvrairporter.com/