West - SeaTac car rental changes

I'm always careful which car rental company I use at Seatac because only a few keep their cars at the airport.

However, it looks like today their all moving to a consolidated facility. That sucks. I hate having to take a bus to my car, and SEA was one of the last major airports where I didn't have to do that.

http://www.portseattle.org/Sea-Tac/Parking-and-Transportation/Ground-Transportation/Pages/Rental-Cars.aspx

I never could understand why citizens and rent-a-car companies never pushed back against [centralized] rent-a-car terminals. Now people will be paying untold taxes and fees, forever. Can you tell me how much the average bill is going up.

Now people will be paying untold taxes and fees, forever. Can you tell me how much the average bill is going up.

Been paying lots for years. I think $2/day to the port authority for the new facility for quite a few years + all the other taxes?

I'm a bit confused....does this include rental companies that have always been off-site???

I'm a bit confused....does this include rental companies that have always been off-site???

You only escape the airport concession fee and SeaTac port charges if renting far far away from SEA (like in downtown). Anything in the catchment area (including off-airport sites ~ mile or more away) get included. Yes, this includes the locations that have always been off airport. Still have to pay the stadium/state taxes anywhere in the state.

Used the new facility on Friday and it definitely added a lot of time to my trip. Got on the bus, waited for a few other people to load, made another stop and loaded more people, decently long ride and then down an escalator to get my car. Ugh, I loved just walking over and getting a car :(

It's not an "improvement" if it slows down your transit, forces you to wait for things you never had to wait for before (e.g. buses), and costs you more money.

You only escape the airport concession fee and SeaTac port charges if renting far far away from SEA (like in downtown). Anything in the catchment area (including off-airport sites ~ mile or more away) get included. Yes, this includes the locations that have always been off airport. Still have to pay the stadium/state taxes anywhere in the state.

That I knew. My question was, since you already had to get on a shuttle to go to,say, Enterprise, do you now get on a shuttle that takes you to the rental site and then get on the Enterprise shuttle?

That I knew. My question was, since you already had to get on a shuttle to go to,say, Enterprise, do you now get on a shuttle that takes you to the rental site and then get on the Enterprise shuttle?

No Enterprise is now at the rental site. To the OP I think FLL is one of the few with multiple terminals which have the rental car facility on site. At least JFK and SFO have the AirTrain rather than a dedicated shuttle.

That I knew. My question was, since you already had to get on a shuttle to go to,say, Enterprise, do you now get on a shuttle that takes you to the rental site and then get on the Enterprise shuttle?

According to the link in the OP, all companies except Rent-a-Wreck are at the new consolidated facility. Rent-a-Wreck, should you dare to use them, will now require a double shuttle ride...one from the airport to the consolidated facility, and a second from that facility to Rent-a-Wreck.

I do not mind the consolidated facilities if they have a train...ATL/MIA/EWR/JFK/SFO...but I do not like the bus transfers..... Not good news.

Used the new facility on Friday and it definitely added a lot of time to my trip. Got on the bus, waited for a few other people to load, made another stop and loaded more people, decently long ride and then down an escalator to get my car. Ugh, I loved just walking over and getting a car :(

That completely blows, walking to Avis and getting a car was relatively easy and fast at SEA. I hate it when airports get worse instead of better in terms of ease of use.

I do not mind the consolidated facilities if they have a train...ATL/MIA/EWR/JFK/SFO...but I do not like the bus transfers..... Not good news.

The bus option can be done well: IAH has done a good job of using a bus system instead of a train. It's a good thing, too, because the rental car center, while on the airport grounds, is still a looooong way from the terminals. But unlike SEA, IAH has no traffic to speak of. I appreciated SEA's on-airport options, and I too tailored my choices to avoid the shuttle buses. I'll have my chance to try out the new arrangement next month.

[QUOTE=mbstone;18597984]I never could understand why citizens and rent-a-car companies never pushed back against [centralized] rent-a-car terminals. Now people will be paying untold taxes and fees, forever. Can you tell me how much the average bill is going up.[/QUOTE

actually the rental car companies was still in the airport tax zone (rental cars and hotels)...you were still paying the taxes long before that funded this structure built.

I just did this last week. It was as good as can be expected. They appear to have at least 3-4 buses making nonstop, endless trips to the center. The trip took about 8 minutes. Once there, if you a member of any program (and I'm betting 95% of us on FT are) you go straight downstairs to your car.

One tip ... take the elevator. They have escalators that go directly to different floors and you can be easily confused. (Let me rephrase, I was easily confused). :)

:td::td::td:

First off, some new signage would be in order. The whole set up is great if you are traveling with one suitcase. Not so much when you have 4 suitcases, stroller, car seat, baby and two adults (yes, it was nesecary to travel with that amount of luggage). It added a good 20 minutes to our arrival time. Husband made a comment that if Enterprise would have still been in their old facility, we would have been long gone by the time we reached their counter in the new facility. He was NOT happy. At all. At least it got us an upgrade. There is no reason for us to choose Enterprise over other companies anymore. One of the main reasons for choosing Enterprise was that we did not have to schlep our luggage all over the place. Get to the facility, park your luggage, check in, and they bring the car to you. Not anymore.

For the return journey, husband ended up dropping me and baby and luggage of at curbside check in and while we were checking in he went and dropped off the car. I still had to sit and wait about 5 minutes for him.

Agree with CBear - I used the facility for the first time on the weekend, it added more time to the whole process. I know it is pointing out the obvious but they really should have put it next to the light rail station and then the buses wouldn't be required. The bus trip seemed to take longer with all the stops and turning.

The frequency of the buses wasn't too bad but it doesn't seem to have fixed any problems - there is still a lot of buses, walking across to the garage was so much quicker, and even when you get to the garage, there is still more walking and escalators to get to your car.

Rented recently at SEA. $6 PER DAY is now added to final bill for the new consolidated car rental facility.

Rented recently at SEA. $6 PER DAY is now added to final bill for the new consolidated car rental facility.

That is a fee to pay for the rental car facility that was built.

SEA is simply out of control. Their rental surcharges were already among the highest in the country, and now, primarily for the sinecure, they have built a cumbersome facility and want more $$$ from visitors.

I hope that a competing township would build/ expand a cheaper airport in a low-cost locale that would eat SEA-TAC's lunch. And I'd like to see an environment that encourages constant competition among government entities to get to the lowest possible costs.

SEA is simply out of control. Their rental surcharges were already among the highest in the country, and now, primarily for the sinecure, they have built a cumbersome facility and want more $$$ from visitors.

I hope that a competing township would build/ expand a cheaper airport in a low-cost locale that would eat SEA-TAC's lunch. And I'd like to see an environment that encourages constant competition among government entities to get to the lowest possible costs.

What????

The problem is real estate is at a premium near the airport.

Also---because of earthquake risk new structures need to be built up to code just like in California.

The other problem in the area is terrain. There isnt that much area to build an airport in given the large military presense in the area (McChord AFB, Whidby Island NAS).

A new airport would need to be built a distance away from the foothills/casacde mountians to limit wind/weather effects.

First off the $6 is on par with many other states out west on add on rental charges. This was to pay for a consolidated rental center which is how it is at most major airports either on airport grounds or just off airport grounds. By moving this to this consolidate facility it opens up the areas where the rental ar locations were for other development.


Is there another airport??? no.

The closest one would be bellingham which has allegiant and alaska service which is about 90 miles north of Seattle.

The olny place they could use for a second airport is Boeing Field where there had been talk of Southwest and Alaska shifting there but that has been stopped.

Long term its possible what is now McChord Field part of Joint Base Lewis McChord (used to be McChord Air Force Base) could turn into a small commercial airport just outside of Tacoma.

In Everett there is Paine field which Boeing extensively uses for test flights.

outside of those areas there isnt another airport to even compete with Seattle.

In Everett there is Paine field which Boeing extensively uses for test flights.Which Allegiant is lobbying to be allowed to use, much to the chagrin of Mukilteo NIMBYs.

That is a fee to pay for the rental car facility that was built.

Isn't that what I stated? :confused:

[QUOTE=djp98374;19473327]The other problem in the area is terrain. There isnt that much area to build an airport in given the large military presense in the area (McChord AFB, Whidby Island NAS).

Not sure Whidbey Island NAS is a good example, as it's located 65 miles NW of SEA. McChord/Fort Lewis might be better examples of large, local military installations.

First off the $6 is on par with many other states out west on add on rental charges.

To the contrary, I can't recall even coming close to having $6 PER DAY added to my bill for a consolidated car rental facility.

Long term its possible what is now McChord Field part of Joint Base Lewis McChord (used to be McChord Air Force Base) could turn into a small commercial airport just outside of Tacoma.

Will not happen for a VERY long term.

Isn't that what I stated? :confused:



Not sure Whidbey Island NAS is a good example, as it's located 65 miles NW of SEA. McChord/Fort Lewis might be better examples of large, local military installations.


To the contrary, I can't recall even coming close to having $6 PER DAY added to my bill for a consolidated car rental facility.



Will not happen for a VERY long term.

Salt Lake City does it. Last year they added a daily fee on rental car charges.

I was talking about where air fields were located. The military air fields play a BIG factor in where they can build airports because of the airspace around Seattle given the mountain ranges on opposite sides of Seattle.

I was talking of it as a possibility with Mcchord Field. It was in response to someone saying of there being another airport to compete with SEATAC. i never said that it would happen anytime soon---just that it could happen.

If air force opts to pull out all their Air Force personnel and move them to other bases. They already moved a good chunk out as part of BRAC and the merging of the bases. The Army base portion has an airfield as well. Its not much of a reach they could expand the air field on Lewis and then convert part of McChord field to a public use airport that is shared with the military as how it is in Portland with the Oregon Air Guard based at PDX. From a cost perspective it would be relatively cheap to do when compared to constructing an airport from scratch.

Salt Lake City does it. Last year they added a daily fee on rental car charges.

Others?

If air force opts to pull out all their Air Force personnel and move them to other bases. They already moved a good chunk out as part of BRAC and the merging of the bases. The Army base portion has an airfield as well. Its not much of a reach they could expand the air field on Lewis and then convert part of McChord field to a public use airport that is shared with the military as how it is in Portland with the Oregon Air Guard based at PDX.

I recently retried from working 27 years for the military as a civilian, and have been quite involved with BRAC actions and support. McChord will not be BRAC'd. Also, there is a vast difference between military air operations at a major USAF base such as McChord, and that of a single Air National Guard unit operating on a civilian airport.

Topic check! ;)

cblaisd
Senior Moderator

Just got to experience this change at SEA and it's terrible compared to how it was before. Took an extra 20-30 minutes and the bus was absolutely packed to get there. Being that the bus has to travel on normal roads there's likely going to be an accident someday.

I can't understand why they couldn't keep some of the rental companies in the main parking area. If it's a space issue, put the space out for bid and let those winning companies charge the higher prices for on-site rentals. From a business perspective this makes coming to Seattle very undesirable whereas previously I found it quite convenient.

Just got to experience this change at SEA and it's terrible compared to how it was before. Took an extra 20-30 minutes and the bus was absolutely packed to get there. Being that the bus has to travel on normal roads there's likely going to be an accident someday.

I can't understand why they couldn't keep some of the rental companies in the main parking area. If it's a space issue, put the space out for bid and let those winning companies charge the higher prices for on-site rentals. From a business perspective this makes coming to Seattle very undesirable whereas previously I found it quite convenient.

Part of the reason they did this was to get rental car return traffic off the main road to arrivals/departures. By moving them out of the main garage opens up those spaces for more parking.

What do you mean--"on normal roads"??

Last time I checked you can just as easily get an accident on airport roadways.

Part of the reason they did this was to get rental car return traffic off the main road to arrivals/departures. By moving them out of the main garage opens up those spaces for more parking.

I flew out of SEA numerous times in the past and can't ever remember the rental car traffic causing any kind of traffic jams or delays. There was a separate rental car entrance prior to the arrival/departure area.

If they needed more parking why not make the new rental car facility an economy parking facility. That or open the spaces in the current garage to companies that want to pay the same rates.

Has the prior rental car floor in the garage been redone for paid parking yet? It's been several weeks since I've parked in the SEA garage, but there was no progress as of January 2013. It's been close to a year.

I flew out of SEA numerous times in the past and can't ever remember the rental car traffic causing any kind of traffic jams or delays. There was a separate rental car entrance prior to the arrival/departure area.

If they needed more parking why not make the new rental car facility an economy parking facility. That or open the spaces in the current garage to companies that want to pay the same rates.

Actually quite a few of the rental car facilities were off airport grounds where you take shuttles to the rental car lots. As a result you had to use shuttle buses from the terminal to the rental lot.

Inside the garage only 2 floors were used for rental cars parking.

The rental car unit now houses just about all the rental car companies in one location.

thus they do not have office space in the terminal near baggage claim which opens up airport real estate for other businesses to utilize.

The consolidation of the rental cars into one garage also opens up surrounding airport real estate on and around international blvd for further development.

It also lessens the traffic for shuttles by removing the rental car shuttles and leaving just parking lots and hotel shuttles along with the buses for the rental garage.

I dont know what the status is of opening the llots previous used by rental car companies to general parking.

I never could understand why citizens and rent-a-car companies never pushed back against [centralized] rent-a-car terminals. Now people will be paying untold taxes and fees, forever. Can you tell me how much the average bill is going up.

Great question? I rented from AVIS at SEA-TAC and regretted it! Here is their response on taxes assessed for rentals from this location:

The Airport has two surcharges.
$6.00 Customer Facility fee.
11.11% Airport concession fee.

In PHX, I avoided all of these charges by taking light rail to Phoenix Motor Car (Mercedes/Hertz outlet). Can these be done in SEA?

The Hertz HLE at the Marriott avoids these and often has decent rates if you can pick during the hours they're open.

Great question? I rented from AVIS at SEA-TAC and regretted it! Here is their response on taxes assessed for rentals from this location:

The Airport has two surcharges.
$6.00 Customer Facility fee.
11.11% Airport concession fee.

In PHX, I avoided all of these charges by taking light rail to Phoenix Motor Car (Mercedes/Hertz outlet). Can these be done in SEA?

Seattle as airport light rail that would take you downtown so you could rent from off airport.

The added fees are done by many airports. SLC and DEN have extra fees. Many airports set up separate airport tax zones that affect near by hotels and restaurants.