Hertz - Drop off charges SFO-> Downtown SF - Any way around it?

I am heading out to the San Francisco area for a long weekend next month. My plan was to pick up something nice (maybe an XJ8 or S-Type) and drive up to the wine country for a few days. Then I want to drop the car off at the main Hertz office in downtown San Francisco as we'll really have little use for it for the last two days and parking prices there can be quite steep.

The problem lies in that they don't seem to like you renting the prestige vehicles at SFO and dropping them off in town. The daily rate is close to double that if you drop off back at SFO.

Are there any PCs, CDPs or RQs that can get around this? Any other methods?

Drop it off at SFO and take a bus into town. It's interesting that Hertz says they don't charge a drop off fee, they just charge more!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by CarmelGreg:
Drop it off at SFO and take a bus into town. It's interesting that Hertz says they don't charge a drop off fee, they just charge more!</font>


There's no need to take a bus.

BART (trains) runs directly from the airport to all the downtown stations. It takes about 30 minutes.

Here's the link for BART (http://bart.gov/index.asp) and for SamTrans KX Express Bus (http://198.94.156.9/Sched/SM/KX/) and the 292 local bus (http://198.94.156.9/Sched/SM/292/).

I've found that the SamTrans Express is usually fine, but occasionally a driver would hassle me about my rollaboard. (You're not supposed to have "luggage.") I'll probably try BART though on the next trip just to test it out.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LGA:
Here's the link for BART (http://bart.gov/index.asp) and for SamTrans KX Express Bus (http://198.94.156.9/Sched/SM/KX/) and the 292 local bus (http://198.94.156.9/Sched/SM/292/).

I've found that the SamTrans Express is usually fine, but occasionally a driver would hassle me about my rollaboard. (You're not supposed to have "luggage.") I'll probably try BART though on the next trip just to test it out.</font>


I've never had problems taking my "luggage" on a BART train or bus. Once the bus was very full and I stood with the bag at my feet. No one said anything.

Regarding the SamTrans, they provided some background regarding the "No Luggage" policy.
http://www.samtrans.com/luggage.html

First, their policy states:
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"If a passenger can carry the item(s) on his/her lap or store it under or next to him/her on a seat unneeded and not hurt anyone else, and not interfere with others, the item is probably safe to transport." The final decision will be made by the bus operator, who is responsible for the safe transport of everyone on the vehicle."
</font>

and the reasoning behind it is:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Since SamTrans receives some federal money to help fund its operation, a private bus operator cited "unfair competition." Under an agreement with the Fedral Transit Administration, SamTrans agreed not to transport passengers with luggage between The City and the airport on its express route.
</font>

Interesting. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by yashan:
I've never had problems taking my "luggage" on a BART train or bus. Once the bus was very full and I stood with the bag at my feet. No one said anything.</font>

I was of course referring to the express bus specifically about the luggage, but interesting background about their policy...

As an update - I rented a YF instead and dropped it off at the Mason Street location.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LGA:
I was of course referring to the express bus specifically about the luggage, but interesting background about their policy...</font>

I meant to only quote the part where you said, "I'll probably try BART though on the next trip just to test it out." I apparently deleted the wrong part of your quote. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif