3 day one-way rental NYC - WAS

Old Oct 26, 2014, 7:55 am
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3 day one-way rental NYC - WAS

Hi to this forum!

I'm normally active in an European forum but since I'm planning an extensive American trip I decided to register here.

My first question is regarding a car rental for 3 days, pick-up in Manhattan, return in DC (downtown). I'm AVIS President, SIXT Platinum and HERTZ President's Circle.

The best offer I could get for a full-size car (no luxury) is US$ 320. This is a lot comparing how much I pay for a one-way rental in Florida.

We're planning to drive from Manhattan (staying at the Park Hyatt) to the Niagara Falls and then back to DC (staying at the W).

I tried several codes - but it didn't get any cheaper.

Do you have any advise for me, do I do something wrong?
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Old Oct 26, 2014, 8:03 am
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Welcome to FT!



Are you sure you want to drive the whole way? How many of you are traveling?

Last edited by guv1976; Oct 26, 2014 at 8:11 am
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Old Oct 26, 2014, 11:25 am
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it's just my girlfriend & me. It looks like 7 hours from Manhattan to Niagara Falls and 8 hours to DC. I thought driving would be a good alternative, to see a bit of the US, rather than just an airport.

I don't like flying because on this commuter flights because there's only Y class, without luggage allowance. Due to my *A Gold status I would have one free suitcase with 23 kg, for the others I would have to pay.
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Old Oct 27, 2014, 2:35 am
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The reason for choosing a car over flying are various:
- commuter flights have Y class only, so no luggage allowance (except one bag due to my *A Gold status)
- we wanted to see a bit of the US and thought it's a good way
It looks like a 7 hr drive from Manhattan to the Niagara Falls and 8 hours to DC. Flying will not be much shorter when you calculate driving from/to the airport, check-in, security....
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Old Oct 27, 2014, 6:21 am
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This reason the price is so low in FL: They have a state law that prevents "drop fees" or "one-way fees" on rental vehicles to promote tourism. There isn't anywhere else that I know of that has this policy. Have you tried Avis.xx (for other countries, instead of .com) to see if others are less expensive? What about other rental companies?
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Old Oct 27, 2014, 8:57 am
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Thanks for the advise. Via www.avis.es at least I got it down to US$ 280.
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Old Oct 27, 2014, 9:17 am
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Originally Posted by ChristianKiev
The reason for choosing a car over flying are various:
- commuter flights have Y class only, so no luggage allowance (except one bag due to my *A Gold status)
- we wanted to see a bit of the US and thought it's a good way
It looks like a 7 hr drive from Manhattan to the Niagara Falls and 8 hours to DC. Flying will not be much shorter when you calculate driving from/to the airport, check-in, security....
If you're driving because you want to see the country, that's fine -- although you could also take Amtrak from Manhattan to Buffalo or Niagara Falls. But taking the train takes longer than driving.

If you decide to drive, I would recommend going through the Catskill Mountains (NY route 17/Interstate 86) rather than through Pennsylvania (Interstates 80/380/81). Going through the Catskills will add about 20 minutes to the drive, but it's a much prettier drive.

You also have the option of driving just to Buffalo/Niagara Falls, and flying from BUF to the Washington area. If this interests you, check Southwest's fares from BUF to BWI on southwest.com. Southwest allows two free checked bags per passenger.
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Old Oct 27, 2014, 4:44 pm
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This reason the price is so low in FL: They have a state law that prevents "drop fees" or "one-way fees" on rental vehicles to promote tourism. There isn't anywhere else that I know of that has this policy.

That's not the only reason. A lot of European countries also have a similar law, but the result is higher rates for everyone, rather than lower rates like in FL. I'd say the difference is that FL has a huge amount of leisure, price sensitive customers, and lower business operating costs.
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Old Oct 29, 2014, 6:20 pm
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Avis has been trying to de-fleet the north east and direct cars to FL for the past few weeks so that is not a good indicator of prices for one way rates. I have seen rates for $20.00/day with taxes from the NYC area to FL for almost every single car class in the past few weeks
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Old Nov 2, 2014, 8:04 am
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Originally Posted by ChristianKiev
Hi to this forum!

I'm normally active in an European forum but since I'm planning an extensive American trip I decided to register here.

My first question is regarding a car rental for 3 days, pick-up in Manhattan, return in DC (downtown). I'm AVIS President, SIXT Platinum and HERTZ President's Circle.

The best offer I could get for a full-size car (no luxury) is US$ 320. This is a lot comparing how much I pay for a one-way rental in Florida.

We're planning to drive from Manhattan (staying at the Park Hyatt) to the Niagara Falls and then back to DC (staying at the W).

I tried several codes - but it didn't get any cheaper.

Do you have any advise for me, do I do something wrong?

You will incurr a 50 USD + Tax charge for the one way rental, that is why you get higher price.

I got 300 USD for a luxury (including one way fee) used avis.com-> deals-> Traveling to the US. Premium was $40 cheaper.

Also this price includes LDW
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