Originally Posted by
rxgeek
I live in central Ohio, one of the most overcast places in the US. I have a flight to AUS and a hotel but no flight home yet and rental cars are $270 for 2 days. I'm hoping the forcast for Cleveland is clear so I can stay close to home.
Who are you renting from to get that rate? My corporate rate, which I can use for personal travel as well, is $29/day (plus tax) for a mid-size at Hertz. The all-in rate is usually $35-40/day, depending on airport fees (and the weekly rate is $180). There's a few exceptions, such as NYC, but that rate is even solid for Hawaii. I'd suggest you check some of the rental car forums and/or use Autoslash for something better.
Where is your hotel? The closer you get to Waco (peak) the more expensive the properties will be, if they even have rooms. There are several properties in Round Rock and Georgetown that still have mostly normal rates (possibly Temple as well).
I was home for the eclipse in October, and it was pretty wild. We weren't in the peak area (I think it was Waco for that one too), but it was enough to know what was happening.