I will have several rentals at SJC in the next weeks, so I like to hear some comments about this station.
Preferred Express Service ??
Variety of cars, especially SUV`s ???

Thanks a lot !!

The Avis service is pretty much run of the mill, but the bus that goes around the terminals to get you to/from is the pits. Slow, stupid, screwy: The drivers wait forever when no one is at a stop, they seemingly go to either or both terminals at random, can't seem to use the stops efficiently (two busses at one, second bus refuses to let you exit until you're up to the front of the queue, dumb drivers who couldn't care less if you make your plane or get out of the airport to an appointment.)

One good point: Avis just wised up, and ended their $88/day gouge plan for SJC (using it like the NYC airports). I find that they're again normally priced, like the rest of the agencies. Glad that phase is over. (see, some dot-com demise is OK, even if we have nothing left in our stock accounts!)

Oh, and there's one thing that bugs the heck out of me: the signs that say "Buses come every 5 minutes". HAH! I espied the schedule on the last bus I was on, and noted that they had them scheduled about every 7 minutes during part of the day, but it is actually a 15 minute schedule at other times! Not that they keep any schedule! I guess it just irks me to see Avis lying to us purposefully, just like the airlines. {this post edited to add this final comment, which instantly came to mind as I hit Submit}


[This message has been edited by SST (edited 09-08-2001).]

Avis is way better than Hertz at SJC. When the rental facility moved from the airport to off-site, it was pure hell with the buses. But Hertz couldn't get their Gold board working for months. There was always a huge line of Hertz Gold customers each time I arrived, so I started walking over to the Avis desk and they are great.

I always get an upgrade to a Caddy at SJC, but they do have some SUV's there.

Now with the dot.com kids leaving town, things aren't so bad at SJC anymore. But if I were returning a car on Thursday or Friday afternoon, I would definitely allow for an extra 30-40 minutes.

Good point: the airport access at SJC is SO poor that you cannot reliably get into the rental car return area without arriving at the 101 off-ramp about 1 hour ahead of your flight. This is not Avis's fault, but remember this warning, so you're not cooling your heels waiting after your missed flight. Trust me, it's a real problem, especially in the middle of the day, and always if there's any construction going on.