SanDiego1K

Is it possible to do a one way car rental from Terrace to Prince Rupert? We have a trip booked to see bears at Khutzy. The trip rolled from last year to this year and might have to be rolled on. Let's pretend the US/Canada border opens and the trip happens. On our flight to Canada, there is no service into Prince Rupert. We have been rebooked to fly to Terrace. Flights return to Prince Rupert while we are on the trip. It's possible for us to fly home from Prince Rupert. But I wonder about the ability to do a one way rental, both in terms of the logistics and in terms of the cost.

Am I better to return to Terrace to return the rental car?

Adam Smith

Paging @nomadic.relief, our resident expert on the hinterlands of BC

Altaflyer

Google Maps says 1:35 Terrace to Prince Rupert. Just return from Terrace. It takes a good amount of time to get the ferry to YPR so not a huge timesaver.

FlY2XS

We aren't savages up here. Of course you can book a one way car rental. I have no idea of the surcharges. Just do a dummy booking for numbers. Sure it will not be severe. I have a former colleague who has been flying to Terrace and driving to and from Rupert routinely.
On a sunny day (which is admittedly rare), it is a spectacular drive.
Given the uncertainties, it might be worth while to book both possibilities. Cancel the car if flight availability to YPR holds, otherwise, you have an option if they substitute Terrace.

Adam Smith

Can you though? I checked Expedia for @SanDiego1K's dates, and it wasn't giving me any availability.

FlY2XS

The problem isn't a one way rental. End dates are Sat when most offices are closed up in the boonies. I didn't realize that in my initial reply, my bad. If they can work around that, it is doable. OR maybe they can't so it is not.
If you can kill a couple of days in Terrace, SanDiego, you are fine.

SanDiego1K

My fear is that if the Prince Rupert Airport has been closed, the car rental companies are likely closed. Covid has turned everything upside down. Cars were taken out of Hawaii. There has been explosive return of travelers in the last 2/3 weeks as many of us are getting our vaccines. Car rental companies did not predict this and are not coping. Some car rental companies are sold out for the next several weeks. When cars are available, the prices are extortionate. I use autoslash.com to find the best possible car prices. It is reporting on lack of cars or extremely high prices at places where folks want to go this summer. I don't mean to insult anyone with these questions, but I want to poke around at various aspects of this trip so that if I am actually able to take it, I can put together all aspects of it.

I want to go to Nisga’a Museum on the trip.

You have me thinking I should rebook the trip to return from Terrace.

Adam Smith

Ah, there we go! @SanDiego1K, if you can do without a car on the 26th and return it the day before, you can do a one-way rental from YXT to Prince Rupert. Or maybe if you call the Enterprise in YPR, they'll have a way to let you drop it off on the 26th. But it's easily bookable online. Extra cost for the one-way vs just returning to YXT is $110.

FlY2XS

Figure out what works best for you. There is still a demand for car rentals in Terrace and Rupert, which isn't as strongly tourist driven as HI. The issue will be pick up on a Saturday; absentee drop offs out of office hours are not likely to be an issue. Many of these smaller offices are locally managed. I have had very good outcomes almost all of the time talking directly with them to make arrangements, and I have been the beneficiary of local folks going well out of their way or published schedule multiple times in small town BC. Don't be hesitant to track down the local phone number and talking directly. YMMV
Nisga'a lava fields are unlike anything I have seen in Italy or Hawaii. If you are a geek for stuff like that it is well worth the trip. I don't know if there are (or will be) travel opportunities from Terrace without a rental car, but there used to be great guided tours Pre Covid.
Good Luck.

Adam Smith

YPR is literally on a small island not much bigger than the airport. You take a school bus from the terminal over to the little ferry to the mainland, so the rentals aren't there, they're in town. So I think you're probably okay there.

The moderator in me does wonder whether all this car rental/driving talk might be getting more in to territory for the Canada forum though

nomadic.relief

To add to the comments (and FlY2XS is more the expert in this particular region), calling directly is definitely advised for regional car rentals like this. The car I am currently driving was not officially available for pick up at the time my flight arrived in YXJ because websites all showed the agency as "closed" at that specific time. It most certainly was not. In general for these rural airports they will have staff to meet all incoming flights for rental pick ups, even if their own website indicates the station is "closed", but booking in advance is essential because there aren't always cars available and if no one is scheduled for a rental there might not be staff. Sometimes the staff members just come in for the 45-1 hour post arrival, then vacate the location again.

**Slightly off topic, but the shortage of car rentals is a much discussed issue in other forums - largely due to fleets being sold off to liquidate assets and there not being availability to replace fleets at the rate they were sold now that things are picking up, not limited to HI, but all over NA.

RangerNS

You can always "rent" a car one way.

Just get a cab from the airport to the closest car dealer. Buy a car. Drive it to where you want to go. Abandon it. This service does not even require you to turn the car off.

Depending on the quality of the car you might wish to drive in, this will cost you from $500 to $50,000, and the best part is that the price is has unlimited days and unlimited mileage.

Fiordland

I would try calling Driving Force. They have a counter at the airport in Terrace and they are able to sometimes think a little outside the box on things given the do a lot of business leases.

tdiddy23

+1

I just rented a car in Terrace a couple weeks ago, Driving Force was easy to deal with. Have used them with any trips up north. I had hoped to fly into Smithers for my trip but flights from Vancouver kept getting cancelled/moved so just drove in from terrace. Flight was full, and they had a couple/day, this is a fairly reliable route in times of COVID. It is also a bit less likely to get cancelled due to weather i believe but thats less of an issue in summer probbably. Getting to airport in Prince Rupert is a chore, we were able to scramble into Terrace with 45 prior to flight and got skis on the flight in time no questions asked.

Make sure you have coverage for glass chips we got a big one.

SanDiego1K

Thanks for the help. I've decided to return to Terrace to return the car. I take it that this is the company I want to contact? https://drivingforce.ca/search-inventory/

We've got a day before we start our Khutzy trip. I hope to visit Nisga'a Museum on that day. Are museums open in British Colombia? If the museum is closed, is it still worth the drive to see the lava fields? I'm also interested in North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site after the trip. Open or closed? The website says closed for the 2020 season and has no information about 2021.

Any thoughts on where to stay in Terrace? Any good restaurants? Fancy isn't important; well prepared food is.