Car Rental at DCA
 

I will be renting a car in Arlington and would like to know how "difficult" it is (i.e., how long is the walk, is it outdoors, etc.?) to go directly from the Metro Station at DCA to Parking Garage A where the rental car agencies are located.

Alternatively, I could rent from Enterprise on J.D. Highway but, for the time period I'm looking at, their rates are quite a bit higher than those on airport.

Thanks in advance.

It's a 5 minute walk or so. It's outside but 95% of the way it's covered. It's not difficult at all, follow the signs...

But wow - cheaper all-in to rent from the airport, including all the airport taxes??? Have you tried other in-town locations eg Avis? (Location A8V)

Great---thanks for the info.

Well, I didn't tell the full story. First, it's a weekend rental and I need a location with reasonably late hours. Many of the neighborhood outlets I looked at close early on Sundays.

I was looking specifically at the Enterprise at 20th and J.D. (which, I believe, is technically an airport location) and they were about $10-$15 more expensive for a 2 day rental than Dollar is at DCA. Not a huge difference, so as long as it's not unreasonably difficult to get to Dollar, I might as well save the few bucks.

if you use orbitz, i think you can get the entire agency matrix on one screen. it has proven to be quite accurate for me. i think there are a number of rentals at subway stops also, including union station.

The other thing to consider is rental from an "in town" location, with return to the airport ... you avoid the airport fees and the drop-off since you are so close may be nominal to yield an overall lower price

Rates vary dramatically at DCA
 

This weekend, I have an Alamo full size for $15/day -- two weeks ago, the same car was going to be $40/day. My startegy when rates are high -- price via Orbitz and then go in through Priceline or Hotwire and bid 10-25% below. Almost always "win" and get a major renter.

Why rent when I'm local? I have a house on the Outer Banks and it is 300+ miles each way -- about 700 miles per weekend. Any way you look at it, much cheaper to put the miles on a rental car than mine plus the rental cars get better MPG than my upscale SUVs.