pinniped

I'm making my 2nd trip to New Orleans - a weekend getaway in July.

Two questions:

(1) Can anyone speak to the overall rental car process at MSY? Are the agencies on-terminal, or do you need to ride a bus to get to certain agencies? And has anyone used the Emerald Aisle, Quicksilver, or #1 Club Gold processes at this location? Trying to figure out which one is the fastest to the road.

(2) Anyone have a good suggestion as to where to park the thing near the Renaissance Pere Marquette? I don't mind paying for parking, I just don't want to get badly ripped off. Timeframe is Saturday noontime through Monday very early AM. We will probably only use the car to get downtown and back to the airport, so a garage without in & out privileges is OK. A street parking recommendation is fine as long as it's somewhere halfway safe.

On my first trip to MSY, we stupidly went down there without a car rental reservation and wound up in a 45 minute cab line. Also on a Saturday around noon, and not during Mardi Gras. The wait for a van/bus was even longer. So this time, we're not taking that risk.

DallasBill

The process is a 5 min bus for the majors and is painless. I have used 3 there - Hertz and Budget and Thrifty. I prefer Hertz because it has by far the largest lot and the deals are consistently good enough for me.

Thrifty is a 10-15 min off-site ride on Airline Hwy so don't use it if you don't want to search for it there on return.

Budget can get backed up outside their lot on returns as they are at a funky intersection at the end of the major rental road and only have 2 lanes to return in.

Caveat:
We go to N.O. at least 4 times a year to visit friends & my wife's family -- always on weekends but never Sat at noon. I think you would be crazy to spend money on a car you won't really use. Parking downtown will run you anywhere from $20-25 for 24 hours. Then you have the car rental on top of that. We only get a car because we stay in the Garden District and drive to Metairie alot. We always cab to the Quarter and know the back lots of the CBD (downtown).

Book a limo in advance and forget about the taxi lines at MSY. They are $50-55 for up to 4 people and will be waiting for you when you arrive.

http://www.extremeelegance.com/neworleansairport.html
or
http://www.a1-new-orleans-limos.com/?referrer=Insiteful

Take a taxi back to the airport... or the limo again if you get lucky at Harrah's!

pinniped

Well, here's what I have so far on the car: a Hertz midsize for $49 all incl. and that includes 1 full WN credit (which I actually do have a use for).

Worst case cost on parking: the Renaissance where I'm staying is $25/day + tax & tips. (Call it $30/day.)

So, for about $110, I'd have a rental car, unlimited in&out parking, 1 WN credit, and about 750 Marriott points ($50 x 15 points). And it sounds like a good process at MSY - not much time-risk if I use Hertz. So right there, I think I'm still ahead of doing a cab both ways or a limo + cab. That's assuming I don't find a garage in a nearby office building that has cheaper weekend rates.

Then the question becomes: is there a benefit to having a car in New Orleans? Good stuff in the outlying parts of town to visit? Maybe a swamp tour or something? Garden district? We hate bus tours, so if the car frees us up to do things that people usually do on a bus tour, that would be cool. ^

Obviously, we'll park the car and go out in the Quarter both nights we're there. But during the day, we don't have much on the agenda - just want to explore the city.

My first trip to New Orleans was for on Mardi Gras Marathon weekend in '03. Kind of ironic that I've taken a 26.2-mile foot tour of N.O. but honestly don't remember a doggone thing. So this is kind of like my first trip there.

DallasBill

When you put it that way, there's a lot of things to do with a car there that will get you out of the Quarter mentality.

For lunch, drive out Magazine and park anywhere around Mag. & 7th. Have a great lunch at Joey K's, a local corner hang-out and a place the trade goes for food when off. Free WiFi in the Rue de la Course coffee shop down the street at Harmony. Great drinks at the Bulldog Pub a block further down. If there's women in your group, BellaDonna is a great place across the street for day spa and cosmetics. Walk the streets between Mag. and St. Charles (4 blocks away) and marvel at the houses -- you are in the heart of the Garden District there.

Go to the Audubon Zoo... very good time and a great park around it with old Live Oaks and mega hanging moss.

Drive uptown on Prytania (parallels Magazine and St. Charles) to the Upperline for dinner one night -- awesome place in an old Creole-type cottage. At Prytania and Upperline... lots of parking on the street and you escape the Quarter crowds again.

Drive north up Esplanade -- from the far end of the Quarter -- and stop at the old cemetary a couple of miles up on your right. Come back down again and stop for a beer or burgers at the Port o' Call.

There's lots' to do with a car! Have fun!

PS... SWA's CDP has a weekend triple RR credit for Hertz... see the sticky in the SWA forum for the PC.

BMWcouple

Free parking in the Harrah's garage by the canal. Just have to play 30 min per night. I stretched a $5 bill a long ways to get my 30 min and got a free cocktail! It's not too far from your hotel.

pinniped

Yes - that's a nice offer. ^ I have it booked for another weekend rental where we need a big car. There are also some very nice ones if you do weekly rentals and collect WN credits - generating a lot of buzz on the Hertz board (and probably on WN, too).

pinniped

Offhand, I'd say that we probably wouldn't do this: spending an hour of my time (counting what it'll take to walk over there and back, as well as to gamble) just isn't worth it for free parking.

But...dump a few beers in me and tell me that there's a craps table nearby, and that could change. So...my question is: how does this really work? Do I just ask the pit boss for a parking chit after I've been there for a half-hour? Do I have to announce myself to a dealer/boss before I begin play? Can I play for 1 hour at one time and get 2 days' worth of free parking?