fjord

MIA would have to be the worst for me, got lost at some docks for like 30 minutes once. It was a nightmare trying to catch my flight.

mike_asia

SJC and all of the construction is the worst for me. PDX is the best

InkUnderNails

You obviously do not use National at PDX. The shuttle goes past at least 6 hotels, IKEA, Target, Home Depot, a dozen restaurants and the remote parking lot before it turns onto the street to the dark and poorly marked lot that is 2-3 blocks from Airport Way.

mike_asia

i use Hertz at PDX, just walk across the street. No shuttle or anything

Crazyhotelguy

Add ABQ to the list... Another BWI...

I prefer a train to a bus...

avsfan733

PHX...it just boggles my mind. Its so...far..away and despite having lived there, having worked there, and being there about 1x a month for a year, I STILL seem to get lost everytime...Maybe I'm just stupid (actually strike the maybe) but I get angry just thinking about it

Dieuwer

DTW, cheap but far

gregmchicago

IAH and DFW are a toss-up. Or should I say, throw up?

It's a much quicker ride to the facility at IAH, but it was clearly designed by someone who never had baggage. You enter on a mezzanine level, and must take the escalator (or a usually crowded elevator) to get to the cars. Ditto on the return.

At DFW, if you want to return the car filled with gas, you have exactly one choice: that none-too-cheap Shell station.

Rentals HOU and DAL are far, far easier to handle, and worth the extra stop on MDW-DAL flights forced by the Wright Amendment.

RustyC

I think it's a legitimate question whether the consolidated facilities are really helping travelers much, on balance. Seems more like something that was done TO travelers than FOR them.

While having a hodgepodge of lots and too many courtesy buses is a less-than-ideal situation, with the consolidated facilities you typically get $4-6 A DAY surcharges ON TOP OF 10-12% "concession recoupment fees" and the usual pile of local taxes that can be 18-25%. The total of all that can add 100% to some of the weekend rates.

If you rented a car in ATL about 15 years ago you'd get only about 8% taxes added, but now with the consolidated facility and other new taxes it's in line with expensive cities like SEA. The ATL facility is huge, but at least there's a train link and a new road and bridge (albeit with signage improvements still needed). Compare that to a place like LAS where you still get to ride a bus to a remote location like you did before.

sharmaintl

Of all the airports I have rented cars at, PHX is definitely the worst. What were they thinking?

I love the smaller airports, like GSO and JAX where you can walk to your car. No shuttle is always good.

pinworm

I was confused the first time by the sinage at IAH. There is a sign, with an arrow pointing left that indicates the facility, but the first left goes somewhere else!

You are right about the taxes and fees at IAH...it's one of those sports authority taxes that many cities have (PHX is considering this now), but this one is much higher than average, along with higher facilities fees. The last car I rented there had over 100 dollars in added fees, most of them external to the actual rental company.

MarqFlyer

Another big for PHX.

Not only is the bus ride interminable (so much nicer when the cars were in the attached garage), but it is nearly impossible to find a convenient gas station on the way back in to drop off the car. You drive by all these empty lots on the way in from the freeway, and you think a resourceful gas station operator could make a killing in that location.

I'd give up on renting there altogether, except that the Phoenix area is the worst place in the free world to be without a car.

And a huge thumbs up for Jax.

ChinaShrek

What wrong with ABQ? I am renting there next month.

gj83

My problem with BWI is that the shuttles can't go unless they are full. I've started taking the light rail downtown instead of renting a car.

On return the shuttle would wait until it was at least 90% full. Nevermind the fact that the shuttle had been there for 15 minutes and there were 7 empty shuttles behind it. Then on drop off it picks up and drops off from the same spot to from that 90% full bus 2 people would get off at the WN terminal and 15 people would try to get on. Then a bus came right behind but the guy wouldn't move on and let the bus behind him take the rest of the people. I should have timed the shuttle, but it seemed like from dropping off my car to getting off the shuttle was at least 40 minutes.

FLL was bad when I used it because there was no signage for buses so I ended up walking to the rental counter. Maybe they have remedied that.

Non-NonRev

Houston had a "perfect storm" in that it built two new stadia for football and baseball and a new basletball arena, all in a relatively short period of time.