Is Reno Completely Insane!?
 

I have a meeting in mid-March in San Francisco and thought that it would be nice to fly into Reno spend the night there and take a drive over the mountains the following morning.

The combined fees, charges and taxes on rental cars out of Reno amounted to over 50% of the base rate. This is ridiculous. I just booked a flight into SFO instead. Great way to drive people away.

If you have a important meeting in SF, driving from Reno is not a good idea to start with. You can still see lots of snow over Donner pass on I-80 in March.

I have no idea about why the tax and fees are so high in Reno, but that's becoming more and more common in lots of cities. One example is Houston, where I live. They put on many fees to fund all the new stadiums built here in the past 5 years.

Too much OMNI for me. I thought you meant Janet Reno. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Their Sheriff's Department also has issues. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

No new stadiums in Washoe county AFAIK. I think the car rental tax is to soak tourists to plug budgetary deficits and give a break to casino owners.

used to be a whole load of user taxes and a car use tax about the same +/- 1-2% as the state sales tax. Wonder what it is up to these days?

there is no reason to visit reno, unless you are trying to fly into the area to visit lake tahoe.

Whenever I have checked into one-way rentals the rates were astronomical, regardless of which city. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but I rarely found any. (except Europe) On the other hand, I rent in Reno often and found the rates extremely low if returned to the same location.

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ChgoBob

Reno is cheesy, you won't miss much.

I actually like Reno quite a bit and would *in spite of the oneway rental issue (use Budget)* wholeheartedly endorse your plan were it not for the MORNING meeting. Forget about the snow; you're likely to catch traffic in 3 separate places, the last of which (Bay Bridge maze) is unbearable these days with the construction.

[This message has been edited by moondog (edited Feb 27, 2004).]

Amtrak provides service from Reno to Emeryville (Oakland), with a bus taking you the last 7 miles into San Francisco.

Should be pretty scenic!

Indeed, please pack something to eat when driving that stretch of I-80.

Just ask the Donner party.

Take Amtrak's "California Zephyr" from Reno to Emeryville? I hope someone has lots and lots of spare time. First, you need to hope if the train will arrive more or less on time from Chicago, which clearly is a huge "IF".

And then, get this - it takes 9 and a half hours to run about 220 miles; and this is downhill nevertheless. I am not kidding. Amtrak #5 is scheduled to leave Reno at 9:39am, and arrive Emeryville at 5:09pm. That's like an average of 25MPH.

Let me get this straight. You are taking a trip to San Francisco and you want to spend the night in Reno? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

QL

Typical rip-off extra car charges were 33%-45% on my last 5 rentals so 50% aint too bad. I dont know where you are flying from but usually flights to SFO are far cheaper than flights to RNO.

MisterNice

Reno Air effect is long gone, I guess. Kind of surprising that RNO has high fares when WN is the largest airline there.

Does RNO (and LAS) still have the advantage of no Saturday night stay required for the cheapest tickets?