Seattle Travel Forum

I need a car for about ten days from SEA in July. Is there a "best" rental agancy in the airport? How can I find the best deals?

Many thanks.

Hello,
There is a local rental agency called "Fox" that has low rates, but I suggest searching through expedia.com. You can compare rates there. Also, if you have any memberships, they may give you an extra discount (AAA, AARP, your credit card, etc)

Take a look at the following websites in this order, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, Budget, they tend to have the better rates.

Take a look at the following websites in this order, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, Budget, they tend to have the better rates.

Here's what we did about 16 months ago:

Instead of renting the Alamo car at the airport, we arranged to pick it up in Downtown Seattle, and at the end of our trip, drop it off at the airport.

To get from the airport to downtown, we took Bus 194 [info at bottom], got off at 4th & University, then walked 2 blocks to 6th & University, to pick up our car at the Hilton [1301 6th Ave]. Actually, we asked if we could leave the car in the hotel garage for a while so we could go eat. They said no problem. SO, we left it there while we explored downtown Seattle...with no parking charges. At the end of the rental, we dropped it off at the airport.

Why did we do this? We saved all of the airport taxes, got a better rate, and had a free safe place to park for a few hours while we explored downtown. What did it cost us? Needing to pack light [carrying luggage on the bus, walking 2 blocks], less than $5, and catching the bus. Heck, the buses come more quickly than some of the airport rental car shuttles do!

Depending on when you rent it [because rates seem to fluctuate depending on supply and demand] it's not always a big savings, but for us it was almost $100....on a week's rental. It's worth checking alamo.com out and seeing if there is a big enough difference to make it worthwhile. This method probably works for other car rental agencies too.



Bus 194 Info
Ticket cost:
$2.00 peak [6-9am, 3-6pm], $1.25 off-peak [all other hours]

Duration:
Journey takes 30 mins.

Frequency:
Leaves every 10 mins. between 8am and 5pm less often other times, check schedule link:
http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bus/schedules/s194_0_.html
http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bus/route_images/m194_0.gif

Airport Bus stop location:
Outside Arrivals, past the last baggage turnstile]
There are two bus stops, be sure you are at the one with "194" on the sign.

Thanks, Hugh. Now you've got me thinking.