Zipcar

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

VentureForth

Engineer
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
6,430
Location
West Melbourne, FL
A lot of major Amtrak markets have Zipcar rentals available nearby. Has anyone here ever used the Zipcar for their "rental" while travelling by Amtrak? How has it worked for you? It looks reasonable for short car usage - ie: if you're only going to use it for a couple of hours here and there. The daily rate only includes up to 180 miles with a pretty hefty overage charge. I suppose if you're going to DC and you wanted to tool around a bit in a Mercedes C-class for $15/hr between transfers, it would be way fun (note: $60 annual fee plus $25 application fee - a one time fee that would probably equal to at least a day in regular rental fees).
 
Well, you have to specify exact, but say you plan on being in WAS from 11 AM until 3 PM. Plan on being late, so book it for 2 hours (ie: 12:30 - 2:30). If you're late, you lose some of your time, for sure. But you never get charged for more than you reserve. Yeah - you may lose time you can spend in the car. Always a risk for convenience. You can always book from a smartphone as you're approaching the car, too (again, the risk is availability)...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Zipcar is good only for very short term rentals. I wish there were more major brand auto rental locations for exstended days at or near Amtrak stations. Most times its a cab ride to the airport or downtown locations which often are not open late or on weekends.
 
Zipcar is good only for very short term rentals. I wish there were more major brand auto rental locations for exstended days at or near Amtrak stations. Most times its a cab ride to the airport or downtown locations which often are not open late or on weekends.
Downtown is not bad except poor the poor hours they are often open. Airport sucks because airport rentals can cost double that of off-airport with all the fees added to them.

I wish there were more opportunities for having the car left at the station and the key left with the agent by the car rental company with the ability to drop it off the same way. This way after hours or late train pickup is possible as are departures in the evening.
 
I am not sure it is worth it in a major city like WAS. Two hours will not get you much time with how much traffic there is around that area, there is issues to finding parking, and DC has a good transit system that will get you around.

The major stations are usually set for both car rentals and public transportation are usually set. Smaller stations are not. Public transportation usually means a rare sighting of a bus or expensive cab if that is even available. I had a project that was 4 miles from the Paoli station but had no way to get between the station and the project in a timely manor.
 
Well, you see, I think that's exactly where it would be nice, in my humble opinion. Not everytime you lay over in DC, but every couple of times - it's nice to drive around and sightsee from the car, even if you don't go into any of the buildings. Such a beautiful city. You can't do that very well in the Metro. Metro is great if you have a plan to go somewhere, see it, and come back.

But like in NYC, BOS or CHI - Same thing. Just driving around the skyscrapers is INCREDIBLE. Of course you don't want to stop and pay parking so it seems to be a good idea for an overview tour. Many of their cars include navigation so you can find your parking spot next to NYP. :D

Some of their other markets include SEA, POR, MIA, PHI, PGH where parking is probably a bit more reasonable if you want to get out and enjoy an attraction.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
How about taking DC city buses to sightsee instead of the Metro?

On my few layovers I've found DC extremely walkable.

I am a member of Hertz on Demand which I've only used once but manged to use two special officers to join without any fees and get $75 in driving credit, think I still have like $35 left that I haven't spent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top