PHX Phoenix Airport Minivan Alamo

[micheles]

having invited my son's girlfriend to join us on holiday this year, an invitation that was accepted, the reality of travelling with an extra person hit home - we are a family of five so girlfriend makes six - problem with car hire...?

the cost of minivans is quite high and the rates were coming out at over $900

the best rate i could get on hotwire was $35 + taxes etc for fourteen nights and an extra night at around $60

priceline was $30 for fifteen days so

15 x $30 $450

taxes and fees $246

total $695

I read somewhere on this site about the extortionate airport fees for car rental in phoenix - i now know what they mean

anyway we are quite happy with this rate - less than we had expected :)

[bbbb]

You might have been able to do better on this by waiting a few months. This is slow season and rates might drop a little. The taxes at the PHX airport are killer,I bet most of you rate was taxes?

[micheles]

hi

you are quite right - the fees were nearly $250 with a $450 rental rate

last year we got a premium car quite last minute for $20 which seemed a good rate - i suppose i expected to pay quite a bit more for a minivan so didn't freak out at $30 - we needed just over the two weeks and the last day is the real killer - on hotwire it hiked the daily rate from $35 to $51 - one extra day - this seemed to be ridiculous

[LoneStar]

What I did last year for a similar rental was to take a hotel shuttle to the Holiday Inn in Tempe and rent the minivan from the counter there -- saving well over $100 week in taxes on a minivan. I think it's Dollar that has a counter there. Hopefully, they won't close this loophole.

As you can see, in Phoenix, the tax is a major percentage of the rental cost.

If it's any consolation, your rate is good, so other than the tax, you did fine. It's hard to get a minivan for less than $200 week in PHX. And I understand they just built a new rental facility there, so you will have some added convenience (supposedly no shuttle bus needed).

[micheles]

thanks for the information lonestar

faster pickups will make a difference - as it is such a long day travelling from london via atlanta (i know that BA do a direct flight but delta have much better deals)

looking forward to returning to arizona.......

[bbbb]

I can't see how you would get to the rental cars with out a shuttle bus,its about two miles away?

[LoneStar]

I can't see how you would get to the rental cars with out a shuttle bus,its about two miles away?

You're right. I had heard that PHX just opened a new rent-a-car facility, and I assumed it was like the facilities that are springing up all over the place (especially in Florida) where you can once again just walk to your car. The good citizens of Phoenix, however, seem to have decided to stick their facility in Siberia.

I guess it means I'm likely to be riding the shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn the next time. :)

http://phoenix.gov/AVIATION/park_trans/rental_car_info.html

[micheles]

just nearly freaked out when checking the site tonight - i saw this topic and read the dates - panic!!!

we need the car for august 5th to august 20th and i posted the dates here as july....

quickly checked with priceline and i made the booking for august - so an error with the posted dates (sorry) - i thought i'd made another priceline boo boo.