Kansas City car rental?

[hsmamato2]

hi- a bit OT- anyone have experience at the KC airport-what is the best place to look for car rentals? i've checked a few sites for quotes,they all seem extraordinarily high- I thought if someone knew where to check,it might help-what desks are big there....looking for early June TIA

 

[bntlyclg89]

Thanks to a city tax that was added a couple years back, all car rentals from KCI will be very high. Sorry don't have any words of wisdom for you other than check for coupons, use a car club discount if you have one etc.

 

[hsmamato2]

are nearby cities affected by this tax? they are pretty horrendous- like if we could get a car from a nearby place? thanks for explaining,BTW,I didn't know why the fees were so bad-

 

[NotUrsula]

If you are trying to rent at MCI (the airport), then all of the agencies will be affected by the 9% airport fee. "City locations" (those not anywhere near the airport) are not affected by the full tax load, but Kansas City doesn't have a lot of them, except for Hertz and Enterprise. You would also have to pay a pretty hefty cab fare to get to any of those locations.

If you are asking about flying into another city to avoid the tax, it isn't realistic -- there are no other large airports within a five-hour drive. (The closest would probably be Columbia, MO, which is about 2.5 hours away. The only flights into it are via Kansas City and St. Louis, on USAir.)

You might want to try Hotwire or Priceline for a rental car at MCI; that will probably be your best bet on rates.

BTW: If you are interested in how the taxes break down: $4-a-day charge to pay for a downtown sports arena, a $5-a-day charge for construction of a consolidated rental car facility, an "airport access fee" of about $12 and state and local sales taxes totaling about $14. USAToday ran an article about 6 mos ago that showed that MCI has the highest rental car prices in the nation because of the tax rate.

 

[Ub_Iwerks]

There are some Budget car rental places around Kansas City, at least on the Kansas side. What part of the city will you be in?

 

[slruud]

What are your dates and what kind of quotes have you been getting???? Have you tried Hotwire to see what their rates are???....and compare them to the rental car companies you have priced???? Whatever Hotwire has, you can bid anywhere from $3 to $5 less on Priceline and have a good chance of a win. Good luck.

 

[hsmamato2]

Well, so far I've looked at standard national companies- the rates haven't been so terrible, but the added fees are usually over $100
I think I'm going to try for an off airport place to pick up- as family might be willing to help us getting there,and save 100's of $$$- it's steep!
my dates are June 9-17 2007- i can pick up other than the airport,but will drop it off at the airport- Thanks for all the info!