Renting a car at Denver Airport

[lynzi2004]

So my DH and DS have planned a last minute trip to Denver next Friday. They will be needing to rent a car from the airport (flight comes in the 21st around 7pm) and will return it late Monday night for an early flight out (6:30 Tuesday morning). We have never rented a car before so does anyone have any advice to get a good rate. Due to his late arrival and early departure, we will need to rent from the airport for the extended hours. Rentals are running around $350 for those days! That may be normal, but OUCH! when your not used to renting! Thanks!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I'm not a rental car guru but I find that AAA has the best discounts. Also, book now and if the rate drops you can get a price adjustment (at least I was able to with Hertz). I wouldn't just go with the cheapest rental though. Some of those companies have terrible reviews and are very shady. Be sure you research the rental company prior and really read the reviews - don't go by 1 star or 5 star. Figure out the reasoning behind their 1 star review.

 

[PerfessorZ]

So my DH and DS have planned a last minute trip to Denver next Friday. They will be needing to rent a car from the airport (flight comes in the 21st around 7pm) and will return it late Monday night for an early flight out (6:30 Tuesday morning). We have never rented a car before so does anyone have any advice to get a good rate. Due to his late arrival and early departure, we will need to rent from the airport for the extended hours. Rentals are running around $350 for those days! That may be normal, but OUCH! when your not used to renting! Thanks!

There are public transit options (busses/trains) from the airport to downtown Denver. Depending on how much driving they're going to be doing, would using Uber or Lyft be a more economical option?

 

[crazylady]

I always find the best rates through Costco. I recently though the Denver Airport Alamo and it was a smooth process for pick up and drop off.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I wouldn't just go with the cheapest rental though. Some of those companies have terrible reviews and are very shady. Be sure you research the rental company prior and really read the reviews - don't go by 1 star or 5 star. Figure out the reasoning behind their 1 star review.

This. We made this mistake on our last trip to Denver, renting through Payless. Terrible experience. Long drive to the offsite location, super long line to pick up the car, got charged for an extra day because we picked up 30 minutes early. Never again.

 

[lynzi2004]

There are public transit options (busses/trains) from the airport to downtown Denver. Depending on how much driving they're going to be doing, would using Uber or Lyft be a more economical option?

Unfortunately, they are driving 4 hours from Denver to do some 4wheeling with extended family. I had also considered Uber to an offsite rental location but with the arrival/departure times nothing would be open.

 

[lynzi2004]

This. We made this mistake on our last trip to Denver, renting through Payless. Terrible experience. Long drive to the offsite location, super long line to pick up the car, got charged for an extra day because we picked up 30 minutes early. Never again.

His flight lands at 7:30pm. Would doing a pickup time of 8:00pm be reasonable or do I need to do a pickup time of like 7pm so he doesn't get charged for picking it up early? They will have no bags, other than personal items as some extended family that is meeting them at the location is bringing the larger gear.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

His flight lands at 7:30pm. Would doing a pickup time of 8:00pm be reasonable or do I need to do a pickup time of like 7pm so he doesn't get charged for picking it up early? They will have no bags, other than personal items as some extended family that is meeting them at the location is bringing the larger gear.

I think 8pm should be ok, assuming the flight is on time. Our flight got in about 30 min early which is why we ended up being early.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

Just an FYI, all the rental companies are at an off site rental location where you need to take a shuttle. It is 5-10 minutes from the terminal and each company runs their own busses to the off site

 

[bek]

Costco usually has good rates. Membership with AAA or AARP, etc. can give you discounts. Also Priceline and Hotwire often have good rates. We usually check through a travel aggregator like Expedia just to see how rates are running, then go directly to the car rental site. Not sure if a non-airport pick-up and return would be cheaper but the light rail runs from the airport to Union Station in downtown Denver.

I've never heard of being charged for an early or late pick-up. I always think of the pick-up/return time as being a good faith guesstimate. Airlines are frequently early or late for their arrival times. The only time I've seen an impact is if it's a morning arrival and an evening departure. Then you'll frequently be charged for a full extra day rather than for a few additional hours. Shouldn't impact you since it's an evening arrival and morning departure.

As someone mentioned all the rental cars are off-site. You'll need to take the tram from the arrival gates to the concourse. Then follow the signs to the taxi pick-up area. All the rental car folks have signage for their shuttles, which will be across a few lanes of traffic.

 

[kandb]

Try autoslash.com the best prices. I and family members have used them and all had good experiences. The rentals are with the top rental agencies as well.

 

[tvguy]

Certainly shop around, but we warned, many cities lump HUGE taxes and fees on rental cars at airport locations. I think it was almost 30% of my bill in Phoenix. I can't remember where it was, but one city as I recall charges a flat $27.50 per day on rental cars, ON TOP of the normal sales tax.

 

[wendow]

Denver rates are typically pretty high My family rents a car sometimes when they come to visit us and unfortunately, it's sticker shock every time.

Payless is awful, as a pp pointed out. Do not rent from them! They charged my aunt $700 for damage that was done before she got the car.

All rental companies are offsite at Denver, as they are with many other large airports, so you will want to plan on some extra time for transporting.

As others pointed out, Costco frequently has the best rates.

 

[disneylove69]

Denver is just expensive all together. Not sure why.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Also avoid Fox. Same issues as Payless. Denver is always expensive.