Live in Houston and planning a road trip to California. Looking to rent an suv from hertz, enterprise, etc. Airport is 40 minutes away, but offers more choices. Local locations are closer but I am scared that if something goes wrong with the car, I am going to get the "well since you didn't rent from an airport location, you are own your own".

I've never heard that about renting from a non airport location. In my experience, airport locations usually have higher taxes and fees than non airport locations.

We have a contract a work with National/Enterprise. If you do off airport, make sure you have unlimited miles on the agreement you sign. We have had issues with that a few times offsite that they ended up taking care of once we elevated it, but just something to double check.

Take a look at Turo as well. Has worked great for me twice.

never heard of someone being hesitant to NOT rent from an airport. Airport can be double the cost because of the fees/taxes.

I will often try and use public transit from airport to where I'm staying, and then rent from the local branches if it saves a few hundred bucks.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Take a look at Turo as well. Has worked great for me twice.

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We've rented some very nice late-model SUVs through Turo. Easy peasy. Pick up and drop off at airport parking.

Definitely rent off airport site. Just make sure unlimited miles. And it's usually cheaper than renting at an airport.

Also make sure their limited hours work for pick up (drop off can be done after hours).

I rent off airport all the time. Never had an issue.

McNasty said:

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Also make sure their limited hours work for pick up (drop off can be done after hours).

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oh man definitely this.

I rented a car in nashville downtown area once, it was like a 4pm pickup.

I get there at 4:05.. they were CLOSED!

8-4 was the hours. I called them and complained that when someone puts the pickup time that is the same as the closing time.. they should probably have called me around 4 asking if I was close by or something, or had a big warning in the confirmation email that this branch closes at 4.
They had me go back to airport to get a car and it was $200 more, I said I don't think so, I'm not paying any more and talked them down to just $30 worth of some fees.

But I had to uber back to airport.. luckily was only like 15 minutes.

I use autoslash.com to price/location compare and frequently book through them, never had an issue.

It was way better in past (automatically rebooking you as rates improve) but in current format it's still effective at getting a competitive price.

A couple of times when trying to rent off airport (Avis) I've gotten a call a few hours before saying "uh sorry, we're out of cars, you'll have to pick up at the airport."

Makes sense that they don't have the inventory depth but still frustrating.

You can usually save money renting off airport and it's a lot less hassle. Uber to the place you're staying and pick up the car the next day. You can turn the car in at the airport if it's more convenient but it cost a little more, it may be worth it.

I've done both....
Like posters have said, renting locally vs airport is usually less expensive due to lower fees.
Also usually their selection is not as good and their hours can be inconvenient.

Finally I've had more issues with things like blad tires, broken windshield wipers, cars stuck in valet mode and unable to reach highway speeds, and vehicles that reeked of smoke and weed from local places.
I would say if you are going to go for the less expensive local place, get a higher class of vehicle as those tend to not be rented by people who would abuse the car.
But at that price point, it might be the same to just rent from an airport location.

I think it mostly comes down to where you're at. In Las Vegas for example, they heard you on a shuttle bus to the rental car center. If you choose one the cheaper agencies you have to wait and take second shuttle to their office. Then when you turn your car in you better give yourself an extra hour or so to make your flight.

I just find it more convenient, most of the time, to find car agency fairly close to where we are staying and then Uber to the airport when we leave.

I personally have never had a problem with the quality of cars off site.

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Then when you turn your car in you better give yourself an extra hour or so to make your flight.

I just find it more convenient, most of the time, to find car agency fairly close to where we are staying and then Uber to the airport when we leave.

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I don't do local to local in these types of situations. I do one way - pick up at local branch, but return to airport.

They don't charge fees on airport dropoff, only pickup, so this way you can avoid the fees, but still convenient when heading out.

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