holycow

This is the first time my family will be skiing in Colorado during Christmas, curtesy of joining HCC. Accomodation and air reservations were made three months ago.

My niece from SF, who will be joining us for the trip, just alerted me what it would cost to rent a car there, $883/wk, a compact SUV from Payless, the cheapest I can find.

I checked the same SUV if we were to rent it in SFO or SLC during the same time and they cost $337 and $388, respectively.

What is wrong with Denver?

LTTravel

Supply and demand.

holycow

must be tons of skiers from out of town... Has it been always this way?

willmyclubmakeit

SUV is the issue...I bet if you ordered a car or two it would be much cheaper. Also many take shuttle services from DIA to the mountains where you usually do not need a car.

DC4MS

Those seem pretty high, but there are other options like a shuttle service as many people don't need a car while skiing or fly into the city you are visiting (i.e. Aspen).

Where are you skiing?

Also, try AAA or Costco rates....unfortunately, Denver airport is so remote that there are really no off-site options.

I just checked Dollar rental car and the week of Dec 20-27, 2008 via Denver is $973 for a SUV

The cheapest Dollar car is an economy for $618

The lowest rental vehicle according to Kayak.com is E-Z Rentacar and is $415 for a compact car like a Ford Focus....good luck loading the luggage in that one.

willmyclubmakeit

get a group discount if you can---whether aaa some corporate or association--it often makes a big difference.

LTTravel

If you must have a car, your best be is to rent a car off airport grounds. Since Denver Airport is way out of the way, you are talking 20-25 miles away from the airport in the city of Denver or Aurora Colorado. It will save you quite a bit. You could get an SUV for around $325+ for the week. It will cost you probably $50-$75 for a cab from the airport to the car rental in Aurora or Denver. You can do a one way rental and drop it off at the airport. I just checked Advantage and Avis and it is $343 for a small SUV and about $40 more for a regular SUV, pick up in Aurora or Denver and drop off at the airport, December 20-27. Just be careful, if you arrive on a Saturday, the hours are limited in the city locations. Check their hours and make sure your flight arrives and you can get to the rental office during business hours otherwise you are stuck, because only the airport locations are usually open 24 hours, but the city locations are not. You have to decide whether you need a car bad enough for the hassle, but it will save you $400 or more for the week.

holycow

Winter Park.

The problem is we have three families arriving at different times. We really prefer 4-wheelers as all of us are inexperienced snow drivers.

I'm seriously considering canceling the trip...

holycow

LTTravel,

we cross post. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.

Phila Family

I feel your pain. We took 2 families out for a week this summer and rental vans were $1000 total. However, we did book through Dollar last winter for $250++ and were upgraded to a Suburban (which only fit in the garage at Keystone by folding in the side mirrors) but you can't count on that.

Winter Park is not a Vail Resorts property, and VR has bought Colorado Mtn Express - that is the way I have moved in and out of DIA many times, very affordably.

Try: Winter Park - Ground Travel

Looks like there are affordable options to get out and back, and as one post said - you really don't need a car once you are there. Only downside is stocking the kitchen - although HCC can do that for you relatively affordably, just requires a little planning.

TravelGuy

This should be a good year to get a reasonable rental car rate at DEN since ski bookings are down 25-35% so far.

I belong to almost all the frequent renter clubs and have found the best way to book an SUV through DEN with the least amount of follow-up is as follows:

1. At 6+ months out, book an SUV through the Costco website (you do not have to be a Costco member) for Alamo. Be sure to hit the link for the SUV coupon.

2. Do the same at 2 months out and change the reservation if it's at a lower rate (it usually is).

3. At 2 weeks prior - go to the "hot deals" section at alamo.com and hit the "last minute specials" link. Go to the Colorado section and look for the excess inventory left for Denver. You should see a good selection even at Christmas. The rate for full size SUVs the last four times I did this was $229/week.

4. Check the Hotwire price a day or two before leaving. You can check this prior if you are comfortable paying the non-refundable rental fee and if the Hotwire price is substantially lower.

5. When in DEN, go to the Alamo facility via shuttle and check-in through the Quicksilver kiosk (join Quicksilver when making your reservation if you are not a member). I've never had to wait in line. Note that the Costco reservation also provides for a secondary driver at no cost. I use the Amex secondary rental car insurance so I don't have to mess with the Alamo insurance options.

6. I've always picked the biggest SUV I can find on the lot, regardless of rental classification, and they always check us out at the $229 rate without question. I did this the first time on the suggestion of an Alamo worker on the lot.

As I said, I've not paid more than $229/wk in the last two years, even during the Holidays.

Hope this helps!

TarheelTraveler

I've had very good luck with naming my own price on Priceline. Typically 40-70% off Expedia's lowest rates. You lose the flexibility of canceling your reservation, so you've got to be committed, but you can get significant savings going that route. I like the Hotwire concept but the discounts haven't been big enough for me to justify being locked in the past. Good idea from TravelGuy to check last minute as you're much more likely to be willing to commit at less of a discount at that point.