Rental car ?

[shiftman]

Hello to all,

Does any travelling tech out there make a habit of renting a vehicle during an outage instead of utilizing their own vehicle? I live in the Southeast and have outage offers at SONGS, PALO, etc, but am reluctant to drive 1500-2000 miles for four week outage. I would prefer to simply fly out there and rent a car, but I am unsure about the financial aspect of going this route.

Any information or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[redline]

Driving a perfectly good car cross country makes little sense. Wear and tear alone is huge, not to mention what happens if you break down and need repairs in podunkville USA.

Many years ago i did it at PVNGS for two outages. Rented a car for about $80 week, 2 months one time and about 4 months the other.

I was in Phoenix recently and was able to rent a car for $8/day+tax came to about $23/day.
You should be able to get a good deal depending on what day of the week you rent and what's going on in town when you arrive. One thing that's very important though, rental car insurance is prohibitively expensive, and although your personal auto insurance will cover your rental, there is probably a clause written in there somewhere that says you're only covered for a short peroid of time like 2 weeks or so. When I was out there I had to turn in my car every two weeks and re-rent it to maintain coverage. The only problem is if you go to re-rent and can't get the good rate again. Also when ever renting a car the American Express gold card offers excellent insurance benefits too. I keep one in my wallet for two reasons 1. car rental and 2. buying stuff online.

[nukewood]

I live in Oregon and work outages in the East. My personal car has not made the trip cross country in years. I line up a rental in advance ,renting for 30 days at a time with a renewal at weekly rate ,if necessary. My own car insurance policy has always worked for insurance.

[Sun Dog]

Hello to all,

Does any travelling tech out there make a habit of renting a vehicle during an outage instead of utilizing their own vehicle? I live in the Southeast and have outage offers at SONGS, PALO, etc, but am reluctant to drive 1500-2000 miles for four week outage. I would prefer to simply fly out there and rent a car, but I am unsure about the financial aspect of going this route.

Any information or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

A four week outage at SONGS?  Did Exelon buy the plant?

[peteshonkwiler]

Hello to all,

Does any travelling tech out there make a habit of renting a vehicle during an outage instead of utilizing their own vehicle? I live in the Southeast and have outage offers at SONGS, PALO, etc, but am reluctant to drive 1500-2000 miles for four week outage. I would prefer to simply fly out there and rent a car, but I am unsure about the financial aspect of going this route.

Any information or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

It makes great sense to use a rental car for short term work.  A check with your tax professional should seal the deal in your planning work.

[Laundry Man]

Where in Phoenix did you rent a car for that short money?
LM

[Already Gone]

If you are looking to rent a car for an outage, it is often worth the price of a cab ride to rent off-airport.  You have to shop around, but off-airport locations don't have the enormous fees added to the rental fee that airport locations charge.
Phoenix is a great example.  The airport rental car facility, and the buses that run to it, are all funded by add-on fees.
Wherever you rent, make sure that you take into account taxes and fees.  They can cost as much, if not more, than the rental.
Don't forget to ask for discounts.  Just about every membership organization (AAA, American Legion, etc.) has a discount code.  It won't be huge, but a few dollars a day can add up over the course of a year.  Definitely sign up for the frequent renter program.  Renting for 8 - 10 weeks a year will get you a free week.  That lowers the overall cost considerably.

[redline]

Where in Phoenix did you rent a car for that short money?
LM

The neat thing about Phoenix is that all the rental agencies are offsite in the same building. There is a huge amount of competition there.

I do two things. 1. I reserve a car in advance with the best rate I can find. Having an advance reservation ensures you get a car, and 2. When stepping off the plane I get online and check for last minute rates. I use Orbitz. Right this minute you can get a car in phoenix at the airport for $15/day+tax. (<$30/day)

When you get to the counter you will almost always get some sort of free upgrade.

I travel a good bit and this method works almost everywhere, and usually the places where it doesn't work have good public transit systems ie; NY, Boston, DC

[UncaBuffalo]

Driving a perfectly good car cross country makes little sense.

Driving an imperfectly bad car cross country makes even less! 

[peteshonkwiler]

Driving an imperfectly bad car cross country makes even less! 

Where's the sense of adventure in today's Nukeworkers?   

[HenryBlack]

I remember taking my whole familty from SC to Conn in a Ford Fiesta that I bought from the junkyard. The junkyard guy took 6 Fiestas and made me one out of them. Stayed there two years and had to have a 24 foot U-Haul truck and  a trailer to get back home.