We are renting a car to drive to NOL to catch Crescent on Jan 2nd. I can't find any car rental places to drop car off in NOL except at the airport location ( open 24hrs). The Hertz partnership with Amtrak does not work if the closest rental location is closed and being that we are wanting to return the car Sat night ( Jan 1st) or Sun. before 7AM there is no Hertz open or shuttle! No shuttle to airport location either. So at this point we are looking at having to take a cab from airport to hotel, then cab to Amtrak! A lot of cab fees. Does anyone know of a car rental co. that is open 24 hrs near Amtrak station in New Orleans or Metarie?
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
I believe you can pick *up* from the station, but not drop off. I had the same problem, although I flew into MSY and picked the car up there (Hertz). Return was stated as Amtrak but there was nobody at the station to help. There was direct phone line (yellow Hertz phone in the station) which I used but they knew nothing of me dropping off the car at the station. So I had to drive down to the Riverfront area and get a taxi back.
Not the best of setups but maybe that was just my luck. Problems may have been compounded by me calling Hertz in the UK (where I live) who had barely heard of Louisiana let alone Amtrak, although the confirmation definitely said "drop off point Amtrak New Orleans"!
Geoff M.
Posted by canoe86 (Member # 3099) on :
Not sure if if it fits your needs, but about 3-4 blocks away from the train station is a Dollar Rental Car. If you join Southwest airlines flyer program (free sign up) you can get a huge discount. FYI. It was close enough that when I returned the car I walked back to the station.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
Very early Sunday morning walk back to station might be OK, hawever, a three block walk in any direction from New Orleans station late Saturday night should only be considered if you have an armed guard.