Transportation at Red Rocks

[tlinn]

Hi there,

 

I`ve never been to Red Rocks but I`m meeting a friend down there on March 31st. We are considering renting a car. What is the cheapest company to rent from or the one without as many hidden fees? Better yet, is it possible to get to the climbs without a car?

 

Thanks,

[Dru]

you need a car

[chucK]

Dru's right, you will want a car.

 

I rented from "Fox" on the internet, but it was called something else down at the terminal (a bit confusing).

 

There's pretty much two tiers, Fox being one in the lower tier and then Hertz, Avis, etc about twice as much.

 

There's not many hidden fees if you make sure to ask when you rent. How long are you going to be there? Renting by the week is usually way cheaper/day. 1 week rate equals about 3-4 days at the day rate. Weekends are often cheaper too.

 

I think the sales tax on Vegas rental cars is 25%! So there's a fee you're not going to be able to get around that you'll need to make sure to budget for.

[billcoe]

Last 2 years Dollar has been cheapest for me: you have internet access perhaps...............?

 

Travelocity, Expedia...Dollar site direct.

[Drederek]

Cheapest would probably be renting a moped on the strip (we've seen them out there!) but its quite a long ways. We usually shop online and reserve a small car. One way to save money is having your own insurance, some policy's cover rentals. Also realize the insurance the rental company sells is void once you leave the pavement. When you refuse their insurance enjoy the acting job by the salesman who will usually give a decent if not Oscarworthy performance. Also they will try to charge you for the insurance when you bring the car in anyway! Vigilance is required. Check the I'll bring it back full option rather than buying the whole tank of gas. If they're pushing an upgrade hard at the airport say no - they don't have enough econo cars ready to go and you may get the upgrade for free.

[John Frieh]

Hertz doesn't have any hidden fees... that is the price estimate given when I reserve online usually matches within a dollar or two when I pay for it. I'm fairly certain they aren't the cheapest though... I have heard Budget or Avis are fairly cheap.

 

I think digging around online would be best or... post something on rc.com or supertacos.com and see if anyone is interested in ride share... could be a pain the butt though.

 

And word to the wise: fill up the car before you return it... if you opt for the rental agency to do so they will way over charge you for it.

[jmace]

 

 

Priceline.com is hands down the best way to do anythng from renting a car to renting a hotel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If you dont know how it works this is how, you first find the cheapest car you want to rent by going to hertz or avis or whatever then go to price line and bid for no more than half of the price of the cheapest price you find. It will give you a suggested area of bidding which is usually not bad. You cannot bid more than once within 72 hours on the same TYPE of car so you cannot bid a million times to find the cheapest car. Once you have made your bid and it is accepted thats it its yours no cancelling no nothing so be sure your going, same for hotels! I stayed recently at the grand hyatt in seattle for 75$ us for two dudes... I bid 35$ canadian a day for a suv when I went to canmore and got it, 3 dudes 7 days for a suv was 100$ each taxes in!!!!!

 

Use your parents gold card or friends and you have all the insurance you need and no you do not need the card when you show up you do need a credit card though. Alternativly if you have road star from icbc your covered as well.

 

this is the best thing I have ever found and I use it exclusively, its an american site so funds are american, Iam canadian and use the site all the time.

 

its so amazing some of my friends have even gotten better prices than me. When bidding for hotels you must bid for as many nights as you want because if you dont you will most likely have to move hotels. For instance when bidding for hotels it says where is the area and how many stars do you want, you bid and it says ok its accepted you have two nights at the hyatt done no cancelling, if you wanted two more nights you would have to do it again and it might say bid accpeted you have two night at the westin both 4 stars and both downtown wherever.

 

its awesome the price for my suv rental from the cheapest company for 7 days was 750$ plus tax I paid 350 all included

 

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Check out www.bidfortravel.com for more priceline tips and tricks.

[jmace]

is that site working trog?

[tlinn]

You guys totally rock! Thanks a lot jmace...I will go check out priceline.

 

Kayak seems to be pretty good too. They are showing the cheapest as Dollar and Alamo. I`m going to try and priceline these prices.

 

The Moped idea sounds interesting but I don`t know if it would work too well with a rack, rope, tent, etc. Plus, we might look like Dumb and Dumber if we headed to Yosemite afterwards.

[Alpinfox]

I just rented an economy car for this weekend (three days) for $65 ($12/day plus taxes/fees/hooker-appreciate-charge and all that shit). That was with Priceline.

 

Best price I found elsewhere was $75 on the Alamo website.

 

(Alpinfox and ) - $65 = in Vegas.

 

[MountaingirlBC]

I always just end up renting a car. The first time I went down I was going to rent a bicycle and ride out thinking I'd save a lot of money but it was actually twice as much to rent a bike as it was to rent a car. Once I rented from a place on the strip for $20/day. I don't remember the name of the place but it's in between New York New York and Ceasers somewhere. It's a small one story white building with parking in front (I know... totally out of place on the strip so it should be easy to recognize). I think they rent high end cars but they had cheap stuff too. Last time I just picked one up at the airport. Don't remember what I paid.

 

I don't know where you're staying but last time I went down we rented a house and shared it with some friends. Ended up being cheaper than a hotel (we got it for about $500/night) and WAY nicer:

 

http://vacationhomes.com/20991

 

There are much more affordable homes for rent too. Just a nice alternative... especially if ur going with friends cuz you have somewhere to hang out rather than having to go out to restaruants/clubs/whatever all the time.

 

Oh one more thing... if you're going to be there later than 6pm be sure to leave a message with the climbing rangers. I can't find the number right now but if you just call the Red Rocks park number they'll give you the number. Otherwise they'll tow your car. I think you technically have to be climbing multipitch to get a late exit permit but I don't think they're to strict about it. I highly recommend sticking around for the sunset!

 

[tlinn]

I was going to rent a bicycle and ride out thinking I'd save a lot of money but it was actually twice as much to rent a bike as it was to rent a car

 

Now I know why Las Vegas is so environmentally friendly.

[tlinn]

Jmace...do you have a US credit card or is there some way around that? They seem to need a US billing address for the credit card.

[olyclimber]

 

(Alpinfox and ) - $65 = in Vegas.

 

 

w00t! The Deal Miester Fox!

[TrogdortheBurninator]

doh, www.biddingfortravel.com

 

The site rocks. Expect to save ~50% vs orbitz rates.

[jmace]

Hey Tlinn

 

to get around it do this

 

for city type in vancouver

 

then for state type in ca for california

 

then for zip code type in 99999

 

the rest is still the same

 

I have a master card which works fine, one friend had a problem with his visa while another did not.. no one has had problems with a mastercard

 

good luck, its totally worth it, let me know if you have any more problems my buddy who has to book hotels for clients here in canada uses it all the time with his canadian card. So if yu have any more questions I can ask him as well.

[Alpinfox]

...Ended up being cheaper than a hotel (we got it for about $500/night)

 

 

yer nutz.

[jmace]

oh and some folks I know flew out of bellingham for some really really low price,

[tlinn]

oh and some folks I know flew out of bellingham for some really really low price,

 

www.allegiantair.com I believe.

[billcoe]

...Ended up being cheaper than a hotel (we got it for about $500/night)

 

 

yer nutz.

 

Dude, 30 (people) divided by $ 500. = $ 16.67 each

 

Seems reasonable...but crowded.

[Drederek]

When that new casino out by 215 on Charleston is done you could ride a bike out from there easily. Anyone know when it opens or what it is gonna be called?

[MountaingirlBC]

Actually $500 split 8 ways. $62.50 a night. Cheaper than a crappy room on the strip and not crowded at all. AND we had an awesome kitchen so we saved a lot of money by not eating out. This was the most expensive place too. You could do it for a LOT less.

 

...Ended up being cheaper than a hotel (we got it for about $500/night)

 

 

yer nutz.

[texplorer]

If its your first time you should know that the park closes at 6 or 7 in the evening. They will give you a ticket and the minimum is $100!!!!!!!! If you know your going to be late then you can call a number and get some kind of pass. I have had some narrow misses and even got a ticket a few years back.

 

Check out this site for good route info, pics, and other stuff (including the ranger station number)

 

Mountain Project

[G-spotter]

$62.50 a night? That's more than my accomodation budget fo the whole 2 week trip to Red Rocks?