6 replies to this topic

[D.P. Roberts]

I'll need to rent a car in Portland for my upcoming trip. Is there a rental company with flexible hours near the station?

As far as I can tell, I'll need to get to the airport, as most of the local rental companies close at 6:00. Assuming the CS is up and running, it's scheduled to arrive at the Amtrak PDX station at 3:40 pm. Considering that most local rental places close at 6:00, that leaves me less than 2 1/2 hrs in case the northbound CS is running late.

So, it looks like my best bet is to rent a car at the airport (24 hrs). I can get there via the MAX rail system, the stop for which is half a mile away from the Amtrak station. I'm hoping it doesn't rain. In Portland.

Any other suggestions?

[DaveKCMO]

you might try calling some of the local offices directly, especially whichever company has an alliance with amtrak (hertz?). they might be willing to wait for you or even drop the car off for you at the station.

that being said, the MAX is a fast way to get to the airport.

separately, are you staying in portland or headed further afield? is it possible to avoid the car altogether?

[Railroad Bill]

When we took the EB to Portland last summer, I called the Hertz rental place downtown and they "picked us up" at the station, drove us to their offices, about three or four blocks away, and we filled out the paperwork, and took our car from their parking garage. I understand if you have reservations and make sure they know you are arriving on Amtrak, they will pick you up at the station. (Believe Enterprise is giving them some competition with their pick you up ads. ) Same happened when we dropped car off in Sacramento a week later. They took us back to the SAC station after we dropped off the car.
I would call them ahead of time though to make sure their policies have not changed from last year.

[D.P. Roberts]

Thanks to all for the replies. I expect I might be able to talk Hertz or Enterprise into staying open a little late, but you never know about the CS - if it's going to be several hours late I doubt they'd be that accommodating. The airport car rental locations are open 24 hours (or at least very late).

We'll be driving from PDX to Mt. Rainier National Park. I know that several stops in Washington are closer (i.e. Tacoma), but the long station stop at PDX combined with the later arrival times in Washington means it's probably the "closest" stop to Mt. Rainier, even though the drive may be a little longer. I know it means more time in the car and less time on the train, but in this case I think the tradeoff is worth it.

[Green Maned Lion]

Just remember that we aren't sure when the CS is going to run again. There are speculations as late as June.

[D.P. Roberts]

Just remember that we aren't sure when the CS is going to run again. There are speculations as late as June.

Yeah, I know. My reservation on the CS is for the second week of June. I haven't made any other reservations yet (cars, hotels, etc.) that can't be canceled in case the CS isn't running then.