Rental Car locations near St Louis Gateway Station

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MikeM

OBS Chief
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
522
Location
Wichita Falls TX
All - I have a trip planned in April to take the Texas Eagle from Ft Worth to St. Louis, and will need a car there for a few days. On past trips, I reserved at the Budget location located across the street from the Gateway station in a hotel. This time, I noticed that this location is showing as closing as of 3/20/17. Has anyone rented cars in St. Louis lately, and if so can you offer recommendations what would be a good option? As it is, I reserved a car at the Avis location located in the Westin hotel located about a mile from the station.

Bonus question, if I keep the Avis reservation the web site says it's near St Louis Union station, not sure if that means the old Union Station - if so how hard is it to catch light rail from Gateway to the old station?
 
If it's the Westin downtown, that's right by the "Stadium" Metrolink station (which is the opposite direction from Union Station starting from Amtrak and the "Civic Center" station). It's an easy transfer--the light rail platform is just outside the station building, and the stadium is one stop east. I'd probably walk that distance, but with bags maybe it's worth the $2.50 for a short ride if they won't come pick you up!

When I've needed to rent a car in town, I've often found the best deals to be at the Budget at the airport. Some of the neighborhood Enterprise locations are often good--prices vary a lot even a few miles apart--but getting to one might involve a bus adventure.
 
Take the light rail to the airport. Better hours and more options!
My experience is that airport rental car fees are such that you save a lot of money at non-airport locations for the same company - $100 to $200 for a week rental.
Want an extreme example? Hertz quoted me $567 (CAD) for a three-day rental at Vancouver International before our planned cruise in September. The other companies were about the same. I was about to hold my nose and pull the trigger...until I did some more searching and checked the Hertz location right next to our cruise pier. If we took a taxi or limo from the airport to the cruise pier, our total for three days dropped to...$81.40 (USD). Taxes and fees included.
 
FWIW, I did some digging on line and was able to save around $100 booking at the airport. I remember from other visits that the light rail connection to the airport is very direct. Thanks to all of you for the suggestions.
 
Back
Top