Car Hire at SFO

Could anyone tell me if there are any on-site car hire places at San Francisco Airport rather than having to get a shuttle. Am currently looking at Yes Car Hire who are using Alamo and this entails a shuttle to the car hire location. If this is generally the case, how frequent is this shuttle service.

Many thanks in advance.

Car Hire at SFO

The rental car sites at the San Francisco airport are now housed in one building. You take the train there.....the one which automatically runs around the airport between terminals, etc.

Car Hire at SFO

Many thanks for your replies Swingcha and Puter. We%26#39;ll have to let the train take the strain then.

There haven%26#39;t been any car rental (car hire) shuttles or buses stopping at the terminals at SFO since the Rental Car Center, located roughly two miles north of the terminals opened in 2003. Instead you take the BLUE AirTrain ';people mover'; from your arrival terminal to the Rental Car Center. At the center Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty all have counters and cars. Alternately,';off-airport'; car rental companies such as ABC, Airport, City, Fox and Payless pick up their customers from curbside outside of the Rental Car Center; to my knowledge pickup has to be pre-arranged with no circulating vans or buses being used (one of the purposes of the AirTrain system was to reduce both vehicle traffic and the pollution caused by it by eliminating the circling car-rental company buses).

Yes, and it works beautifully.

The Blue Airtrain People Mover works beautifully if you have minimum baggage. I never do! I leave the wife at baggage claim, take the train to the Rental Center, and circle back to pick her and the baggage up.

When returning the car, we reverse the procedure. I drop her and the baggage off at the Sky Cap, then return the car. It is quite a hike to/from the Airtrain and the arrival/departure gates (with luggage under tow).

This works the best for us!

Wow you must carry a lot of baggage. For us, with a bag and carryon apiece, sometimes an extra bag for bringing stuff home from a trip. it works fine. There is a lot of floor space, not seats, which makes it easier with luggage.

For heading out of San Francisco, from 6 AM- 3 PM, there%26#39;s a baggage check in service on the first floor of the Rental Car Center. There%26#39;s a nominal fee associated with the service ($5 for 2 bags + boarding pass, $3 for 1 bag and pass, and $2 for just a boarding pass) and they can check in only for Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Horizon, JetBlue, Northwest, Ted, United, or US Airways. Probably the biggest constraint is that because they%26#39;re away from the terminals you have to give them at least 75 minutes before your flight.

Puter:

Yes, we always have a minimum of 5 bags, two of which are large. When we visit California, it is for 10 - 14 days. Sometimes a ski and boot bag are included. Since we visit many destinations, we must have clothing for all climates and occasions.

We also always do the laundry thing on every stay, too.

I had no idea about the check in on the first level in the Rental Center! Would do no good for us, though. Our departure flights are never within this time frame.

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