Rental Car locations near St Louis Gateway Station

[MikeM]

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?

 

[me_little_me]

Looks like the two stations are fairly close with light rail between

https://www.google.com/maps/place/St.+Louis+Gateway+Station/@38.624838,-90.2056808,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x87d8b31309778a11:0x6e2abf843889500d!8m2!3d38.624838!4d-90.2034868

Avis, Hertz, Budget and Enterprise are not far so they may pick you up at the station.

 

[BCL]

Can't you just request to be picked up? Most non-airport rental locations can do that.

Do you have an address?

 

[DevalDragon]

Take the light rail to the airport. Better hours and more options!

 

[River Cities]

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.

 

[me_little_me]

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.

 

[ehbowen]

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.

 

[KauaiJohn]

I did the downtown rental once but find it much easier to get the car by the airport.

 

[MikeM]

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.