| People around SV might get the wrong idea of how bad airport car rentals are because the car rental center at SFO is probably the worst in the world. I remember coming in on a delayed flight and riding the train out to the rental center, waiting in line half an hour, then finding the car parked in the space I was sent to was entirely different from what it was supposed to be (and the keys didn't work), going back and waiting in line again, getting a call from the satellite police station on my cell because my wife was wondering what happened to me, finally getting a car and remembering I never got a child seat but driving right out because I didn't want to wait in line again. Sensible (unamerican) people just take the BART if they are going to SF. I didn't have that choice because we were going to San Luis Obispo. I'll admit fueling can be a pain, but car rentals at other airports, even big ones, are nowhere near as bad. At LAX, for instance, I reserved a Hertz car on Priceline, caught a shuttle bus to the car rental center, got the paperwork filled out quickly and drove off. On the way back they were handling a huge volume of returning automobiles but it was efficient, really a pleasure. (I did make the mistake of thinking I could go north on the 405 at 5pm on a Friday... Had I known LA a little better, I'd have gone north on the surface streets which are easily accessible from the rental center.) |