Ep 24; Rental Car Renting

Jan 7, 2019

 

Transportation from home to any destination requires some form of "last mile" transit.  Gail and Piper discuss tips and thoughts on car renting when that's the choice that's made.

 

0:23 – Intro (Steampunk Girl by John Anealio)
   Host Introduction; Gail Carriger and Piper J Drake

0:41 - Piper has a story, both for Gail and for listeners about a Virginia wedding (including hellmouth travel via ORD)

2:54 - The behaved childhood version of Adam Sandler and his Vegas "Money Man"

3:38 - Frequently flyer shop talk - how to find decent food in Chicago O'hare - just inside of security hidden between separate TSA check points

5:08 - Piper got trapped in an airport elevator

6:40 - Meeting the poor man's equivalent to an "extra from The Sopranos" as he oozes into your seat-space and tries to lift the shared armrest without permission

10:11 - Hotels in Warrenton, Virginia are... questionable - Piper left a rare one-star review after needing to wine-stomp insects in the tub

13:34 - tips for using Yelp/Travelocity/etc to research random hotels before staying - Gail tip: 'sort/search review sites with key terms like "business" as those reviews are often more realistic than a vacationer who stayed at a given location while in an overall good mood'

 - - - 

Main Topic -> Renting some Wheelz

15:42 - 

16:30 - book as small as you think you can manage; gives greater opportunity for upgrade

17:00 - Random rental car discounts abound - Gail gets one for being Sigma Xi

17:36 - if renting and needing/wanting to drop off the car in another state/country reach out and ask the company if they have a car that needs to be returned

18:48 - Try, try, try, to be friendly to the rental agent!

20:12 - Rental car rewards programs

21:48 - Use your rental experience as an opportunity to test-drive a car you are considering purchasing

22:26 - Sometimes it is cheaper to get your rental car from the inner-city area as opposed to the airport rental car center

22:31 - Random Philly soft-pretzels

26:11 - "Even if you only rent once a year the rental company will treat you better just for being 'in their club'"

  – – – 

Gadgets!

26:24 - car gadgets

 Gail - pack with driving in mind if driving 3+ hours
               'compressible cooler/thermos
https://amzn.to/2XFnrBB
               'driving sunglasses
https://amzn.to/2VzXWA3

 Piper - obtaining GPS via cell phone holder (clip is simplest!)
https://amzn.to/2EA6wrx

 - - - 

30:42 - Outro and thanks to: Producer Matt

Special thanks to Dan Sawyer of Artistic Whisper for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening; Travel smart and pack the snacks!

- - - 

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