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Published: April 23rd 2013
April 17 - I had decided to go to Denver with my brother in law Bill for us to visit his son and my nephew, we would rent a car and explore the sights of the Denver area as well. I also wanted to make sure to go by Rocky Mountain National Park and get me one of those lifetime over 62 National Park passes for $10.
The tickets from Austin to Denver on United Airlines ran $211 plus $21.80 taxes and fees for a total of $232.80 each. There was also a $25 checked baggage charge each way for each of us. We would go for the week of April 17 - 23.
April 17 – College Station to Denver – I woke up at 03:30 to use the restroom and my brother in Law Bill was up fully dressed waiting on me although we had decided to get up at 5AM. So I decided to just go ahead and get dressed and head to Austin. It took 2 hours exactly from College Station to the airport parking at Austin. We parked in the on airport parking using ABIAirport parking ,
http://www.austintexas.gov/department/airport-parking It cost$7.00 a day using Lots
2013 Ford Escape
2013 Ford Escape $365.16 a week from Enterprise Car Rental with the Collision Damage Waiver. A very good deal. It was great in the mountains and the Intelligent 4 wheel drive handled snowy roads well. We pulled it up against the garage so the patio would block off the wind. B-F. A shuttle promptly picked us up and took us to the terminal.
After checking in and clearing security, we got some breakfast burritos and coffee in the terminal at Annies Grill to eat. They were as overpriced as they were tasteless and cold. $22.34 for 4 breakfast burritos (2 each) and coffee.
We boarded on time but then had to sit on the tarmac about 45 minutes while they waited on Denver to let them know that a snowstorm had slowed down and we could head that way. When we finally took off and got to the Denver area we had to circle around for an hour before they would let us land because traffic had backed up account the snowstorm and we had to wait our turn. They said we would have some turbulence on the way down and they were right.
After we landed we had a long walk across the terminal and then took a train to the main terminal for baggage pickup. After getting our baggage we made our way to get on the bus which took us to pick up our rental car from Enterprise.
Renting the car was a
very quick straightforward process. I accepted the Collision Damage Waiver at $21.99 a day, so I would not be responsible for any damage to the car if I had a fender bender. I declined the liability that cost $11.95 a day because my own liability insurance covers me if I am driving a rental car. Rather than filling me in on the insurance offered in the comfort of the office as I asked him to, the salesman had us go out into the windy snowstorm and told me to sign here, initial here etc and I just did it so my brother in law and I could get out of the cold. I found out later when I looked the contract over that I had signed up for PAI/PEP (Personal Accident protection/Personal Effects Protection) , at $4.70 a day and the Roadside Assistance , at $4.99 a day, although I told him I didn’t want either. The medical protection of the policy was a joke anyway. At a limit of $3500 I doubt it would even cover the emergency room portion of a hospital bill if someone is in an accident.
The rental on the car wasn’t bad. For a 2013 Ford Escape SUV I was charged $153 plus fees, a total of $215. The Collision Damage Waiver was $21.99 a day or $154 a week for a total of $369 for the Rental and CDW. Not bad actually. With the unwanted PAI/PEI at $4.70 a day x 7 = $32.90, and the Roadside assistance at $4.99 a day x 7 = $34.93 the actual cost in the end should be $436 for the week. I will make sure next time not to let them slip in that extra unwanted insurance in on me. If I would have been by myself I would have made him go back in the office and not signed anything till I got a good look over the contract. But since my brother in law was with me I decided to just take my lumps and get the car.
NOTE added April 23: When I turned the car back in I told them about what happened on the insurance and that I had said I didn't want the PAI/PEI or the Roadside assistance coverage, and they removed the charges from the bill without complaint. So I was well pleased about that. So I ended up paying $369 for the rental car and CDW for the week. A very good rate for the use of a 2013 SUV for a week with unlimited mileage. The rental and CDW runs on a 24 hour basis from time of rental. So since I rented the car after noon on the 17th and turned it in before noon on the 23 I only had to pay for 6 days on the CDW at $21.99 a day.
In any case I got the car and drove on Pena Blvd. to I-70 to I-225 (so as to avoid the 470 tollway), and then Southwest to my nephew’s house. The snowstorm was fairly heavy but the roads had no accumulation on them.
The snow got heavier and on the way to my nephews we stopped at Old Chicago Pizza and got a Pizza as my nephew would not be in till later. Then we went to Wal Mart and got some groceries to stock up for the week.
Tomorrow we will see how the weather looks for going somewhere.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
The snows are late this year
You should be enjoying spring flowers. I'll bet it is already hot in Austin. That is a wicked looking pizza. Hope you had a good time visiting.