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Rental Lots Get Remote
The Travel Critic · November 24, 1997

When I arrived at San Francisco International Airport a few weeks ago, I was greeted by signs warning me that if I wanted to drop off a rental car, I'd better plan on getting to the lot an hour and a half before my flight leaves.

SFO is in the middle of a $2.4 billion expansion project that will, among other things, consolidate and relocate its car rental facilities. But instead of pooling the rental areas closer to the terminals, the airport is moving the lots farther away.

It turns out San Francisco isn't alone. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the common rental area will be pushed toward the perimeter by 1999. Boston, Houston Intercontinental, San Jose and Kansas City are considering similar moves.

OK, so combining and moving car rental facilities makes sense from an operational point of view-it frees more parking space and eases traffic at the terminals. But, bottom line, the relocations mean more schlepping for business travelers. Face it: time is money-particularly for road warriors.

"Airports are moving their car rental facilities further away from the terminals because they want to use the space for something else," says Jan Armstrong, executive vice president for the Washington, DC.-based American Car Rental Association. "It isn't always the most convenient thing for the customer."

So let me get this straight. First the airlines send business travel fares through the stratosphere, and now the airports are forcing us to spend more time in a bus, on a train or hauling our luggage through a terminal full of tourists-all in the name of improving efficiencies.

Not to worry, SFO spokesman Ron Wilson assures me. "When the new terminal's open in 2001, you'll get to the car rental area faster." How's that? Well, the airport is installing a new rail system, making the extra distance almost unnoticeable.

Similarly, the switch at DFW will be "negligible," says spokeswoman Angel Biasatti. "It might add one minute to the bus trip." I asked Bob Bouta, a vice president for properties at Avis in Garden City, N.Y., at what point the transit from terminal to parking becomes inefficient from the traveler's point of view. "Once we get a bus commute of longer than five minutes to the terminal," he says, "We start to get a lot of complaints."

The train ride from SFO to the new rental lot will take anywhere from five to seven minutes. The bus to DFW's new facilities will set travelers back between six to eight minutes. Do the math.

As far as the other airports are concerned, it's too early to tell if the new facilities will shorten the transit or not, since they're still in the design phase.

If I could give the architects one bit of advice, it would be simple: Don't leave the business traveler out of your designs. When Mom, Dad and the kids go on vacation, it's OK to spend a while waiting for a rental. But keep the commute to the terminals short for the rest of us.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.