Let’s discuss the red-headed step-child of points and miles and travel – rental cars. While there are several ways to reduce the cost of this travel expense including corporate codes, Costco/Autoslash, and/or using a points-eraser card like Capital One Venture/Venture X, Bank of America Travel Rewards, or US Bank Altitude Reserve, I wanted to focus on the experience of renting cars at US airports.

There are basically four ways airport car rentals operate and they are, in order of my preference : 1) A consolidated facility that is connected to the terminal (Examples include BDL, FLL (T1 and maybe T2), DCA, RSW, MCO) 2) a consolidated facility connected by a transit link (Examples include ATL, JFK, TPA, MIA) 3) a consolidated facility connected by a consolidated shuttle bus (Examples include BWI, FLL (T2-T4), DFW) 4) a separate lot for each car rental company connected by an individual shuttle bus (Examples include PHL, LGA, LAX, DEN).

The downside of #1 is of course, for anyone traveling with mobility issues or lots of luggage. Some of these airports also run shuttles to the rental car facility as it can be a long walk from some terminal locations. Last week, we flew into Hartford where until about three weeks ago, it was set up with a separate lot with a separate shuttle for each company. However, in July, the airport opened a brand new consolidated rental car center that was reachable from the terminal via a connecting tunnel through the (also new) parking garage. Even though it was about 1/2 mile walk from the gate to the car, it was definitely easier than the old method of waiting for a shuttle to drive you several miles offsite to an outdoor lot.

Fort Lauderdale used to be my home airport and it finally opened a consolidated rental car center around a decade ago. It’s actually connected to Terminal 1 (Southwest, United) by a walkway and somewhat walkable from Terminal 2 (Delta). The other terminals really require a shuttle ride in the heat and humidity.

Of the airports that built offsite consolidated rental car centers, some have automated transit links like my current home airport of Atlanta. It’s a bit of a pain though, as you have to go from your gate, take the train back to the main terminal, walk to the very end of the terminal, cross the street and get on another train to the rental car center. Other airports like Newark and New York JFK have the rental car center directly on their land-side airport train system. Miami, like Atlanta, has a train system to its offsite rental car garage that can be quite a long walk from your arrival or departure gate.

Some airports have a consolidated rental car center without a transit link as it’s too far away from the airport. The one I have used often is Baltimore, where you board a shuttle for all companies and are deposited at the rental car center a few miles away. Dallas also uses this system.

Surprisingly, some newer or newly renovated airports still require individual shuttles to get to individual offsite rental lots. These include Denver, LaGuardia (probably due to space constraints), and the notorious LAX where the roadways just seem to get more congested and worse the more they rebuild the airport.

If you are renting a car from the airport, it’s worth taking a look at the method used by your arrival airport to funnel passengers to the rental car company you plan to use. If you have a lot of luggage or have mobility issues, you should know of any limitations that may affect your ability to reach your rental car. At some airports like LAX, savvy travelers will take hotel shuttles or even an Uber/Lyft to the rental car lots when the shuttles are running slow.

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