Help finding a balance saving $ on a trip with kids

[mountainmama]

I am taking my 2 kids, 10 and 7, on a trip to visit my family over the winter holidays. I hate traveling at this time of year, but it's for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and many members of my family are traveling for the event. My children also seldom see their grandparents and cousins, so I'm committed to going.

Here's the dilemma. I already booked flights for us to a St. Louis, approximately 2 hours from the event. (It would be 17 hours in the car.)
The flights were $800 out of pocket, plus some points. (ouch!) I chose the cheapest flights I could, which means we arrive at midnight. I was planning on renting a car. When I went to make the reservation, I realized both that all the car rental agencies at the airport close much earlier, which means I'd need to get a hotel room, and that the cheapest car I could find is $500. (I was thinking it would be half this? It's been a long time since I've rented a car.)

Here are my choices:
1) Keep the flights, hotel (and cab to get there), and car. At least $600 on top of the flights.
2) Keep the flights, hotel (and cab to get there), take the metro from the airport to the train station, then Amtrak 2 hours to a town close to the event. I've been assured by family that there will be plenty of people to give us rides once we get there. About $200 (RT train plus hotel) on top of the flights. By myself, I'd choose this. I'm not sure about with kids.
3) Change my flights to fly from Denver. This means a 6 hour drive. The drive is very easy, as long as the weather is clear. (But late December in Colorado?) Flight cost would be the same, but we could arrive in StL when another family member is making their trip to the event and get a ride from them. Extra costs: gas to Denver.
4) Ask a family member to drive the 4 hours roundtrip twice in a week. I really don't want to do this.

What's your pick?

[newbie]

I vote for 1.  In a year the extra money won't mean anything, but if your trip gets messed up because of weather or the other complications in the other options, it could mean everything if you don't get to go.  This is from the perspective of losing someone very suddenly a month ago.  Thankfully we decided to pay the high post-Covid airline, gas, and car rental prices and were able to see the family member this summer after missing visits during the pandemic.  I am so glad we spent the money to see her.

[ixtap]

Does the metro run all night and what time is the earliest Amtrak option? Depending on the kids, sleeping a few hours in the airport/ train station could be a fun adventure, where as the extra trip to the hotel to only get a couple hours of sleep could be just as exhausting as the half sleep from being in public.

[GilesMM]

Budget Car Rental at STL says they are open “until the last arrival”. Have you called them?

[NotJen]

the cheapest car I could find is $500. (I was thinking it would be half this? It's been a long time since I've rented a car.)

Yeah, the pandemic did a number on rental car prices (companies sold off a lot of cars, then couldn't get them back when people started traveling again).  I think the car situation is a little better now, but prices are still pretty high.

I like to use AutoSlash to search for low rates, and then I have them track the rental and alert me if the price drops.  For my Christmas travel last year, my original reservation was $680 for the week (!!OMG!!), and by watching for price drops it came down to $360 by mid-December.  This year my original reservation is $550, and I'm definitely hoping it drops soon...  Pre-pandemic prices for around Christmas for this location were $200-300/wk.

Are you sure that all the car rental companies close earlier than your arrival?  I've never been to an airport where the rental companies didn't stay open for the last flight (but I've never been to STL).



Personally, I would choose #1 (and perhaps see if you can shift to an earlier flight time that lets you get a rental car and drive to your destination the same day at a reasonable hours - eliminating hotel/cab costs).

Long ago I decided that as an adult I could suck up the costs and get a rental car when I visited my family (they live 2 hrs from the nearest airport) - it simplifies everything for all of us.

[Dicey]

50th Anniversary? Spend the money.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Definitely #1. I'd book the car rental you can find now, but shop around for lower prices. Do you and/or your partner work for a company that offers personal travel codes? I've worked for several companies that had arrangements with car rental companies for discounted personal travel. Have you tried Costco Travel? (I'm assuming they service this airport, but have never checked.)

I'd also call around & see if you truly can't rent a car at midnight.

[mountainmama]

Does the metro run all night and what time is the earliest Amtrak option? Depending on the kids, sleeping a few hours in the airport/ train station could be a fun adventure, where as the extra trip to the hotel to only get a couple hours of sleep could be just as exhausting as the half sleep from being in public.

I just looked and the metro does run all night and the earliest Amtrak train is at 4:30am. Could work. Sounds exhausting, though! My sister said the same thing, though, about not actually having enough time at the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

[mountainmama]

Budget Car Rental at STL says they are open “until the last arrival”. Have you called them?

I saw the same thing and so I tried to book from Budget directly, which also wouldn't let me schedule pickup for that late. I should try to call, though.

[mountainmama]

I like to use AutoSlash to search for low rates, and then I have them track the rental and alert me if the price drops.  For my Christmas travel last year, my original reservation was $680 for the week (!!OMG!!), and by watching for price drops it came down to $360 by mid-December.  This year my original reservation is $550, and I'm definitely hoping it drops soon...  Pre-pandemic prices for around Christmas for this location were $200-300/wk.

Personally, I would choose #1 (and perhaps see if you can shift to an earlier flight time that lets you get a rental car and drive to your destination the same day at a reasonable hours - eliminating hotel/cab costs).

Thanks, Notjen. I hadn't thought about that I could cancel the car reservation if I found a better deal. Can you usually do this without consequence?

And I already looked at changing the flight to an early time, but it was going to be a minimum of $450 to change all 3 flights. (And would still get us in at 10pm.)

[NotJen]

Thanks, Notjen. I hadn't thought about that I could cancel the car reservation if I found a better deal. Can you usually do this without consequence?

Yes, just make sure you book a "pay-at-the-counter" rate.  NOT prepaid (although there are some prepaid rates that can be canceled with no penalty - read the cancellation policies on anything you book).  Usually they don't even take a credit card number - very easy to cancel and rebook (actually - rebook first, and then cancel, just to be safe).

[Dicey]

Another plug for AutoSlash. They make it super easy to check for lower rates.

[charis]

I would first double check with the company about picking up a rental at the airport, as others suggested.

After that, definitely #1, no question.  It may not be the best use of a hotel room, but switching from airport to metro to Amtrak in the middle of the night sounds awful under the best circumstances, much less with tired children.  And your family says there are many people willing to pick you and your cranky kids up at the train station at 3-4 AM? Don't be the person who asks someone to do this.

You should have a rental car for your family during this trip regardless of people who are theoretically willing to give you rides.   

[mountainmama]

To clarify, ixtap made the suggestion to see if there was a way to skip the hotel and go straight to the train station, which I did consider, but the original Amtrak idea was to get a hotel and then make our way to the train station the next day. There are several trains going our way and would need a pick-up at our destination at either 10am or 5pm.

My sister has an eight-passenger van (with a 5 person family) and could definitely give us rides while we're there. We're staying at the same place. So, even though I usually value my independence, I do think once we're there, we'll be ok with rides. Additionally, our travel plans line up better on the return trip, so she can give us a ride back to St. Louis on the return. (I didn't realize this when I posted #4.)

I did sign up for Autoslash, so I'm holding out that it will be less than I think to rent a car.

[charis]

To clarify, ixtap made the suggestion to see if there was a way to skip the hotel and go straight to the train station, which I did consider, but the original Amtrak idea was to get a hotel and then make our way to the train station the next day. There are several trains going our way and would need a pick-up at our destination at either 10am or 5pm.

My sister has an eight-passenger van (with a 5 person family) and could definitely give us rides while we're there. We're staying at the same place. So, even though I usually value my independence, I do think once we're there, we'll be ok with rides. Additionally, our travel plans line up better on the return trip, so she can give us a ride back to St. Louis on the return. (I didn't realize this when I posted #4.)

I did sign up for Autoslash, so I'm holding out that it will be less than I think to rent a car.

Ah, sorry I missed that re Amtrak.  Regarding the car though, I think it depends on how long will you be staying and if there are other ways to get around (like good public transportation).  The capacity to give you rides is different than the inconvenience. 

[giulia]

Check the European Hertz websites to rent a car (UK is in English,  but often italian or Spanish are slightly cheaper). Often they are cheaper than US websites for some reason, and the price also includes insurance and taxes. I don't know if it works this time of the year though

[nessness]

I would do the train. If the kids don't take the train regularly, they'll probably love it, plus you can relax more than if you were driving. And the process for getting on a train is way easier than the process for checking out a rental car, which can take forever IME.

[mountainmama]

Update: I booked a car for $350! (That's $150 less than my first quote!) I was leaning towards the train, but the cheaper price changed my mind.

I booked a hotel as well. I reached out to the rental agency, and they told me they will only stay late if my flight is scheduled to arrive before their listed closing time and is delayed. I'm also nervous about the possibility of snowy weather, which would make a 2 hour drive that starts at midnight that much more harrowing, so I think sleeping in St. Louis that night seems like the best option. Hopefully now I can just look forward to the trip instead of stressing about the logistics.

[mountainmama]

What an update: I was amongst the thousands of flights that Southwest cancelled this week. I found out when I tried to check in. (24 hours in advance.) I made the last minute decision to drive. (17 hours) It was worth it, to be able to see most of my family in one place.

Unfortunately, on the first leg of the trip home today, my car stopped working. Probably the alternator. Fortunately I was carpooling today with my sister, as she lives approximately half-way back to my house. She was able to help with some logistics and even took my kids with her. I'm in a hotel, hoping the shop that my car was towed to will be able to get me on the road tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

[GilesMM]

This was the holiday season for chaotic travel. Hope you make it safely home.  Gads.

[AMandM]

Came here to see how your trip went. So glad the visit worked out!
My teenage daughter was also caught in the SW mess--after having 5 flights cancelled, and missing Christmas day, she gave up and bought a train ticket from a city 2 hours away, and a friend offered to drive her there.

[mountainmama]

@AMandM I'm glad she was able to get home! That's a bummer she missed Christmas, though. The shop just told me that they can't get the part until tomorrow, so I'm stuck here another day. Are you going to submit the costs of the train to Southwest to try to get reimbursed? I'm definitely going to try to at least get my gas and hotels reimbursed.

[AMandM]

It did not occur to us to ask SW for a reimbursement of the train fare. They did refund her ticket and give her an additional $200 (all in SW credit, not cash, of course). Thanks for the tip!

[mountainmama]

I just realized that I never gave a final update: My car was fixed and we made it home. ($800 for a new alternator!)

Southwest:
Reimbursed the miles and dollars it had cost for the original flights.
They also gave me an additional 75,000 points.
They also reimbursed all the receipts I sent them for gas, hotels, and some meals. ($720)

All in all, I'm glad we still went, even though the 4 days it took us to get home were pretty terrible. My angst over renting a car for a few days feels so petty in retrospect!