Hybrid Rental?

I am going to DC next April for the college hockey Frozen Four with my son. Initial plan was to fly but prices are through the roof at this time - nearly $600/ticket on the formerly local carrier - prices are high partially because of oil costs and partially because it%26#39;s Easter weekend.

Anyway, since the lad is on spring break %26amp; time is not critical I started thinking we may be better off driving. I was thinking about renting a car for a week to save the wear %26amp; tear on mine plus get something that would get significantly better millage than my van. So far I haven%26#39;t been able to find anyone (online Budget, Dollar, Alamo, etc.) who rents a hybrid. Any suggestions.

Hertz has some sort of %26#39;green%26#39; option but I can%26#39;t tell if that is a hybrid and they are significantly more expensive.

Meanwhile I will keep shopping flights but it%26#39;s not bad to have a back-up plan, eh.

Thanks.

Hybrid Rental?

an option would be Amtrak, too -

that could be fun trip, with a few hours in downtown Chicago before changing trains.

I%26#39;m not a fan of driving long distances and have done a few big treks on Amtrak before. Not too bad.

Here%26#39;s a sample intinerary:

808 Empire Builder

St. Paul / Minneapolis, MN

7:50 am

02-JUL-08

Chicago, IL

- Union Station

(CHI)

3:55 pm

02-JUL-08

8h 5m Dining car, Lounge, Checked baggage, Onboard wheelchair ramp 1 Reserved Coach Seat

30 Capitol Limited

Chicago, IL

- Union Station

7:05 pm

02-JUL-08 Washington, DC

- Union Station

1:30 pm

03-JUL-08

17h 25m Dining car, Lounge, Checked baggage, Onboard wheelchair ramp 1 Reserved Coach Seat

Hybrid Rental?

You know, the train is an excellent idea and one I would not have considered. Thanks bud. :)

Unless you are planning on driving straight through, it is going to take three days to get to DC. By the time you factor the cost of lodging and meals along the way, plus the cost of gasoline, I don%26#39;t know if you will be saving that much money.

I think the train would be a great option. Another possibility would be to check into flights to Philadelphia or Baltimore to see if they would be less than flying to DC. Getting to DC from Philadelphia or Baltimore is very easy using the train.

I%26#39;ve done the drive from DC to MSP twice, both times it was two full days driving with one nights lodging - though I possibly could have gone straight through both times. Long drives are not a problem for me, I%26#39;m a driving savant :) and love roadtrips.

The price of gas is why was looking into renting a hybrid; I did some quick calculations and even in my Odyssey the cost to drive there and back is close to the same as one ticket to DCA, at the current prices.

Another good point to check Philly or Baltimore and then take a train.

Thanks for the ideas!

%26lt;-----Keeps beating a dead horse %26amp; this may not be the most appropriate spot for these questions. Sorry.

Did some more poking around....have any of you ever flown Midwest Air? I no nothing about them - other than some reviews on this site that seem to be very good - and they have relatively cheap flights to DCA via Milwaukee.

I haven%26#39;t flown Midwest Air since they merged/got bought out with/by AirTran, but I have always enjoyed flying them. All their planes used to have four seats across, but now I think that has changed. Regardless, the service was always wonderful. Once I was flying to New York, and the flight from MSP to Milwaukee was delayed. It appeared we would miss our connection in Milwaukee, which was the last flight to New York that evening. Even though we were almost two hours late, they held the flight in Milwaukee for the six or seven of us that were delayed in Minneapolis. I%26#39;m not sure many airlines would do that.

The only beef I ever had with Midwest was having to fly through Milwaukee to get anywhere. Also, they don%26#39;t fly to Chicago. However, as I said, I have not flown them since the ownership change.

As for the driving, you must either drive for a long, long time each day, or you drive REALLY fast! It%26#39;s almost 1,200 to DC from the Twin Cities. I%26#39;ve always held to the belief that my time is worth something, so unless the air option is just outrageously expensive compared to driving, I guess I%26#39;d rather fly. Or take the train, which can be very nice if you splurge on a room.

If you do a cabin option with Amtrak, your meals are included, %26amp; beverages (but not alc.) AND... the biggest perk, you can bring cooler of beverages in your cabin.

If you just did coach, with no cabin, you can%26#39;t bring alc. on the train.

We did a cabin from MPS to Portland OR, and then returned from Seattle - that was awesome trip. Food was decent - and they showed movies in the bar/lounge car at night.