To Rent, or Not to Rent?

[SoonIHope]

This is a totally random question, but my boyfriend and I have been trying to decide if we should rent a car for the week of Christmas, or just take the train and tag along with my family everywhere. We''re going to be in the Adirondacks in upstate New York with about 20 members of my family for approximately 10 days. With no car, it seems like we might feel a bit penned in, BUT on the other hand, there isn''t actually much of anything to do up there (it''s wayyy in the middle of nowhere). So we''ll take big carpooling trips to go skiing some (don''t need own car) and hang out at the house and/or go hiking some (also don''t need car.) The difference between renting a car and taking the train round trip for 2 people is about $250....aka more money than I feel comfortable just throwing out the window, but not THAT much since it will mean ten days of being able to go wherever we want. I just don''t know if we''ll get around to using it enough to make it worthwhile..... For the record, my boyfriend gets along really well with my family, so he isn''t itching to get away as much as possible or anything. So, if you were us, would you rent a car or take the train? Thanks for your input!!!

 

[SoonIHope]

If you want to say why you''re voting how you''re voting that would be great too! Thanks!

I think I may actually be able to convince my boyfriend that we should just go with whatever the poll says, which would be so much fun. OUR VACATION IS IN YOUR HANDS, PRICESCOPE!!!

 

[Sparkster]

Are the 20 members of your family also on holidays or do they live there. If they are also on holidays and you rent a car, you do realise what''s going to happen. You are going to have to play chauffeur to everyone. There will bound to be some family members who will want to take advantage of the fact that you have a car. If they already live there then I think you should rent a car.

If you intend to travel further out, then the car will be so much more handy.

 

[Shay37]

I would rent the car. I don''t like being at anyone''s mercy about when, where, and how I can go somewhere. I would be much more relaxed knowing I could go anywhere at anytime without waiting for someone else to have that same idea and hope there''s room for me to tag along too. I speak from experience.

shay

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 11/21/2005 4:45:50 PM
Author: Shay37
I would rent the car. I don''t like being at anyone''s mercy about when, where, and how I can go somewhere. I would be much more relaxed knowing I could go anywhere at anytime without waiting for someone else to have that same idea and hope there''s room for me to tag along too. I speak from experience.


shay

yep what shay said.

 

[SoonIHope]

Everyone else will be driving up (or renting a car) so they should all have their own cars, so I don''t think driving other people around is going to be a problem. We could conceivably mooch off of someone else''s car on occasion, but (a) that sucks for them and (b) it sucks to have to ask people and hope the timing is okay, etc.

In the summers when we go up there, I would DEFINITELY want my own car because there is so much to do in nice weather. But at Christmas, we really do tend to stick together more. So the most I think we would probably do alone is go grocery shopping or pick up lunch or something. But it still seems really scary to not have the option of doing that AT ALL for ten days if we dooooo decide we need more mobility.... And there''s nowhere up there that we would be able to rent a car half way through if we needed to.

Keep on voting!

 

[SoonIHope]

More votes please!

Thanks!!!

 

[larussel03]

I take the train every day and while yes, it''s fairly consistant and saves me from having to buy a car, if it were just a few days I''d rather rent a car. No one sneezing on you, no compulsive hand washing after having to hold onto the railings b/c there are no seats, no hassle, no waiting in the cold.

 

[FireGoddess]

I vote rent the car. BTW, where would you be renting the car from that there''s a $250 difference in price? I rented a car online for a week (last week) and the whole week only cost me $140. I''m sure prices go up a bit for Christmas, but that sounds like a lot?!

 

[SoonIHope]

New York City. Renting cars here is soooo ridiculously expensive. And that price I quoted ($500 for 10 days) is WITH my boyfriend''s employee discount for his company, which saves us like two or three hundred dollars....

Where do you live Fire Goddess? I might wanna move there.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

If you're not going to be doing any site seeing, it makes more sense to save $250 and take the train. It'd be much more relaxing for you and your boyfriend.

Whenever we've flown out to visit relatives, we've borrowed a car. My mil always rents one, so we've driven hers to go see a movie or run to the store. Do you think you can borrow a vehicle?

 

[SoonIHope]

Yeeeah, we can probably borrow a car MOST of the times we want one. But who knows.

Another twist in the decision-making process is that my brother MIGHT be able to drive us up there (one way only) in which case we would save a ton of money by going with him one way and taking the train back. So if he can do that, then we''ll definitely save the money.

But if he caaan''t do that, I''m still torn...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 11/22/2005 2:03:47 PM
Author: albicocca


But if he caaan''t do that, I''m still torn...

Hi,
If you''re torn even knowing you''ll save $250, sounds like you''d be happier renting a car

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 11/22/2005 10:17:58 AM
Author: albicocca

New York City. Renting cars here is soooo ridiculously expensive. And that price I quoted ($500 for 10 days) is WITH my boyfriend''s employee discount for his company, which saves us like two or three hundred dollars....

Where do you live Fire Goddess? I might wanna move there.

Hehehe- San Francisco bay area - which is why I was shocked at the price you quoted!!! I thought it wouldn''t be cheap around here, but that''s what I paid for a week''s rental! That is crazy expensive.

 

[SoonIHope]

Date: 11/22/2005 2:12:19 PM
Author: MC

Date: 11/22/2005 2:03:47 PM
Author: albicocca
But if he caaan''t do that, I''m still torn...

Hi,
If you''re torn even knowing you''ll save $250, sounds like you''d be happier renting a car

Hehe, exactly...that IS what I''d rather do, I''m just not sure if it is worth the money, especially since there''s a good chance we won''t use it much. Hmmmm....

FireGoddess - Ohhh my goodness!! The ONE thing that kept me happily paying exhorbitant rent here was the knowledge that at least NYC is only the SECOND most expensive city in the US after San Francisco!!! That''s not fair that your car rental was so cheap!!! I totally disregarded your comment before by reminding myself you probably lived in Nebraska or somewhere really cheap to begin with!!!! [No offense to Nebraska! Just seems like cost of living is lower there!

]

Another little factor: I''m fairly sure my boyfriend is going to propose when we''re up there

, but he knows I care a lot about it not being in the presence of my family b/c I want it just to be the two of us - sooooo, I don''t want inability to borrow a car to conceivably mess up his proposal plans!!!!

Although I''m still rooting that he does it before then. Hehe, long long before then.

But either way, I would like for us to be able to be alone a bit....

 

[FireGoddess]

I think they just look for ways to jack you around the holidays...but girl, if there's a chance you'll be getting engaged on this trip, definitely get the car! It'll be so worth it ... you don't want to be googly eyed and lovey dovey and have Aunt Fran or Uncle Bob in the front seat. Definitely a mood killer.

ETA: In these situations I always find that if I didn't rent the car, I keep kicking myself for not doing so because I would have used it a lot...so if you do rent, you just have to make sure you find excuses to use the car! Like romantic little outings with your BF/FI!

 

[SoonIHope]

Date: 11/22/2005 9:12:54 PM
Author: FireGoddess
I think they just look for ways to jack you around the holidays...but girl, if there''s a chance you''ll be getting engaged on this trip, definitely get the car! It''ll be so worth it ... you don''t want to be googly eyed and lovey dovey and have Aunt Fran or Uncle Bob in the front seat. Definitely a mood killer.

ETA: In these situations I always find that if I didn''t rent the car, I keep kicking myself for not doing so because I would have used it a lot...so if you do rent, you just have to make sure you find excuses to use the car! Like romantic little outings with your BF/FI!

Hehehe, you crack me up!

Having the car certainly would be niiiiiice.... and I do want lots of googly eyes and lovey doveyness in the absence of my extended family..... I just feel like I''m sure I''ll kick myself if we DON''T get one, but if we DO get one I won''t use it enough so it''ll feel like a waste of money. But I guess I can try to come up with romantic outings for us!

Another little thing I thought of is that since there are so many people, I''m going to have a million presents going up and coming back. So that will make train travel more of a pain if I have to lug a bunch of extra bags around in addition to my suitcase....

Still undecided....