ron@brl-sem.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (12/14/85)
> 2. Does anyone know a convenient way to go from DC to the greater > Boston area and rent a car to continue? Take the T (whoops, the MBTA subway to thoise in dixie) to the airport and rent the car there. If you're hearty you can even walk the distance between the T stop and the car places, but at least Hertz will make stops there with their shuttle.
dennis@CSNET-SH.ARPA (Dennis Rockwell) (12/15/85)
> 2. Does anyone know a convenient way to go from DC to the greater > Boston area and rent a car to continue? Take the T (whoops, the MBTA subway to thoise in dixie) to the airport and rent the car there. If you're hearty you can even walk the distance between the T stop and the car places, but at least Hertz will make stops there with their shuttle. Foo! The original requestor stated a wish not to go into downtown Boston. Not only do you have to get onto the Red Line at South Station (very much downtown, but the MBTA stop is at least in front of South Station), change subway lines twice (travelling one or two stops on three of the four subway lines), but then you must *drive* through some of the most congested and suboptimally routed highway miles in the country, not to mention Boston drivers! This was not the apparent intention (nor was it mine to give a travelogue); however, unless anybody can think of a car-rental office any closer to any other subway stop, it's the only way that I can think of. Riverside would be best (a rental desk at the Holiday Inn, maybe? Probably only for patrons), with only one line change. Braintree and Alewife (no rental place within miles) are also within easy reach of Route 128 and don't require line changes from South Station. Most people that public transit and Amtrak serve don't tend to rent cars. Dennis PS: Pat, try calling the Holiday Inn on Grove Street in Newton MA. They are just across the parking lot from an endpoint (Riverside Station) of the Green Line.
pommer@ichaya.UUCP (Allan 'RAP' Pommer) (12/16/85)
>> 2. Does anyone know a convenient way to go from DC to the greater >> Boston area and rent a car to continue? > Take the T (whoops, the MBTA subway to thoise in dixie) to the airport > and rent the car there. If you're hearty you can even walk the distance > between the T stop and the car places, but at least Hertz will make > stops there with their shuttle. The major car rental agencies, Avis, Hertz and National all have locations in the city. They are: Avis 3 Center Plaza (617) 369-1190 Hertz 1 Center Plaza 1-800 654-3131 National 183 Dartmouth St (617) 426-6830 Center Plaza is also known as Government Center to the locals. There are no auto agencies shown in the phone directory which are within easy walking distance of South Station. Warning about South Station, The original structure has been completely stripped, only the shell remains but AMTRAK and MBTA have a temporary waiting room and ticket office which only barely meets basic needs. Reopening of the station is 2 to 3 years off. Allan (RAP) Pommer UUCP: decvax!ichaya!pommer
mickey@cca.UUCP (Mickey Levine) (12/17/85)
Don't forget the Cambridge connection! There is an Avis office just outside of Harvard Square (Harvard 'T' stop and 2 block walk) and a National Car rental office at the North Cambridge Holiday Inn on Mass. Ave. (Harvard 'T' stop and 8 block walk or take the '77' electric bus (N. Cambridge)). Reservations are required I'm sure as these are smaller offices than the airport offices and they keep a smaller group of cars around.
cb@hlwpc.UUCP (Carl Blesch) (12/17/85)
> > 2. Does anyone know a convenient way to go from DC to the greater > > Boston area and rent a car to continue? > > Take the T (whoops, the MBTA subway to thoise in dixie) to the airport > and rent the car there. If you're hearty you can even walk the distance > between the T stop and the car places, but at least Hertz will make > stops there with their shuttle. Better yet, there's an Avis agent not much more than four blocks from South Station in Boston. I took the train from Newark to Boston in September, stopped off at a colleague's office building about two blocks from South Street Station, then walked another two blocks to the Avis agent, picked up a car, and continued my trip to New Hampshire. Also, I was able to drop my car off at Logan Airport on the return trip, and it was considered to have been dropped off at the same place (i.e. no one-way charges applied. This would not have been true where I live in New Jersey, where renting from an agency [privately owned and franchised by Avis] and dropping off the car at the airport [owned by Avis] is considered a one-way rental.) Carl Blesch
Dan_Bower%RPI-MTS.Mailnet@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA (12/18/85)
Why not take the Night Owl? You could leave DC at 10:30p, arrive in the Boston area in the morning (Rte. 128 station at 7:45a) and catch the rental offices right when they open. In fact, if you get there that early, do you need a rental car at all? When I take the Night Owl to DC from NYC, I take the metro to wherever I'm going and back (or a taxi for some trips) and blow off the rental car entirely. For the price of the Pullman berth and taxi fares, I save the price of a rental car and hotels. I also get there early enough and can leave late enough to get in a full day's work. If I fly, I have to come in the night before and run like mad to make the last flight out.
johnl@ima.UUCP (12/19/85)
> 2. Does anyone know a convenient way to go from DC to the greater > Boston area and rent a car to continue? If you ask, car rental companies will usually come and get you. Avis and Dollar have adjacent rental offices within sight of South Station (if you know exactly the direction to look) and Budget at least used to have a direct phone in the station. Going to the airport is nuts unless your train arrives late at 3:00 AM (when the subway doesn't run, anyway.) John Levine, ima!johnl PS: I guess what this discussion has shown is that most Bostonians never rent cars in Boston. I wouldn't know where car rental agencies are if I hadn't had to make arrangements for out-of-towners to get rental cars, when they didn't believe me when I said they'd be scared to drive them in Boston traffic.
cmoore@BRL.ARPA (VLD/VMB) (12/22/85)
(This is for Allan 'RAP' Pommer <pommer@ichaya.uucp.arpa>, which is not on the arpanet, so it's being sent to the entire list.) You show 617-369, but that is Concord.