Ask HN: I am visiting SFO should I rent or use zipcar? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I am visiting SFO should I rent or use zipcar?

1 pointmaxpert7 comments

Hey guys,

So I am visiting SFO in few days. Staying in a hotel near union square. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to use ZipCar or Rent a car? I am trying to save some money from expensive parking. The cheapest all day I have seen so far is $25/day for 3 days it's $75 dollars. Assuming I get a really good deal I would pay $200 - $300 for car rental. I am traveling with my baby so having a car is must for me. I saw ZipCar I am not sure about it's hourly rate, while I like the fact I can pick a car from Airport and drop it at any ZipCar parking in city, it makes decision hard for me.

Any ZipCar customers here? Any recommendations? Should I go for Rental or ZipCar when I am staying there for 3 days?

View on HN

ZipCar (actually, Uber is probably even better). Parking is absolutely miserable in that part of the city - I've heard that at any given moment, half of the cars in SF are searching for parking. The hotel garages may charge up to $100/night for parking, while the public garages tend to fill up very fast and run about $36/day.

I also wouldn't rule out public transportation. Union Square is right by BART so you can use it & muni for anything in the Market Street/Embarcadero corridor, and BART will take you straight from the airport to the hotel. By the time you find a parking spot it may actually be a longer walk to your hotel than walking from BART would be.

Does Uber/Lyft allow infants with carseats?

Short answer is yes, long answer: it costs a bit more. https://help.uber.com/h/3abcbae1-132b-42a9-8277-0dab00fa3879

ZipCar daily rates are terrible compared to subcompact rentals at SFO. Are you planning to leave SF city limits? If not take the train (BART) to/from your hotel/airport and use Uber the rest of the time. Parking a car near Union square will set you back 30 to 40 bucks a day btw.

I am planning to go to Golden Gate bridge, Mountain View to meet some friends, and probably within city for food and site seeing.

You probably want to take CalTrain to Mountain View rather drive up and down 101. It's awful at the best of times and right now it is covered in potholes so there is a non-zero chance that you'll end up hitting one and blowing a tire.

45-50 minutes if you get on an express. 1hr and 10 for the local trains. It'll take 47 minutes to drive if there is no traffic and anywhere from 1hr 20 to 2hr in rush hour.

Does SF have ReachNow or Car2Go? I like the fact you can just pick up and leave a car without having to block out specific time like with Zipcars.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com