When you visit Juneau, you have many transportation options. As you plan out your travels and work to book your accommodations, you might be wondering how much it costs to rent a car in Juneau. Many factors contribute to those costs, including size of the vehicle, seasonality and rental car company. Learn what to expect and alternatives for navigating the area should you decide that a rental car is not right for you.
Rental Car Prices in Juneau
If you plan to rent a car in Juneau during tourist season (May through September), you should book early. Otherwise, you’ll be competing for what’s left and paying higher prices as supply dwindles.
Waiting until the last minute could mean you pay more than $200 a day for an economy car or $250 a day for an SUV. In contrast, booking in advance results in rates of $50 a day for economy and $75 a day for an SUV.
Here are the contributing factors of what you’ll pay for a rental car in Juneau.
1. Time of Year
Juneau is fun to visit any time of year but the tourist season of May through September is when the area is the most active. Because of that, you’ll be competing with other tourists for rental cars.
While more excursions are available during tourist season, there’s a lot to do and see in Juneau during the off-season. So if you are budget-conscious, traveling during late fall, early spring or winter is a good choice.
2. Type of Vehicle
Mid-size vehicles and crossover SUVs tend to be in the most demand for rental cars based on research from Rentall Software. If you can work with an economy car or small vehicle, you might experience better savings because these vehicles are not in demand. These vehicles can often only hold a few suitcases and aren’t ideal for more than 2 adults. But if you are traveling with children and can pack light, you can save quite a bit per day on your rental.
3. Number of Days Rented
The more days you rent a vehicle, the lower the per-day fee is in most cases. There are exceptions in the case of busy weekends during your rental or large events in the area that increase demand for cars.
4. Amenities
If you want certain features within your car, you might pay more for it. Consider whether you truly need GPS or Bluetooth. Those features could make the car significantly more expensive as you’ll need a higher-class model.
5. When You Book
The sooner your book your vehicle, the better prices you’ll likely see. However, there can be instances where you can get a great deal on a rental if you wait until the last minute and the company really needs the vehicle rented. However, that’s a large risk if you’re certain you can’t live without a rental car during your travels because you could end up paying surge prices due to demand you weren’t aware of.
6. Your Age
If you are younger than 25 years of age, you’ll pay a great deal for your vehicle. Rental car companies charge more for renters who are 18-24 years of age because they are statistically shown to be riskier drivers and have less experience behind the wheel. If you fall in this age range, you could be paying as much as $85 more per day than someone who is older than you.
7. Location
Rental car rates vary based on where you are traveling. Since you know you’ll be in Juneau, you clearly can’t change the location of your rental. However, being aware that location is a factor can prevent you from comparing your Juneau rental to past rentals in more accessible areas. Because you need to fly in or take the ferry to reach Juneau, there’s less car travel in general, which makes the rates a little higher than in other areas where you can rent a car right outside the city for less. The competition in Juneau is very centralized, which can drive up prices during busy times.
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Ways to Manage Your Rental Car Expense
Extra fees, taxes and additional costs can increase the cost of your rental car. You can manage your total rental car expense by watching out for these fees and looking for ways to avoid them.
- Equipment: bring your own GPS and car seats for young travelers to avoid these add ons. Or consider what you can live without even if you are used to having things like subscription radio in your car at home.
- Insurance: You don’t want to leave yourself unprotected, but look into whether your credit card offers coverage if you book the rental car on your card. Many cards do, which can provide incredible cost savings.
- Roadside assistance: If you have roadside assistance for your car at home, it likely applies when driving a rental car. Some credit cards also offer this as a service when renting a car, meaning you don’t need the add-on when booking your rental.
- Extra driver: Listing more than one driver on the rental car will cost extra. Consider whether you can safely have one person do all the driving. This will provide significant cost savings.
- Gas: If you leave the tank on your rental car without a full tank, the rental car company will charge you a premium to fill it up. Instead, look for competitive prices at stations near the rental car return. That will help you manage this expense.
- Tolls: Don’t allow the rental car company to charge you for tolls. Pay the tolls at the booth as you go through or bring your EZPass with you.
- Pay now: Many rental car companies offer a discount if you pay for your car at the time of renting. While this means you can’t cancel and get your money back if something happens with your trip, it does mean you’ve locked great rates.
- Check back closer to your trip: Book your rental without paying the full cost and then check back frequently to see if rates are better. You can then rebook at the better rate and cancel your more expensive rental.
Do I Need a Rental Car in Juneau?
If rental car prices are too high in Juneau, you can likely skip the rental entirely. Juneau has a good public transportation option with Capital Transit. Many hotels also provide transportation to and from the airport and ferry to help you get around.
Consider taking walking tours of downtown Juneau to take in all the beauty. Your excursion companies will likely pick you up at your hotel and take you to your excursion location.
Juneau also has rideshare companies and taxis that can help you navigate the area when you don’t want to walk, public transportation is not an option and your hotel does not have transportation services.Where you stay is also a factor in what transportation you need. Frontier Suites puts you near Mendenhall Valley if you plan to spend your days hiking and exploring the beautiful outdoors. Book your stay now to secure good rates and firm up your travel so you can book your rental car early.
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