Silvercar Is My New Favorite Rental Car Company
And it’s not just because my first rental was only $2. Military Flyer and View from the Wing recently wrote about Silvercar – a newish company that only rents Audi A4s at a handful of airport locations. When problems with the weather last week had me flying into Austin instead of San Antonio, I jumped at the chance to try them.
I managed to get in on Valentine’s Day deal where my first rental day was free. So other than the fact my shiny silver Audi was only $1.73 for the night after taxes, why am I so in love with Silvercar?
Because it offers most of the benefits from Avis’ top Chairman status that I valued the most:
- Personal pick/up drop off at the terminal (avoiding buses to off site locations)
- Guaranteed “nice†car with free satellite radio – no more hoping the best available isn’t a town car.
- No waiting
In addition to those elite-level perks, it also comes with other great extras – free GPS, free use of EZ pass or the equivalent for tolls, free in-car wifi (though the signal was weak), and the option to have them refill the tank at market price for only a $5 fee. And while the rentals aren’t cheap – it was $76 including taxes before my code – it’s not that much more than a full size or premium rental and you get a much nicer car.
So how does it work?
- Download the mobile app.
- Make a reservation via the app or website.
- When you land, you open the app and click the “Pick me up buttonâ€
- They text you with directions on where to meet them. In Austin it’s the far right end on level 3.
- You get picked up in an Audi courtesy car and taken directly to the location. Which for my rental was about 4 minutes away.
- You choose your car, and scan the code with your app. This takes care of all the paperwork and unlocks the car.
- The representative who picked me up then put all my luggage in the car and helped me figure out how to start it (don’t ask) and answered any questions.
- When you’re ready to return it, select the Silvercar location from the GPS programmed options and head back.
- When you arrive, move to the passenger seat. The representative will scan the car and drove you to your terminal. The receipt will be emailed.
They are currently only located in Dallas, Austin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, but more locations are coming, including Phoenix, Tucson, and Seattle.
The free rental car code I used is no longer working, but you can use code KLATRAVEL-FTD to get $50 off your first rental, which will make a one day rental about $13. Once you’ve created an account, enter KANDERSON5 under the Referral page of your profile and we’ll both get another $25 in rental credit after your first rental.
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How long did it take for Silvercar to pick you up once you texted them?
I hit the pick me up button once I was off the plane, by the time I found the location at the far right (I went far left), the car was already waiting on me. They had another passenger already and asked if I minded sharing. So it probably wasn’t even 5 minutes before I was out on the curb.
It can be much longer depending on the location. At SFO I spent 5 minutes walking to the airport train, another 10 minutes riding it to the rental car facility, 15 minutes waiting there for pickup, and 15 minutes driving to the offsite facility where they operate. I could have saved 30+ minutes just renting from National/Avis/Hertz.
I’m looking forward to trying them out at DFW next month. Although I do hate driving around that airport lol
Is your first rental promo code valid any day of the week, or weekends only?
It’s only eligible on first-time rentals, otherwise no restrictions — should work on any day.
Is it possible to have 2 accounts set up to take advantage of the 2 $50 off rental at different locations? Would they restrict based if it is same driver?
Since you have to enter your driver’s license I’m guessing it wouldn’t work, but I haven’t tried it.
Thanks for the tip. My fiancée and I will put this to use for her Valentine’s gift vacation.
Thanks! Looking into using this soon!