Renting a Car From the Sixt in Seattle Is a Little Strange
For my mileage run afternoon in Seattle I decided to rent a car and give Sixt a try. I’ve had amazing experiences the handful of times I’d rented from them in Europe — great upgrades, great service — so I was curious if it would be the same in the US.
All rental cars are offsite at Seattle Airport, so I made my way to the far end of the terminal to catch the shuttle bus. It was probaby only a 10 minute ride but it felt much longer!
The Sixt rental car counter is tiny and tucked into the corner at the very end next to EZ and Payless.
Check in was quick, my Platinum status recognized and I was upgraded from a Corolla to a Camry. The upsell was brief and I was soon getting directions on how to get to my car.
And there was even someone there to escort us, because you walk back the length of the building to …another shuttle.
That shuttle is about a 3-5 minute ride to a parking lot that has the Sixt office tucked in the corner.
Fortunately you don’t have to repeat that to return the car, you just follow the signs to the return area in the far back of the first floor.
Throughout it all the service was both friendly and good, the car seemed really clean, but I was just still a little taken aback by the catching the shuttle to catch the shuttle — it definitely adds at least 10-15 minutes to the process. I was glad that I had caught an earlier flight so I wasn’t quite as rushed.
Too bad they can’t arrange to just shuttle people directly from the airport. They were cheaper than Avis and Hertz but coming in after a long flight the extra time might not be worth it.
That’s a good example of how to build a world class rental car center that’s too small. You could of walked to the Sixt lot faster. Its really not far from the terminal. At least they are able to charge you more airport taxes for an off airport location 🙂
I don’t usually rent from them but I’ve had really good luck, and rates, from Thrifty at Sea-Tac. They don’t have the shuttle to shuttle issue there.
Perhaps, you could crop your finger out of the photo. Great, thanks.