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Apr. 04, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Car renters consolidate in building near airport

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL


LAS VEGAS CAR RENTAL FACTS:

Cost to build McCarran Rent-A-Car Center: $166.8 million

Number of parking spots: 5,000

Number of rental companies: 11

Number of rental contracts annually: 1.8 million

Average rental cost/day: $35.72

2006 RENTAL-RELATED REVENUE FOR DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION: $28.5 million.

SOURCE: CLARK COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION


Maria Romano, president and majority owner of an Advantage Rent A Car, stands inside the new car- rental center at McCarran International Airport.
Photo by John Gurzinski.



The $170 million consolidated rent-a-car center is slated to open today near McCarran International Airport.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

The fresh, new smell of a spotless rental car now comes in a building.

A $170 million consolidated rent-a-car center is scheduled to be open for business today three miles south of McCarran International Airport.

The sleek, modern structure on 68 acres of land at 7135 Gilespie St. will consolidate operations of 11 car rental companies operating at McCarran and, at least for now, ease curbside congestion in front of the airline terminals.

Vehicles linked to 1.8 million car rental contracts signed annually at McCarran, the nation's sixth-busiest airport, will jockey less with buses, cabs, limos and other terminal traffic.

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    • Not only will the McCarran Rent-A-Car Center consolidate rental operations, it will combine shuttle buses for customers who want to rent cars, a change from the previous system in which each company operated its own buses.

    "That is a lot of trips to move off of our roadway system," said Randall Walker, Clark County director of aviation.

    McCarran is following the lead of airports in Dallas, San Francisco and Phoenix, where myriad car rental operations are consolidated in central spaces.

    In Las Vegas, it means that instead of getting a rental at the passenger terminal and taking a bus to pick up a vehicle, customers will take a shuttle to the new center and walk to their cars, many of which will be protected from the elements by parking garages.

    In addition to putting customer service areas under one roof, the new center consolidates back-of-the-house operations such as cleaning and refueling the rental cars.

    "One-stop shopping for the customer is going to be a lot easier," said Maria Romano, president and majority owner of an Advantage Rent A Car affiliate.

    Romano, who has owned and operated car rental businesses in Las Vegas since 1978, toured her company's new space just hours before the scheduled opening overnight Tuesday.

    The Advantage counter is located across a bright, airy lobby from the center's front entrance on Gilespie Street. The firm has another bank of mobile customer service desks on a lower-level parking garage.

    "It has put us in a great situation," said Romano, whose lobby counter is near service areas for larger rental companies such as Enterprise and Avis. "It has elevated us so we can compete with the bigger companies."

    The new rental car center has been in the works several years. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, delayed the project as much of the airline industry was in turmoil.

    The scope of the center also expanded as it was changed to incorporate suggestions from rental car companies who generate more than $28 million in concession revenue for the aviation department and were wary of the proposal to consolidate their competing operations.

    McCarran is depending on more concession fees from the companies to pay for the center.

    "There were some intense discussions with the rental car companies," Walker said.

    He said airport officials pushed for more common space and consolidations while the companies angled for more individual, storefront-style operations.

    In the end, companies got individual leased space off a common lobby in the main building and three common-use fueling and cleaning stations.

    The airport also insisted on common-use shuttle buses for all the companies and spent $12 million on about 40 vehicles to move customers between the terminals and rental area.

    Walker said the new system will mean more people on each bus instead of customers stuck waiting for a bus from their particular rental company, even as near-empty buses operated by other companies rolled past.

    Fewer buses will open more valuable curb space for other vehicles.

    "Curb space is one of our biggest challenges," Walker said.



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    L. Ray Pong wrote on May 27, 2007 06:14 PM: I checked in at the Thrifty car return center this morning @8:29am. I was proceeding to the shuttle and realized that my camera back pack wasn't w/ me. I immediately returned to the car that I had just dropped off and it was already spirited away for detailing. The check in lady said she didn't check for any left belongings as per her job description. I was also in error for not checking as I usually do. She said the subcontracted worker that drove the car off was hispanic and wore a baseball cap and yellow shirt. All the detailers wear such uniforms and no one fessed up to their supervisor about finding my backpack. All this occurred in less than 5 minutes. A loss report was made to Kristine the Thifty lost and found agent. I was told that the day before a customer lost a bag w/ several thousand dollars bag reclaimed but no money. Are these subcontractor employees bonded in any way or are they background checked? My visit was nice until this incident. There doesn't seem to be any concern or accountability to tourists.


    Ralph Giambra wrote on April 13, 2007 11:40 AM: Just another way to gauge travelers and make travel by air a total inconvenience and stressful experience. It is very sad to see elderly people getting pushed around on the crowded vans and trying to get their breath as they drag all of their luggage through the new autot center.


    Steven F. wrote on April 09, 2007 11:45 PM: As someone who travels across the USA regularly and is a Hertz president's club frequent renter, I have learned to dislike these "consolidated" facilities. This is all about 1)revenues to the airport authority who charge ME for the inconvenience; and 2) inconvenience inconvenience inconvenience!!! as I battle for space on a "consolidated facility" bus that now serves multiple rental car companies. Add in the extra time you have to allow to get to/from these facilities because they are MILES away from the airport, and the frustration rises. For example, the consolidated facility at San Francisco requires you to walk some distance hauling your baags (up and down elevators/ramps) to take a slow-moving and not very frequent tram to/from the facility. Or Phoenix, which has a facility even farther from the airport and by bus now means I have to allow at lesat an EXTRA HOUR if I am lucky. Sunport in Albuquerque has the same issues, although it is closer to the airport. I've never used the DFW one and am not looking forward to that. There ARE better ways: I am in Portland OR this trip and simply walked across the street under cover from the baggage area to my car. Same thing for Pittsburgh (still the BEST airport design overall in the USA by far if woefully underutilized since US Airways pulled its hub out). Also Little Rock and Austin. I am looking more and more to rent OFF AIRPORT (such as the SFO Marriott) and avoid the hassles.... and in some cases, the added "convenience fees" charged for the inconvenient consolidated facilities. Will be in Vegas in a few weeks and give my feedback after that visit but I'm not optimistic.


    SandraTimm wrote on April 08, 2007 08:27 PM: It will make a lot of people wait a lot longer for their vehicle and then walk to it. How about the handicapped? How do they get their cars? I DO NOT LIKE THE NEW IDEA AT ALL.


    Dan Leighton wrote on April 07, 2007 08:14 AM: We found an empty rental lot to return our car to on Wed. a.m. (the first day). First we heard of the move was reading it in the R-J at 37,000 eastbound after the "experience". Following poor signage we finally found the new facility. Elevators not properly marked (FYI lobby is marked 2R). Employees complained the facility is NOT FINISHED! Buses were slow, overcrowded with luggage not stowed properly with poorly trained drivers who didn't even know the address of the new facility. There seemed no ease up at Terminal 1 as passengers were strewn about by where the driver "felt like" dropping of the passengers. As a taxpayer in Clark County we and our guests deserve better. Dan Leighton LV+RI


    Robert Gordon wrote on April 04, 2007 07:31 AM: Many of us have learned it is much easier to rent a car at the strip hotels than the airport. These facilities are great for the airports but NOT for the customers.