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Need to rent a car, a bike rack and 3 bikes from Buffalo


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Out of town rider from Los Angeles on 12/31/2021 12:43:49 PM:
3 of us will like to ride the Errie canal and Hudson Valley trails. We are from Los Angeles, we plan to fly in Buffalo and depart from NYC, so we need to rent a car, bike rack (we may skip some sections) and 3 bikes from Buffalo and possible return them in NYC. Any recommendations? Thank you for your help. Happy New Year!

 
Aethos from Boston on 1/10/2022 12:17:09 AM:
I'm also from out of town so can't help with recs sorry, but am looking at a similar trip this spring. Curious what you anticipate needing the car for, what you've planned so far, and if you'd share what you have.

 
Lindsay from Rancho Santa Margarita on 1/10/2022 8:31:19 PM:
We are planning for (maybe) 2 of us to ride each day while the 3rd drives ahead to the destination. Switch off each day.

 
Out of town rider from Los Angeles on 1/11/2022 6:34:12 PM:
Aethos from Boston, we need a car to transport luggage. I have purchased the Erie Canal and Hudson Valley books from the NY Parks & Recreations. I have some idea but no solid plan yet.

 
Out of town rider from Los Angeles on 1/11/2022 6:36:23 PM:
Lindsay from RSM, we thought about doing that too.

 
Bill in Houston from Houston on 1/14/2022 6:05:44 PM:
I have not ever heard of renting a rack. Maybe you could rent a full size van, and have room for your bikes inside? More secure that way, too.

 
wnybubba from Bflo/Roc on 1/30/2022 6:34:27 PM:
Walmart sells decent and inexpensive Allen bicycle racks. So, for a limited investment, you could solve the rack situation. You could even return it to Walmart if you felt so inclined.

There are other discussions on this Forum about bicycle rentals, but I'd be hard pressed to believe you can return them in NYC. If you have a car rental - why not return to Bflo and fly out of there? It's a relatively short drive -- like about 6 hours. I've gotta believe cheaper flights (RT) and no drop off fee for vehicle.

 
Phil from Portland from Portland, OR on 3/18/2022 7:13:07 PM:
Riding Buffalo - Albany - NYC in June, and in the process of booking flights now. It appears that the cost of PDX-BUF and JFK-PDX flights differ very little from round trip to either of those, so we are flying to one and back from the other. We're also shipping our own bikes rather than rent, as Alaska, American, Delta and United have all changed their policies to allow bikes as a piece of luggage. Protecting them and finding bike boxes in NYC may be a challenge, but that's the plan!