Transportation from home to any destination requires some form of "last mile" transit.  Gail and Piper discuss tips and thoughts on car renting when that's the choice that's made.

 

0:23 – Intro (Steampunk Girl by John Anealio)    Host Introduction; Gail Carriger and Piper J Drake

0:41 - Piper has a story, both for Gail and for listeners about a Virginia wedding (including hellmouth travel via ORD)

2:54 - The behaved childhood version of Adam Sandler and his Vegas "Money Man"

3:38 - Frequently flyer shop talk - how to find decent food in Chicago O'hare - just inside of security hidden between separate TSA check points

5:08 - Piper got trapped in an airport elevator

6:40 - Meeting the poor man's equivalent to an "extra from The Sopranos" as he oozes into your seat-space and tries to lift the shared armrest without permission

10:11 - Hotels in Warrenton, Virginia are... questionable - Piper left a rare one-star review after needing to wine-stomp insects in the tub

13:34 - tips for using Yelp/Travelocity/etc to research random hotels before staying - Gail tip: 'sort/search review sites with key terms like "business" as those reviews are often more realistic than a vacationer who stayed at a given location while in an overall good mood'

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Main Topic -> Renting some Wheelz

15:42 - 

16:30 - book as small as you think you can manage; gives greater opportunity for upgrade

17:00 - Random rental car discounts abound - Gail gets one for being Sigma Xi

17:36 - if renting and needing/wanting to drop off the car in another state/country reach out and ask the company if they have a car that needs to be returned

18:48 - Try, try, try, to be friendly to the rental agent!

20:12 - Rental car rewards programs

21:48 - Use your rental experience as an opportunity to test-drive a car you are considering purchasing

22:26 - Sometimes it is cheaper to get your rental car from the inner-city area as opposed to the airport rental car center

22:31 - Random Philly soft-pretzels

26:11 - "Even if you only rent once a year the rental company will treat you better just for being 'in their club'"

  – – – 

Gadgets!

26:24 - car gadgets

 Gail - pack with driving in mind if driving 3+ hours               'compressible cooler/thermos https://amzn.to/2XFnrBB               'driving sunglasses https://amzn.to/2VzXWA3  Piper - obtaining GPS via cell phone holder (clip is simplest!) https://amzn.to/2EA6wrx

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30:42 - Outro and thanks to: Producer Matt

Special thanks to Dan Sawyer of Artistic Whisper for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening; Travel smart and pack the snacks!

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