Car rental locations in Sydney NS

Will be at Sydney late June via HAL Veendam, and have done some research on car rental on CC. Enterprise was mentioned by quite a few members, with a couple negative comments on delay in p/u and such. I googled and found the following rental car companies:

-- Discount on 81 Victoria Road

-- Budget on 224 Welton St.

-- Enterprise 1246 Grand Lake rd.

Any of these location walkable from the pier (say under 2K)?

I am thinking going to Fort. Louisberg. Is there public transportation going there from Sydney?

TIA

Here is a google map with walking directions to these addresses:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Esplanade,+Sydney,+NS&daddr=81+Victoria+Road,+Sydney,+NS+to:224+Welton+St,+Sydney,+NS+to:1246+Grand+Lake+Rd,+Sydney,+NS&hl=en&sll=46.141238,-60.196969&sspn=0.030152,0.084543&geocode=FTYPwAIdl3dp_CmH2p5VKftnSzGi1NYfQuHwCg%3BFcoXwAIdP8hp_CnFxdf8yuRnSzHaXaiilDBC_Q%3BFQ4WwAId-epp_CnhMQs3tORnSzEZ5En_Q21kjg%3BFRKCwAIdAP9q_Cnb1f4HhuNnSzE8g9l6wVjJag&oq=1246+Grand+Lake+rd&dirflg=w&mra=ls&t=m&z=13

It is about a half hour walk to Victoria Road.

I do not believe there is any public transportation to Fortress Louisbourg. You would need to rent a car or take a taxi.

I have read that Enterprise will pick you up at the port & take you to the office

Hope someone will confirm this

we used enterprise at 446 grand lake rd, 902-539-6700. they picked us up from the cruise terminal.

we used enterprise at 446 grand lake rd, 902-539-6700. they picked us up from the cruise terminal.

Thanks for the information

Thank you all for your input; especially Maryann for the map. It is 446 Grand Lake for Enterprise. Looks like nearest is Discount at over 2 Km. I knew Enterprise p/u pax, but read at times it gets overwhelmed by the bolus of cruise customers.

Did you notice any car rental agents at the dock?

I had read someplace that some of the other rental companies had a desk there

but now I cannot find where I read the info

thanks

Did not see any mention of that for Sydney; only in Halifax, there are a couple car company across street from the pier complex. I am planning to call all 3 companies to figure out their p/u, drop off procedures.

Did not see any mention of that for Sydney; only in Halifax, there are a couple car company across street from the pier complex. I am planning to call all 3 companies to figure out their p/u, drop off procedures.

Dan please post the results

We are going in 2014 & will probably do the rental car route

Thanks

Lyn

Yes, do tell us what you learn and I will add it to my notes.

Unfortunately there's no public transportation offered to Louisbourg. I'd recommend renting a car from Budget on Welton St. They offer a free shuttle service which will pick yo u up at the port and bring you back at the end of your day. Unlike Enterprise, they make trips back and forth until their customers are all picked up.

Here's what I found out from the phone, they all p/u and drop off:

1. Discount, on 195 Prince St., Tel. 902-563-2806/2807; call them upon arrival, but only <1K from pier, one minute car ride

2. Budget, 224 Welton, 902-564-2610; no call needed, continuous running shuttle b/w pier and the lot (about 3 K).

3. Enterprise, 440 Grand Lake Rd., 902-539-6700; call upon arrival. 10 min. car ride to lot.

No one offers rental car delivery on pier and no booth or kiosk on pier.

The location of the p/u shuttle is near where the tour buses park.

Thanks for the update

That's very useful information that is now in my notes. Thanks SpokaneDan.

I rented a car in Sydney, Nova Scotia through Enterprise last month. I booked it a few months earlier and confirmed with them the week prior to our cruise. They told me to call them as we were leaving the ship. I did that and they told us to walk out of the terminal up to a church close by the terminal.

They were 20 minutes late in picking us up. Had it been raining, we would have been soaked as there was no shelter available. When an Enterprise staff member finally arrived, he only wanted to take one person from my family rather than all of us. So essentially, you're in a place you've never been in your life and they split up your family! We lost another 30 minutes while my husband went to the business establishment on Grand Lake to get the car, and then come back to the pier area to get us. So they leave you driving around in a strange town with no town map! There is a map that they give you when you get the car, but it's a provincial map. What you also need is a town map.

The car itself was lovely and clean and operated well. We had no problems once getting the car.

Sorry to hear about your experience. I've read threads about Sydney's Enterprise, while there were many positive feedbacks, there were also sporadic yet consistent negative ones as well. Of the 3 rental places, they are the furtherest. When I was there in June, picking up my car from Discount, Enterprise overbooked and diverted many of their customers with reservation to Discount causing delay.

Re Sydney map, Discount was not much help in that department either (compared to Halifax and PEI). For future travelers, have maps/direction ready for Sydney before the trip.

That's interesting. They had overbooked when we were there in July also. People who had booked vehicles were told they'd have to wait for an hour or two for people from the day before to return them? It was the loss of so much time that was bothersome for us. When you've pre-booked a car for a specific time, you expect that it will be there. We lost a lot of time that day. We were the first to arrive at the designated church. At least a dozen people followed over the next half an hour. Yet when the Enterprise staff member arrived, he drove to the biggest crowd and left with them - they were the last ones to arrive! So if they're going to continue to use the designated pickup stop, they need to have a staff member already in place to assure a first come first served order.

Thanks for all the info in this thread. I booked both with Enterprise and also with Budget ($20 more per day) just in case they're overbooked.

Hopefully our experience won't be as bad.

We were there in May, 2014. I had booked with Enterprise and called to confirm. No one met us, and when a shuttle finally did arrive there was not enough room for all of us waiting. I wound up hiring a taxi for the day.

I think the rental companies need to stop overbooking. At the same time they will have to pass on the cost when people overbook and then cancel.

Thanks for all the info in this thread. I booked both with Enterprise and also with Budget ($20 more per day) just in case they're overbooked.

 

Hopefully our experience won't be as bad.

Let me make sure that I understand. You have booked at 2 rental places and plan to be a no show at one of them. Perhaps this behavior is one of causes of overbooking. The rental agencies have to purposely overbook to account for people behave like this.

One way to make this strategy not work is for agencies to take your credit card and tell you that you will be charged for one day even if you do not show. I for one would not object to this policy.

I have made reservations at restaurants where they do essentially the same thing to avoid no shows. They take your credit card number when you make a reservation and tell you that you will be charged enough money to ensure that you will come or that you will cancel your reservation.

DON

Yes you understood me correctly.

I read that Enterprise may overbooked and I would be referred to Budget so why won't I have a Budget reservation ready just in case?

Yes, car rental offered lower rates on non-cancelable reservation through them, Hotwire or Priceline Name Your Own Price. I didn't go that route for this booking knowing I might cancel or I would have.

It's part of the business practice and good for you though I personally wouldn't do business with a restaurant that takes your CC on advance.

But thank you for your input anyway. They're not needed.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We rented from Enterprise and I was a little apprehensive because of what I had read here about overbooking. I called to confirm that they would send a shuttle (we didn't need to call when we arrived in port). My husband got off the ship right away and headed to the area. Another rental car agency van was there, but not Enterprise. He showed up a little while later, but didn't have room for everyone that was there. He read a "list", which our name was on, and said he would only take those people. A lot of people who supposedly had reservations were very unhappy and shoved onto the van. My husband didn't make it. He was talking to the guy from the other rental place, asking him how far to walk. The other guy said "I could get you close" and let him ride to Avis (??) in his van, so he only had a couple of blocks to walk. When he arrived, they had no more compact cars. The good news is that we got a minivan.

I was then worried about returning to the ship, since I didn't know if we needed to arrange a taxi or what. That turned out to be the easiest part. My husband dropped us at the ship and drove back to Enterprise. It was as easy as could be, with the agent hopping into the van we had rented and driving my husband back to the ship.

Here's my experience ...

I ended up with Enterprise in Sydney. When I walked out of the terminal, a van with Enterprise sign was parked right outside. (by the giant fiddle/violin) I approached the van and the lady checked our name off her list. We waited about 10 minutes for other passengers and after no one showed up, we left to the rental office. She dropped us off and returned to the terminal to pick up the rest of the passengers.

Their office was small (like a trailer park type home) but the whole experience was smooth. The agent asked if we wanted insurance and when we said no, she didn't pursue further. No pressure or anything. We booked a full size and was upgraded to an SUV. (Ford Edge)

We were running late on the return, arrived at 4:05 pm at the rental place for an all aboard call of 4:30 pm. The same lady that drove us to the office helped us getting our receipt quickly, checked the car for any damage then hopped in our car to drive us back to the port.

It was no more than 10 minutes drive each way between the terminal and the rental office.

Thank you guys for reporting back. If I go back to Sydney, I would definitely want to rent a car but with no hassle… and I am not paying 85$ again for a 4 hour excursion. Let’s keep this thread going…

Hopefully somebody from Sydney sees this and may spread the word around. Perhaps the few rental people giving lousy service will think twice before doing it again… as it does not give a very positive image of their community. They know when the ship is going to dock, not having the rental van waiting for passengers is bad service.