SYD domestic - bus to rental car drop-off/pick-up?

[lurker]

Recently booked a rental car with Hertz for SYD and got the map below telling me that the drop-off and pick-up is now a bus ride away. I've had experiences in the US with off-airport rental car centers and it being a real slog (SEA is one, LAX is another) and wondering if anyone has done this dance recently, and how it added to their trip.

I'm considering the alternative of adding an international flight number to my rental booking, then taking the train over from Domestic to International to speed up the process of getting the bus across, especially at peak times. Unsure if that's overkill or not (though travelling with family and a lot of luggage, and the train feels easier considering lifts to the platform).

Has anyone does this domestic rental car bus recently? Is it relatively speedy/efficient? Or is it a disaster with luggage / long wait times for buses/etc.

Thanks in advance!

 

[aikman]

Mine was with Avis/Budget. Frequent buses and their depot was only 5 mins down the road. I did see people with other companies waiting longer for their bus and getting frustrated.

 

[lurker]

Mine was with Avis/Budget. Frequent buses and their depot was only 5 mins down the road. I did see people with other companies waiting longer for their bus and getting frustrated.

Ahhh... so each company runs their own set of shuttle buses? It's not one combined service provided by the airport?

 

[aikman]

Ahhh... so each company runs their own set of shuttle buses? It's not one combined service provided by the airport?

The Avis/Budget bus was for Avis/Budget customers only. Not sure about the others.

 

[austgap]

Each company runs their own shuttle bus between the domestic and the rental offices, having done it heaps of times usual wait is between 5-15mins. It's only impacting the car rental at Domestic, International car rental is unaffected in Sydney.

 

[JohnK]

I frequently rent with Simba who are over in Mascot. Easy process. Pick up luggage and call them and walk to priority pick up and they're there in minutes.

Same when dropping off.

Have used Europcar twice this year and again no issues.

Note this morning used Europcar at international. We were early and no car available. Upgraded so we can get car then but came over from Domestic anyway. We will drop off at domestic tomorrow.

Just factor a few extra minutes.

 

[clifford]

I've got a flight out of Domestic next month and have booked a Hertz car from CBR to SYD (need to get there early), but will be dropping off at Intl amd getting the Govt bus to Dom. I think that's going to be less hassle than driving to Hertz' obscure location near Dom and getting a bus. YMMV.

 

[servicerequired]

Car rentals were the best feature of SYD domestic - now they are the worst ... any improvement to rectify that doesn't involve a shuttle bus would be very welcome - it looks as though its going to be some time away yet though.

+10 for AVIS Budget though, smaller buses and high frequency, they're excellent - the biggest log jam is the coughshow with the boomgates past T2 when the bus comes back from the car park.

 

[JohnK]

I've got a flight out of Domestic next month and have booked a Hertz car from CBR to SYD (need to get there early), but will be dropping off at Intl amd getting the Govt bus to Dom. I think that's going to be less hassle than driving to Hertz' obscure location near Dom and getting a bus. YMMV.

No @clifford. The obscure location is not that far from domestic and buses are frequent. And if you're coming from M5 the Hertz drop off is only a few minutes from General Holmes Drive.

I did this yesterday but drop off at Europcar.