So you and your family are planning an Alaskan cruise and it stops in Skagway for a day. You want to explore the road up the White Pass and hopefully drive into Canada and all the way into Yukon. You could take a tour with one stop along the way for $200 a person, or you can just make a reservation with Avis for $120 a day and explore as much as you want. I hope you pick the 2nd choice, because that's exactly what we did. Make sure you reserve in advance. The lot was completely empty by the time we arrived, so you probably have a very small chance of getting a car without a reservation. They have a great variety of cars available. Even though we got a measly Toyota Corolla, it was able to handle the White Pass with no problems. The staff is very friendly and provided us with an intricate guide to the highway. They made sure all of our questions were answered and didn't treat us like another cruise ship tourist. Skagway has absolutely nothing to do, unless you're coming in to buy diamonds. Renting a car with Avis is the perfect way to experience the beauty of 3 states in 2 countries in 1 day. read more

Avis Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - Skagway, Alaska

As you'd expect, the ratings for this place is highly dependent on whether you arrive at a busy time or not. My family of four adults were renting on a Tuesday in early June. Our cruise docked at 7am and we were at the rental car office at 7:30 (it's a 10-15 minutes walk from the boat). We thought we'd have to beat a rush ... but no one in the office! We had our pick (took a Camry) and returned the car around 4pm. The lot looked pretty full when we arrived and when we left. It was a two person operation in the morning and in the afternoon - we weren't competing with any other renters so their work pace wasn't an issue for me at all. They say the drive to Emerald Lake and back takes 4-6 hours ... my family LOVES pictures so it took us 8 (I fully admit this is abnormal). We spent about 90 minutes in Carcross. I honestly didn't see very many cars driving on the road - way more tour buses on the way back, but the road was an easy drive with safe places for turnouts. Car for the day was $140 (reserved prior to arriving) and gas was about $16. That price seems pretty steep, but when you compare to the more popular $200pp railroad excursion that only lasts two hours, there's no comparison. This self-guided driving tour was one of the highlights of my entire cruise. read more

Very disappointed. We had two cars reserved for the morning and arrived to find a note in the window to call if they weren't there. We called multiple times and texted, with ZERO response. Our plans to travel into the Yukon were ruined. Hopefully this review will help you avoid the same disappointment we experienced. read more

This is the cheapest and most cost efficient way to explore Skagway, the Scenic White Pass & Yukon Route. Avis is located within walking distance from the port (it is located on Spring Street, between 2nd & 3rd, an office at the corner of a motel). The rates are high if you compare it to Contiguous US but it is Alaska, and you will save a lot of money renting a car and driving versus going on the buses/trains. Plus, you get to stop whenever you want. I had met some cruise mates while on an excursion in Juneau who did the train option and they did not enjoy it. As there are multiple trains going, if there is a delay, you will not get to go very far. Also, immigration takes a while to get through. I highly recommend getting up super early to go to Avis and wait before 8am, when the office opens, as if not, it'll take a while as the line can get pretty long. Also, don't wait by the benches - wait right outside the office door. There were folks waiting by the benches, and when the office door opened, people who just got there just went straight to the door, bypassing all the people who have been waiting. Remember, you will need your passport as you will be crossing into Canada (there's not too much to see on the US side). We went as far as the Emerald Lake (the best view we saw) before turning around. In total, it took us about 4-5 hours round trip. I highly recommend bringing snacks from the cruise ship as there is pretty much no food along the route except for a couple of tourist traps that all the tour buses go to (and are very crowded). When you return to town, there is a mom & pop gas station on State St (btwn 1st & 2nd) to fill up your tank before returning the car. My highlight of this stop was seeing a Black Bear on the side of the road while returning to Skagway. Because we were driving, we were able to stop and admire the bear (of course, from afar and inside the car), and take a few photos. Do reserve your car ahead of time as the number of cars are limited and will sell out. read more

If only I could leave a NEGATIVE amount of stars. What a disappointment! We were visiting Skagway on a cruise ship and decided we'd like to rent a car to drive to Canada since we had taken the train on the last visit. The office wasn't busy when we arrived. Four employees inside who appeared busy. We asked if they had any specials and were told no. We were quoted $200 for a small car that fit 2 adults and 2 children. Employees told us the only way to receive a discount is if we booked ahead of time. We stepped outside and made reservations on our smart phone and stepped back in with the much cheaper rental price of $120 for the same sized car. Unfortunately the employee was unable to find our reservation. We showed her the phone, reservation code, price, email, everything we had but it didn't help. She still attempted to charge us the full price as the base rental charge and then add taxes and everything else on top of it which totaled more than the $200 quote she originally gave us. We tried for nearly 20 minutes to explain this to her while the other employees watched without offering assistance. We finally stepped outside to discuss if this was worth the hassle. At that point another employee stepped outside to apologize to us and explain that the employee helping us wasn't very good at her job and didn't like anyone to help her. So now we are angry because all of the employees knew we were getting screwed but didn't want to help us or their co-worker. What a great place to work huh? The employee who had stepped outside with us then offered to make it all better by offering us free stuff. She gave us two maps that were on the table free for the taking. Wow! What an incentive to calm us down. Bad enough the employee helping us was untrained, lacked common sense and had zero customer service skills but now a second employee tried to make it all better by confiding in us that the first employee is an idiot! Really? No offer to help us get a car, no attempt to fix the problem, no solution for make an incompetent employee better. We got angry and left. Avis lost out on a rental and we lost out on a drive to Canada with out children. read more

What they don't tell you is there's a line out the door for an hour even if you have a reservation. They know by now when a cruiseship pulls up there is going to be a lot of people trying to get a car. They just choose not to have good customer service. Their location in that dumpy Motel is not conducive into the amount of business that they do. They are well aware of this but again choose the route of poor customer service. read more

Avis Rent A Car - Skagway, Alaska. Home of the lousy Avis Rent a car office - Car Rental Near Me - Skagway, Alaska

This place was tricky to find! It's on 3rd street, the address isn't on Google maps, & we had to wander a bit to find it. We didnt complain, as the town is so cute. Also, the red sign sometimes is there, sometimes not (it was gone when we returned the car). The staff definitely contributed to the 5 stars. They were so pleasant and accomodating. The car (altima) was clean and worked perfectly. The directions and advice were simple & useful, as were the maps and printouts of what was in the area. Check out was streamlined. Check in was also extremely simple. I would absolutely rent from them again. read more

We rented a car in Skagway and spent 8 1/2 hours driving north to Yukon and eneded at Emerald lake. it was awesome! we were close on time when we came back but the taxi was only $5 back to cruise ship. This was the best excursion we did. I had seen a review by Annabelle before our trip, and we also stopped at Carcross, the Suspension Bridge and lots of stops on the highways. it was only 75 miles to Emerald lake and one of the most beautiful drives we have ever been on. Directions are easy because there is only one road so you really can't get lost. we saw the train along the route too that many of the cruise passengers were on. It was so relaxing to be in our own car and not herded in a train or bus. It was about a 10 minute walk from the ship to their office and no line at all. What a wonderful day and memories we made today. We did see mountain goats and a bear cross the road. read more

I am glad I went with these guys when visiting Skagway. The ck in process was quick and easy Oohh it was quick because I was the first one there, ran to office before other cruisers found their way off the ship and to the office. No issues with the vehicle. Not five stars because being a one man show, we came back to return the car while the attending was away and had to wait a bit. Looking over the lot, I am glad we made reservations, just about all the cars in their lot were out. $130 for the day. read more

Avis Skagway has very friendly staff, and I tried making reservation the week before our cruise week, but they're all booked up. I called Avis, Sourdough, and the Jeep place, they're all out. On the day I arrived Skagway, I tried my luck at Avis, they amazingly have a Camry available. So, if you run into the same situation next time, don't give up, just try your luck at Avis Skagway. Friendly staff there would patiently show you the tourist points that you can visit on a map they provided. Do not expect GPS navigation can help, it doesn't work here at all, you need to do it the old fashion way - map. My son accidentally left behind his cellular phone in the car when we returned the car, and I didn't notice that. He realized he lost his phone only after we arrived back to Seattle, so I quickly called Avis Skagway. The staff there asked me a few questions to make sure we are the owner of that phone, then asked for the mailing address and said they would mail it back to us. And sure enough within 1 week from the day we disembarking the cruise ship, we received back my son's cellular phone. This is my first time writing review on website, because I really think that the service attitude and quality of staff at Avis Skagway should be recognized. read more

It is funny that they are operating out of a motel room. That is how small the town is. We had several choices of car (different make and models), which was nice. We drove pretty far from the cruise terminal. On the way back we were in a hurry to return the car. The staff were very accommodating, and let me go very quickly. They even emailed me a receipt on the same day (with the exact same charge they initially quoted). Very efficient service. The rate is not cheap, but they are the only game in town, and it is well worth the drive to Yukon (what a beautiful place!). Would not hesitate to recommend this Avis location. read more

We rented a car from this location last week for one day and our experience was excellent. Everyone involved provided excellent customer service. They took care of us as soon as we arrived at their location and there was no line when we reached there. Dropping off process was very simple and quick. We had reserved the car before reaching there and price was what was quoted to us. Thank you for your excellent service. read more

We reserved a car online and enjoyed the day drive on our recent trip to Skagway. We had a little trouble finding this location because my gps kept telling us to walk a different route. Fortunately a call to the store set us on the right path. The location becomes very busy when several ships are in port but they were efficient with getting the rentals out for the day early in the morning. You may want to make a reservation well in advance, because they run out of cars quickly on a busy port day. The drive up to the Yukon is amazing and to be able to do the drive on our own time and make several stops along the way was amazing. A few tips, do not forget your passport since you will be going through immigration to travel from Alaska to Canada and back again. Also this route has limited restroom facilities along the way, so maybe plan on roughing it in the woods a few times. Also make sure you go all the way to Emerald Lake, the views are definitely worth it, and finally allow for plenty of time to make the drive back to Skagway. There was a lot of construction along the highway when we were visiting and we had several times we had to stop and wait for an escort to get through several miles of roadwork areas. If you arrived by ship, they will not wait for you. Renting a car is an independent activity, unlike ship excursions, so if you are late, you will be looking into making your own arrangements to fly back home or to the next port to meet the ship and then the rental is going to cost you extra for sure. Overall great way to spend the day in Skagway with Avis car rental. read more

DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS GIVEN BY YELP!! They are completely wrong and will lead you way off course!! Use any other program to find this place. The actual location is in the Westmark Inn at 3rd and Spring Street. read more

We stopped at Skagway on a cruise ship and decided to rent a car to check out the area. And we're glad we did! We drove into the mountains and enjoyed the scenery and getting away from the cruise ship crowds. We drove way further into the mountains than the train rode. Plus we got to explore. The best part, though, was when my husband forgot his phone in the car when we left. We were already cutting it close to when the ship was scheduled to depart. So my fast-running teenagers ran back to go get it. The staff at Avis offered to drive them back to the port, which we thought was awesome! Thanks, Avis, for taking care of my kids!! read more

We had made a reservation for a vehicle which would hold 5 adults, but then 1 adult decided do her own thing. When we got to the Avis office, we were given the keys for a large van. My daughter said that it would be ridiculous for the 4 of us to take the van so we turned it down and were then offered a Forester or an Outback. It actually worked out because the person in line behind us needed a van for a large group. We took the Outback and enjoyed the ride and scenery. We ended up getting a refund because we went down to a smaller vehicle and my husband had to sweep some leaves/organic material out of the back of the car. read more