Options from Minneapolis to St Cloud MN

When renting a car here are a few things to consider.

Driving in our Minnesota weather conditions. Be aware of current weather conditions during your stay. Winter weather and icy road conditions can be a very difficult hazard to some drivers not familiar with snow and ice driving. There are some very flat areas on the drive from Minneapolis to St Cloud MN. On windy days this can be quite challenging, especially in the winter months but also during some of the road construction areas where the lane widths are narrow and traffic that is only separated by small plastic cone dividers.

Road construction: On the route from Minneapolis to St Cloud MN, road construction between the months of April and October is almost always a gaurantee. There are generally 8 – 20 miles selected each year that will be completely torn up and replaced. Detours are possible as well as taking a 2 lane each way highway and turning it into a one lane each way.

Navigating these roads can sometimes be tricky but if you take it slow, it is actually a very beautiful ride.

Think about where you will have to park: How much that will it cost and the distances you will have to walk to retrieve your car.

The liability of driving in this state:  Minnesota is a no-fault state when it comes to car insurance.  If you are driving a rental car, will your insurance be used at all or just the rental insurance?

There are also some very picturesque areas driving from MSP to St Cloud. Having your own car would allow you to stop and enjoy some of the sights and stops along the way. The drive is less than 1:25 minutes or around 80 miles.

Having the freedom to move at your own pace and do the things you want to do when you want to do them have their advantages but understand the costs involved as well.

Limo services and private ride car services are by far in a way the most convenient and comfortable way to travel from Minneapolis to St Cloud. They are also more expensive than most of the other ways to travel between MSP and St Cloud.

Why is it better?

1. Choose the people you sit next to
2. Seating is much more spacious and comfortable than on a plane or shared ride service
3. When traveling to St Cloud, you may be more worried about viruses and other things that can make you sick. When you put yourself into a shared van with 14 other people, whatever is floating around you would be more susceptible to.
4. Have you ever sat in a confined area with screaming children or adults for that matter?  This is not a problem with a private ride.
5. Door-to-door service means picking you up at the luggage doors at MSP and taking you to any address in St Cloud.
6. When traveling and you need to stop for a bathroom break.  Asking your driver is generally not a problem.  When traveling with a van full of people, you may feel more uncomfortable asking for a stop.
7. What happens when your flight into MSP has been delayed?  Your group ride, train or bus will not wait for you.  A private ride service is there to be flexible when you need them to be.
8. If you have an appointment and your flight is on time but you need to get there asap, a private ride will usually be able to accommodate this.
9. Trying to get work done on your ride with peace and quiet instead of trying to carry on a phone conversation with someone while a van full of people are talking around you.
10. Traveling with a pet?  Most private ride service allow for pets, most group ride services do not.  Citywide does not require you to cage your pet like most Limo services do.

These are App driven services so accessing them by phone is very difficult if not impossible.  You need to install the App on your phone, link it to a credit card and you are set to go.

Uber and Lyft are credited for changing the “Taxi Industry” for ever.  For the better in my opinion.  But keep in mind what makes a Taxi service or Uber / Lyft more cost-effective.

They have drivers floating all around the city waiting for a call to come in.  If they are close to the pick-up location, they are selected to make the ride by dispatch.  The drivers of these services are ONLY paid while you are in the car.  The logic behind this is that once they drop you off they will wait for a ride that is close to them which eventually will bring them back to wherever they want to be when they end their day.  So for a Taxi or Uber/Lyft to make money from very cheap rides they need drivers willing to only be paid while they are driving you somewhere.  They are making nothing while waiting for the next ride.

Now

When a Taxi or Uber / Lyft driver is asked to go from MSP to St Cloud MN, about 80 miles North of the cities, they know if they take this ride they are most likely going to have to drive all the way back on their own dime. That is to say 1 hour and 20 minutes and $25 in gas is on them to get back where all the riders are. So making a deal with the driver if you are able to pay them for their un-compensated ride back puts them at a very close if not higher rate than a private ride service. That’s if you get the chance to talk to them before they decide to dump your ride and decline it.