Renting a Car for BMT Graduation in San Antonio: A Guide for Families

A BMT graduation trip is short, fixed and full. You have a date you cannot move, a ceremony you are not going to be late for, and a new airman you have not seen in weeks. What you do not want is to spend part of it working out how to get from SAT to your room, or finding out at a counter that the person you planned to put behind the wheel cannot drive the car.

This guide is about the rental car for a BMT graduation in San Antonio — who in your party can drive it, where to pick it up, what to have on you, and the parts of the week that trip families up. It is written for the JBSA-Lackland community and the people flying in to see them.

Start with the official schedule, then book the car around it

The graduation schedule, visitor registration and the instructions for getting onto the installation are published by the Air Force for each class, and they change. Read the current version for your airman's class before you book anything — flights, room or vehicle — and plan everything below around it.

Who in your party can drive the rental car

This is the question to answer first, because a graduation party is younger than most. Brothers, sisters, partners and friends are often under 25, and the new airman may be too. The age rules are the same for everybody and they are not negotiable at the hand-over:

Every driver goes on the agreement before they drive, with their own licence checked the same way the renter's is. Nobody can be added at the kerb, so if two of you expect to share the driving, name both when you book.

The renter is the person whose card is on the booking, and the card has to be in their name. On a family trip that is the rule most likely to catch you out: a parent pays, a sibling drives, and the name on the card does not match the licence at the hand-over. Decide who the renter is before you book, and make sure the card on the booking is theirs.

Where to pick up your rental: SAT, delivery or our office

Most families flying in for graduation choose between two hand-overs. The right one depends on whether your flight or your room is the fixed point of the trip.

• SAT airport — free, both ways. We meet you at the San Antonio International Airport long-term parking garage and take the car back there at the end. It needs 24 hours' notice, and there is no airport surcharge.
• Delivery to where you are staying — a hotel, a rental home or family's address — quoted with your booking, worked out from distance and the pickup time. You get the figure before you commit.
• Our office, inside opening hours — free. It makes sense if somebody local is collecting the car for you.

What to have on you at the hand-over

Pack these with the boarding passes, not in the checked bag. The requirements are the same for a short graduation trip as for a month-long rental:

• A current driver's licence for the renter and for every named driver.
• Proof that each driver is 21 or over — the licence usually covers it.
• Verifiable comprehensive and collision coverage that transfers to a rental vehicle. If yours is liability-only, CDW and SLI cover is offered when you reserve.
• A card in the renter's own name, for the refundable deposit of $250 to $400. The amount depends on the vehicle, and it is released once the car is back with us in good order.

Nothing on the list asks anybody to prove a military connection. A military ID is welcome as photo identification, but it does not replace a licence.

Timing: the parts of graduation week that catch families out

Book the car when you book the room

Once you have the graduation date, book the car with the flights and the room. The SAT garage hand-over needs 24 hours' notice, and booking early gives you room when plans move.

Check the flight home against our hours

We are open Monday to Friday 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM and Saturday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Closed Sunday. Put your return flight next to that before you book. An early departure, or a flight home on a day we are closed, is easy to plan for and awkward to fix the night before.

• An after-hours drop-off is available on request. Ask when you book, not on the last evening.
• Tell us your flight home when you book, and the return is planned around it.
• The return does not have to match the pickup. A car delivered to your hotel can go back at the garage, as long as it is agreed ahead.

If the date moves

Now and then a graduation date moves, and the whole trip moves with it. Call us as soon as you know and we will work through what the booking can do. Cancellation runs on fixed windows before pickup, and they are set out in full on the requirements page rather than summarised here.

The graduation date is the one fixed point of the trip. Book the car against it on the same day you book the flights.

After the ceremony: the car is yours, the rules are theirs

If your airman is released to spend time with you after graduation, where they may go and for how long is set by their training unit — not by us, and not by this guide. Read those rules with the schedule and plan the driving around them.

What we settle with you before the keys change hands is the rest: the vehicle, the deposit, the mileage terms for that vehicle and your dates, and any delivery. If you plan to cover a lot of ground while you are here, tell us when you book. It is an easy conversation before the trip and a harder one after it.

← All guides