need a little advice on car rentals

serenitygr

2021: trip number six to the Fort!!
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
We have a trip coming up the first 2 weeks in October. I have our itinerary pretty well planned out, and tentatively I have us flying into San Diego, and over the course of 2 weeks we'll go all the way up the coast to San Francisco, and fly home from there. The only catch I'm having is the rate on a mini van (2 adults and 4 kids) is extremely high-$2100- because of picking the car up at one airport and returning it at the other.
I also checked dates that were closer to now, and while it did bring the rate down it was still very high- about 1600 I think it was.

Whereas if I check getting it from LAX, and returning it there, the rate is between 500-600. That would change our travel plans somewhat- mainly at the end of our trip we'd head from San Francisco back to LA and take hwy 101- probably stay at Madonna Inn for one night to make it less driving in one day for the kids... I was hoping to avoid LAX, but to save 1500 I might put up with the inconvenience.

My questions is what is typical for a rate in the fall, picking up at San Diego, and dropping off at San Francisco? Does anyone have any experience in this? Would love to hear any suggestions/opinions!
 
LAX isn't that much of an inconvenience from San Diego so I agree that the beginning of your trip won't change much. But I'd totally do the 6 hour drive down 101 to save $1500! (Spend all that saved money on pea soup.)

You could have one parent drive non-stop to LAX and take a small flight to SFO to meet up with everyone else, and still save well over $1000.
 
You're just going to have to check every possible combination if you're turning the car in at a different place. The drop-off fees vary so widely -- even within the same company -- that there is no "typical rate." I've had drop-off fee quotes ranging from $0 to $800 depending on who knows what? Sometimes, for example, it might be cheaper to rent in LA and drop off in SFO than to do it the other way around. Car rental rates are like airfares -- they make no sense.

LAX is not inconvenient to get in and out of (actually pretty easy), and rental car rates there are usually very competitive. I did a trip a few years ago that was San Diego-LA-SFO, but I flew into LAX specifically because of the differences in airfare and especially car rental. Dropped the car off at SFO with zero drop-off fee.

Going from LAX to San Diego will take you through some of SoCal's busiest traffic, but not through downtown LA which is much worse. But that is offset somewhat by the fact that you will probably have MUCH better flight choices than you would at San Diego.

If you do an open-jaw, in the Bay area also check flights from San Jose and Oakland. Either may offer better timing or pricing, although SFO is my fave.

You're doing a trip that is more complex than you think, so it's good that you're planning early. Several spectacular national parks in CA, so don't miss those!
 
We've got our itinerary pretty well planned out and we're going to see both sequoia national park and Yosemite so we're pretty excited! I'm leaning towards using LAX as our airport and just adding two days to our trip to bring the car back- we'll get to stay at the Madonna inn that way
 


We've got our itinerary pretty well planned out and we're going to see both sequoia national park and Yosemite so we're pretty excited! I'm leaning towards using LAX as our airport and just adding two days to our trip to bring the car back- we'll get to stay at the Madonna inn that way
That would make your life much simpler!
 
We're doing a 10-day trip in June, picking up at LAX and returning to SFO. I booked a full time SUV a few months ago through Costco for $800. I check frequently and if I booked now it would be over $1600. I think the prices just fluctuate so keep checking your rates.
 
We're also heading to CA in Oct. Hitting Yosemite first part of the trip then ending at DL. I looked at flying into Sacramento then flying home from Anaheim. Rental car would be around $1600 for the week. Then found flights to/from LAX for way cheaper. Reserved an SUV for the week for $227. I'm sticking with the longer drive to save that much money.
 


I may be wrong, but I don't think the Madonna inn is family friendly. It's a nice drive from san Francisco down to los angeles I'd do it to save the money.
 
Check out various car rental company sites AND off-airport if you do want to do a one-way. We just needed a car from SNA to downtown long beach, picking up at SNA airport was over $100 more than picking up at the office one mile from the airport (even factoring in the cost of the cab - big savings!). Also prices varied widely by rental car company. Once you book, keep checking rates - I frequently rebook at lower rates.

Madonna is family-friendly, very quirky and lots of character, but nothing I would be worried about exposing my kids too (unless it's changed in the past few years?) they also have really good cakes :-). If you are in SLO on a Thursday be sure to check out the farmer's market.
 
In my experience Madonna Inn is VERY family friendly. The staff is great with kids and the entire atmosphere is
bold and colorful and imaginative. The whole place has a very "Disney-esque" vibe. My kids always demanded
we stay in what they called the Jungle Book room.
 
A couple considerations:
Taking I-5 from SFO to LAX is the fastest route, but also the least interesting (you are basically driving straight as an arrow through farmland).
Taking Highway-1 to 101 is the slowest, but by far the most interesting route. The scenery along the 1, South of Monterey is amazing. It can get a little scary driving though in the winter, not sure about October specifically.

If you want to minimize your driving, take I-5. Generally you take 280 South or 101 South to 152 East to I-5 South.
If you have time to drive slowly, take 2-3 days driving down Highway 1 -> 101. It's pretty awesome.
 
Spend all that saved money on pea soup.

I used to love Andersen's Pea Soup, though the last time I went there to eat, I was kind of disappointed. I think they switched their soup to a vegan formulation. I'm not sure if it was actually worse, or nostalgia just made me think it was better than it actually was (the latter is probably the case). Who knows. We still stop there on our road trips though because they have clean bathrooms for the kiddos to use.
 

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