Car rental from SFO to DisneyLand

[middlesista]

We have not been to CA since the 1970's and are so excited to finally be able to return, although we are a bit older and slower than when we made our maiden voyage out west all those years ago! Our plan is to start off in San Francisco and drive down the coast and end up at Disneyland. We are renting a car at SFO and have already made reservations to stay in SF for 2 nights at a hotel that does not charge for parking. Have been looking for car rentals at SFO and tentatively have made a reservation with Hertz but have been reading some reviews that have me concerned. Because we are not returning the car to the same location the prices are more than I had anticipated.

Was hoping someone has some insight or experience with car rentals with a pick up at SFO and drop off in the Anaheim area. We do not plan on driving to LAX from Disneyland when we head back home and will use one of the shuttles.

 

[bcla]

We have not been to CA since the 1970's and are so excited to finally be able to return, although we are a bit older and slower than when we made our maiden voyage out west all those years ago! Our plan is to start off in San Francisco and drive down the coast and end up at Disneyland. We are renting a car at SFO and have already made reservations to stay in SF for 2 nights at a hotel that does not charge for parking. Have been looking for car rentals at SFO and tentatively have made a reservation with Hertz but have been reading some reviews that have me concerned. Because we are not returning the car to the same location the prices are more than I had anticipated.

Was hoping someone has some insight or experience with car rentals with a pick up at SFO and drop off in the Anaheim area. We do not plan on driving to LAX from Disneyland when we head back home and will use one of the shuttles.

Some have found the Budget location in San Bruno to be much cheaper when there's a one-way rental to LAX. The problem is that there's no airport shuttle there, although you could probably take a taxi there. However, the location I remember seems to be gone. There are several "neighborhood" rental locations near the airport, but they generally can't pick you up at the airport as they might elsewhere.

 

[StageTek]

I'm not a fan of Hertz. I don't have specific experience (SFO/Anaheim) but I
have done several one way rentals. But no matter where you rent a one way
will be more expensive than a round trip. What I've done is check my destination
hotel to find what car rental agency they have either on site or close by and
then rent a car from that agency.

 

[middlesista]

Thanks bcla and StageTek for your help -

Recently had someone back into my car here at home and had to get a rental. The only car rental avail in our town was Enterprise and I was not impressed with them at all so am a bit leery of having another bad experience.

 

[bcla]

The location I remember hearing about was actually South San Francisco, and fairly close to the airport. The only problem is limited hours compared to airport locations.

http://locations.budget.com/us/ca/south-san-francisco/qc9.html

 

[Badgerfan]

middlesista, we actually did something similar to this a couple of years ago. We rented a car from Alamo at SFO and drove it down to Disneyland. There is an Alamo on Disney property where we dropped it off. At the end of our trip, we just took a cab to LAX. Worked out OK for us. The only minor inconvenience was the line to get the car at SFO was really long. I believe it took 30 -45 minutes just to get to the counter and have someone get us our vehicle.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[middlesista]

Thanks bcla and Badgerfan! Someone on tripadvisor recommended that we join the clubs that are associated with the rental company to bypass the waiting line. Most folks agreed with you Badgerfan and said the line to pick up the car at SFO was very long.

 

[JimMIA]

I've done that type of rental -- one-way, between SoCal and the Bay Area -- several times in each direction. To me the clincher has always been the one-way dropoff fee. I've gotten quotes ranging from $0 to $400 difference -- so that's the factor you really have to consider. You may find that a slightly higher daily rate with a low or no dropoff fee may actually work out less expensive.

As far as companies, I've done a good bit of car renting over the years and, to me, a rental car is a rental car is a rental car. There is some level of inconvenience with all of them, and customer service varies widely but I've never seen it markedly better or worse from one company to another. The level of inconvenience seems to be governed more by the physical layout of the airport/rental car facilities than anything else -- they all do a pretty good job of getting you into and out of the car once you get to their facility.

I think customer service is more a function of the individual branch management than company affiliation. We recently had great customer service with Alamo in Phoenix, but have had mixed results a few times elsewhere; we had one negative experience with Enterprise in Atlanta, but have had good service elsewhere. The vast majority of the experiences we've had with all major companies have been fine.

 

[JimMIA]

A few other car rental ideas I would offer:

• NEVER compare prices by alleged category of vehicle: compact, full-sized, etc. What is "full-sized" for one company may be "mid-sized" (and therefore less expensive) with another company. Compare vehicle to vehicle. That's the only way to be sure you are comparing apples to apples. All of the websites have a "Display vehicles" link -- use it.
• I rent only from the rental car company's website -- never from online sites like Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I LOOK at those sites to get a sense of which company will give me better pricing in a particular area, but I rent directly from the company because you don't have to pay up front. I do the same thing with airfare, and with airfare, I almost always find more convenient flights for the same price than I find on the "discount" sites.
• Sign up for the company's loyalty program while you are renting the car. It costs nothing, and will usually result in shorter lines/quicker transactions when you pick up the car. And sometimes an upgrade.

 

[bcla]

A few other car rental ideas I would offer:

• NEVER compare prices by alleged category of vehicle: compact, full-sized, etc. What is "full-sized" for one company may be "mid-sized" (and therefore less expensive) with another company. Compare vehicle to vehicle. That's the only way to be sure you are comparing apples to apples. All of the websites have a "Display vehicles" link -- use it.
• I rent only from the rental car company's website -- never from online sites like Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I LOOK at those sites to get a sense of which company will give me better pricing in a particular area, but I rent directly from the company because you don't have to pay up front. I do the same thing with airfare, and with airfare, I almost always find more convenient flights for the same price than I find on the "discount" sites.
• Sign up for the company's loyalty program while you are renting the car. It costs nothing, and will usually result in shorter lines/quicker transactions when you pick up the car. And sometimes an upgrade.

Certainly check out what the typical vehicles are in a category. However, they may not have particular vehicles available at the time of pick up. Some category names may be different. Some companies use "mid-size" while others use "intermediate". Some use "subcompact" while others use "economy". However, you'll often get an idea of the size and storage capacity by looking at the typical vehicles in that category.

As far as renting from an online travel agent (Priceline, Expedia, etc) there's really not much of a difference as long as you don't prepay. I've booked on Priceline, but didn't have to leave a credit card as a deposit. One time we had a change of heart (took my car instead of the rental) and the agent at the counter said she could cancel it right there. Another time we got in really late and I called in to the rental agency to cancel, but was told it was too late but we wouldn't be charged. They suggested calling the OTA (Priceline I think) and I was told they couldn't do anything - not that it mattered.

I've gotten better rates - especially stuff like phone app specials. However, sometimes the rates are the same or even better directly from the rental agency. I prefer that way since there's one less thing to go wrong. I can also get loyalty points or even partner points that the OTAs don't have. However, if I can save money from an OTA, then I have no problem with that since most don't require prepayment.

 

[middlesista]

JimMIA - thank you for the great suggestions! I did look at the online sites for price comparison but not to book a car. Glad to hear that most of your experiences have been positive.

 

[middlesista]

Thanks bcla!

I called one company and booked a car after comparing some prices. I was trying to get a discount that I saw online but the site did not seem to be working. Come to find out the discount was not for one way rentals although it did not mention that whch is why the online site was not accepting my reservation. Anyway - ended up placing a rental with the rep on the phone and she was able to apply a few discounts although not as good as the one online. I later accidently deleted that reservation rather than an older one that I had meant to delete. I called back and got the same everything but at a lesser cost? I guess another discount had become avail or some such thing - I was not going to question a cheaper price. I am going to keep on looking but will keep this reservation for the time being.

 

[AulaniNutz]

Don't forget Costco.com. Amazing deals there sometimes...

 

[JimMIA]

Don't forget Costco.com. Amazing deals there sometimes...

Thanks for that suggestion. Just checked Costco and saved $25 on a 3 day rental in Philly. Not "amazing" but better than paying more!

 

[My3Princez]

Don't forget Costco.com. Amazing deals there sometimes...

Just looked at rentals for an upcoming San Frankcisco to LAX trip. 2 Alamo rental agencies less than 1/2 mile apart in San Francisco. One had a price of $1197. The other was $362. 1/2 mile walk = $835 savings. Yep, I think we can manage that ...

 

[JimMIA]

Just looked at rentals for an upcoming San Frankcisco to LAX trip. 2 Alamo rental agencies less than 1/2 mile apart in San Francisco. One had a price of $1197. The other was $362. 1/2 mile walk = $835 savings. Yep, I think we can manage that ...

Yeah, I've run into that before too. Rent at the airport...big bucks. But go just off the airport in South San Francisco and you can sometimes save big.