California Trip - Need Help - Please?!

[Rhonna]

And easily a 45 minute to an hour drive.

Unless you get stuck in rush hour traffic on the way back into San Diego (we made that mistake) then it's a LOT longer.

 

[HydroGuy]

I just ran the numbers for Hertz and went from Anaheim to San Diego for my June dates and it was $336. Then I ran the numbers for the same dates but returned the car back in Anaheim where it was originally rented and it was $223. They might have charged you the extra and just put it into your total rate or like you said it might be the time of year you rented? For some reason we have tried several companies and could never get past the drop off fee. I'll keep trying. I would love to pull that off.

Mike, I did not check your numbers but find it easy to believe when you are talking SD. I myself was talking about the airports closer to DLR. Someone else mentioned no drop fee to SD and I was a little skeptical of that.

Last year I rented from Avis near DLR in OC (about a 3/4 mile walk on Katella) and I dropped it at Ontario airport. With no drop fee. My point to the OP was that flying in and out of different airports around SoCal may not have the rental car drop fees that she/he was expecting. I think with SD being much further south you are more likely to see it there. Even so, it might be worth it if you can save money or convenience on flights.

The lesson to be learned from my experience at Ontario last year and yours with Hertz is that drop fees depend on the situation. But they may not exist. And that the SoCal airports are more used to this than some others around the country.

 

[HydroGuy]

And easily a 45 minute to an hour drive.

Unless you get stuck in rush hour traffic on the way back into San Diego (we made that mistake) then it's a LOT longer.

Yes this is always true and it does not even have to be rush hour. See below.

One thing I've noticed traveling in So. CA. I've driven a few times later at night between San Diego and Anaheim and it is such low traffic compared to daylight hours. I'm talking maybe around 10pm, not midnight or the wee hours of the morning. SO much nicer than fighting commuter traffic!

A few summers ago we traveled from Riverside to north LA (Pasadena), and to LA in the Hollywood area, Anaheim for DLR, and north and south SD. All at non rush hour times and on weekends. And every single time we ended up in stop-and-go traffic. Sometimes at 11PM at night. On that trip we left DLR at 2PM one weekday to visit family in Riverside 40 miles away. And it took 4 hours. At non-rush hour. Very, very frustrating. 10 miles per hour for 4 hours.

Experiences like that helped me remember why I left California in the 90s.

Advice to travel at non-rush hour is sound advice. But it does not mean "you will be fine if you travel at non-rush hour". Maybe, maybe not. In general be prepared for traffic any time you drive in SoCal.

 

[owensamo]

I just wanted to mention checking your car rental through BJs or Costco Travel if you have a membership. We are doing a similar vacation, though it's 3 weeks from San Diego to San Francisco, and Alamo through Costco has a great rate for a standard, and no drop-off fee. I noticed Budget and Avis seem to include a fee for returning at a different location, but Alamo did not. Costco had the best prices that I could find for this kind of rental.

 

[nunzia]

I think spending less than 3-4 full days at DLR will leave you disappointed, especially with CarsLand crowds since you'll be there right after it opens and it will surely be a mess. What is VidCon? Hopefully you'll have some time those days to also do DLR. Is Universal a must do? It's ok, but if you've been to the one in Florida then maybe not need to do that again? I think the Grayline tour would be fun. Maybe the day you arrive you could do the zoo, and if need be part of the next day also, the Safari Park the day you head to DLR. We did this park one time a long time ago and unless they've changed it we really didn't need tons of time, but you may if you are like the poster who spent multiple days there. I'm not a zoo person, so really, wouldn't do it again.

 

[DisneyMissy318]

I just wanted to mention checking your car rental through BJs or Costco Travel if you have a membership. We are doing a similar vacation, though it's 3 weeks from San Diego to San Francisco, and Alamo through Costco has a great rate for a standard, and no drop-off fee. I noticed Budget and Avis seem to include a fee for returning at a different location, but Alamo did not. Costco had the best prices that I could find for this kind of rental.

Thanks for this tip! I forget about Costco having discounted travel - it's our bread, milk, eggs, pizza store... will definitely check into it for our rental car.

 

[owensamo]

Thanks for this tip! I forget about Costco having discounted travel - it's our bread, milk, eggs, pizza store... will definitely check into it for our rental car.

If you haven't booked hotels yet, also check their hotel discounts - they have discounted rates at Hyatt and Best Western brand hotels. The discounts seem to be really good there as well. They do offer Disneyland packages at Costco as well, but we've never tried them.

 

[bleeps]

One more note on the car rental situation (we rented from Hertz, picked up in SD and dropped off at Long Beach with no drop-off fee on a 9-day rental -- did this just last week); we flew Jet Blue and got the Hertz car deal via Jet Blue. Again, don't know if that was the *secret,* or whether it had to do with time of year, the length of time we had the car, etc. I agree that it's unusual/unexpected to be able to do this, but apparently there are some times when it works. We also were amazed that flying in and out of different airports also didn't jack up the price -- and who knows how the combo of time of year, airline, and particular airports played into that.

 

[Pesky]

One note for the beach is the water is COLD, definitely a lot colder than the oceans back east! It's coming from Alaska given the currents versus back east where the water is coming up from the Gulf and Caribbean area.

 

[Camonkeygirl]

If you stay with the dates you choose, then you will have some extra time at the Zoo. The Zoo starts their summer hours that weekend, and will be open from 9 Am to 9PM. The Safari Park has not been starting their summer hours until the 4th of July weekend.

I would suggest getting the Southern California City Pass with the upgrade to the Zoo, as it is a great deal. The only down side is that you will have to choose the Zoo or the Safari Park, as it is not good for both, but you can always look around your hotel for any coupons, and buy the ticket for the other park. The SoCal pass is a 3 day park hopper for Disneyland, 1 day at Universal Studios and 1 day at Seaworld, and upgraded includes one day to the Zoo.

 

[brenda1966]

All good points. Yes, the water is ice cold, so unless you're used to that beach time is mostly about looking and maybe wading a bit, but not swimming.

CA traffic is just undescribable.

And car rental drop fees for one way rentals can depend on the direction you are taking the car. I rent a car from Santa Barbara and drop it in Anaheim. I do this every summer and don't pay a drop fee. But last time I dropped the car the guy running the counter commented on how expensive it is to go the other direction. Rent in Anahiem and drop in Santa Barbara, he told me I'd pay a ton more to do that.

 

[Caroline NZ]

If you are looking for somewhere to stay in San Diego we really liked Homewood Suites Liberty Station. Clean and quiet with lots of free parking.

 

[momstable]

One more thing to note on rental cars, call someone and ask. The advantage of using the internet is you can get great deals on existing offers. Calling a company rep and asking can sometimes result in them reworking some of the fees - like drop off fees. What's the worst they can do...say no?