Car Hire in different states Help!

[seobaina]

Hi

We are wanting to fly into Seattle and drive down to Anaheim. I noticed if I hire a car from San Fran and drop off in LA it's only about $15/£10 more but if I try to take it from Seattle to LA it jumps from $400ish to $800?? Can anyone give me any advice on how to avoid this (a particular company)? Or a good way to travel safely from Seattle to San Fran?

Thank you

 

[CPT Tripss]

Shop every rental company in Seattle. You might find a better deal. Also, look for coupons and codes on mousesavers.com befor you start shopping.

 

[GrandBob]

Drive? You do realize that it would take two long days of driving, right? I would fly, and rent a car in LA when you get there.

Unless, of course, that the reason for driving was to see the west coast of the US. In that case, I would go ahead and drive, but allow at least a week to do so. Along the way, I'd stop to see the Olympic Peninsula, the rugged coastline of Oregon, the redwoods in northern California, Menocino/Fort Bragg, Pt Reyes, San Francisco, Monterey, and the Big Sur coast along the way. That could easily take much more than a week, if you'd like.

HTH,
Bob

 

[Marlea98]

Hi

We are wanting to fly into Seattle and drive down to Anaheim. I noticed if I hire a car from San Fran and drop off in LA it's only about $15/£10 more but if I try to take it from Seattle to LA it jumps from $400ish to $800?? Can anyone give me any advice on how to avoid this (a particular company)? Or a good way to travel safely from Seattle to San Fran?

Thank you

Thank you for asking this question. We are planning on flying into Seattle and hiring a car to drive up to Vancouver to visit friends, then making our way down to SF to visit friends, and sight seeing along the way, then heading back to Anaheim with a stop in Solvang (I loved it there the first visit that I want to go back again) on the way. I was not aware of the price differences since I've only looked at Seattle to Anaheim for a two week one-way hire.

 

[Marlea98]

Drive? You do realize that it would take two long days of driving, right? I would fly, and rent a car in LA when you get there.

Unless, of course, that the reason for driving was to see the west coast of the US. In that case, I would go ahead and drive, but allow at least a week to do so. Along the way, I'd stop to see the Olympic Peninsula, the rugged coastline of Oregon, the redwoods in northern California, Menocino/Fort Bragg, Pt Reyes, San Francisco, Monterey, and the Big Sur coast along the way. That could easily take much more than a week, if you'd like.

HTH,
Bob

Where I live in Australia it takes us two days of driving just to get to our state's capital city, so for many Australians those distances are not an issue for when we visit the US. Also, we like to tour and make the most of our time in the country seeing and doing as much as we can

Thanks for your suggestions above, too. They include many of what we plan to visit and it's reassuring to know we've planned the 'right' stops. We are driving from Seattle to Anaheim (with stops in Vancouver and San Francisco to visit friends) and have allowed ourselves a week, but most of our sightseeing will be done between Vancouver and SF since we've already toured SF to Anaheim on our last trip.

 

[GrandBob]

You're welcome. And thank you for the pointer to your blog. I read the SF entry, and was enchanted. You sound like a delightful person. I hope you have a wonderful time wherever you end up touring.

-Bob

 

[Marlea98]

You're welcome. And thank you for the pointer to your blog. I read the SF entry, and was enchanted. You sound like a delightful person. I hope you have a wonderful time wherever you end up touring.

-Bob

Thank you. I fell in love with SF at first sight

 

[larina]

We are driving from Seattle to Anaheim (with stops in Vancouver and San Francisco to visit friends) and have allowed ourselves a week, but most of our sightseeing will be done between Vancouver and SF since we've already toured SF to Anaheim on our last trip.

Is it cheaper to fly into Seattle than into Canada? Is that why you would go so far North and then start your drive south? You mentioned stops in Vancouver and San Francisco, but only S.F. Is on the way. I do that Vancouver isn't a long way (just about 140 miles) though.

Whatever you do, whatever route you take, I hope you have a wonderful visit!

 

[GrandBob]

BTW, the discrepancy in prices for one-way rentals usually indicates current traffic patterns. E.g., the fact that they provide cheap one-way rentals from SF to LA probably indicates that they have an excess of one-way rentals in the other direction, LA to SF, and are happy to give you a cheap one-way in the direction that helps them balance their load. Whereas the expensive Seattle to LA price probably indicates that they don't need to get cars transported in that direction, and they believe that they'll have to pay to get the car transported back.

It's frequently instructive to price out the one-way rental in the reverse direction. It's possible, for example, that it would be cheap to go one-way from LA to Seattle. If that's the case, you may want to decide whether it's worthwhile to do your trip in the opposite direction. You'll need to also price out the difference in air fares for reversing your trip.

Or it may be that the Seattle and LA markets are far enough apart that they don't try to balance between them, and always charge you for the cost of getting their car back. You won't know until you price it out in both directions.

-Bob

 

[seobaina]

Drive? You do realize that it would take two long days of driving, right? I would fly, and rent a car in LA when you get there.

Unless, of course, that the reason for driving was to see the west coast of the US. In that case, I would go ahead and drive, but allow at least a week to do so. Along the way, I'd stop to see the Olympic Peninsula, the rugged coastline of Oregon, the redwoods in northern California, Menocino/Fort Bragg, Pt Reyes, San Francisco, Monterey, and the Big Sur coast along the way. That could easily take much more than a week, if you'd like.

HTH,
Bob

Hi Bob, yep, the idea is for us to see as much as possible on route. I've driven all around Cali before (the San fran to anaheim areas) but never further north. We have a week to drive down to LA but we want a day in seattle and 1-11/2 in san fran at least. So I'm figuring two days drive from Portland to San Fran. I wanted to drive between seattle and san fran so we could see stuff on the way but it depends on the costs I love driving long distances in the USA...soooo much easier/less stressful than driving distance in the UK. I drove 3600 miles in 10 days last time I was in Cali and last sept we drove from Orlando to New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Montgomery, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Cherokee, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, St Augustine and back to Orlando in 11 days LOL. I like to drive then stop then drive then stop...breaks it up a bit. Thanks for the tips on where to visit

Shop every rental company in Seattle. You might find a better deal. Also, look for coupons and codes on mousesavers.com befor you start shopping.

I'll check out mousesavers, thank you xx

Thank you for asking this question. We are planning on flying into Seattle and hiring a car to drive up to Vancouver to visit friends, then making our way down to SF to visit friends, and sight seeing along the way, then heading back to Anaheim with a stop in Solvang (I loved it there the first visit that I want to go back again) on the way. I was not aware of the price differences since I've only looked at Seattle to Anaheim for a two week one-way hire.

Yeah, I was surprised that it was that much. Seattle to Anaheim two week is what we're looking at too. I just thought it seemed high compared to what I'd paid before, hence the reason I looked at alternates.

BTW, the discrepancy in prices for one-way rentals usually indicates current traffic patterns. E.g., the fact that they provide cheap one-way rentals from SF to LA probably indicates that they have an excess of one-way rentals in the other direction, LA to SF, and are happy to give you a cheap one-way in the direction that helps them balance their load. Whereas the expensive Seattle to LA price probably indicates that they don't need to get cars transported in that direction, and they believe that they'll have to pay to get the car transported back.

It's frequently instructive to price out the one-way rental in the reverse direction. It's possible, for example, that it would be cheap to go one-way from LA to Seattle. If that's the case, you may want to decide whether it's worthwhile to do your trip in the opposite direction. You'll need to also price out the difference in air fares for reversing your trip.

Or it may be that the Seattle and LA markets are far enough apart that they don't try to balance between them, and always charge you for the cost of getting their car back. You won't know until you price it out in both directions.

-Bob

Thanks Bob, I hadn't thought about that. I'll check it out. We'd just hoped to finish at Disneyland xx

 

[CPT Tripss]

Glad to help. Also, Google rental car coupon codes.

Consider a detour to Mt St Helen's and Crater Lake. If you do everything in your trip that I would want to do, you'll be packing a month long trip into one week. Do you sleep? Do you drive like Lewis Hamilton?

 

[seobaina]

Glad to help. Also, Google rental car coupon codes.

Consider a detour to Mt St Helen's and Crater Lake. If you do everything in your trip that I would want to do, you'll be packing a month long trip into one week. Do you sleep? Do you drive like Lewis Hamilton?

lol I sleep very little and no comment on Lewis Hamilton lol Crater Lake does look beautiful and my name is Helen so I feel I should go there. x

 

[bcla]

Maybe just as a point of minor language differences, but in the United States or Canada the term "hire" would generally not be used to describe the rental of a vehicle that the renter drives. That would typically be used to describe obtaining the services of a driver and vehicle, such as a taxi or car service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_for_hire

I think most people understood your question because of the context, but if you start using that term when you get to the US, you might start confusing people.

 

[bcla]

BTW, the discrepancy in prices for one-way rentals usually indicates current traffic patterns. E.g., the fact that they provide cheap one-way rentals from SF to LA probably indicates that they have an excess of one-way rentals in the other direction, LA to SF, and are happy to give you a cheap one-way in the direction that helps them balance their load. Whereas the expensive Seattle to LA price probably indicates that they don't need to get cars transported in that direction, and they believe that they'll have to pay to get the car transported back.

It's frequently instructive to price out the one-way rental in the reverse direction. It's possible, for example, that it would be cheap to go one-way from LA to Seattle. If that's the case, you may want to decide whether it's worthwhile to do your trip in the opposite direction. You'll need to also price out the difference in air fares for reversing your trip.

Or it may be that the Seattle and LA markets are far enough apart that they don't try to balance between them, and always charge you for the cost of getting their car back. You won't know until you price it out in both directions.

-Bob

They might not even be in the same pool of vehicles and have to be delivered back to the originating point. Some regions have different franchisees (have fun dealing with a car dropped off with a different owner) and it might involve a swap to drop off that far away. Now I have rented a car with Nevada plates in San Diego and one with Colorado plates in Las Vegas. However, there are often strange rules depending on the state or the rental company. I've heard of some rental companies abusing this by registering more cars in states with cheaper registration fees, but that states audit the records (percentage of out of state vehicles rented) to see that they're not abusing it. I remember renting from Enterprise in Miami where the terms specified that I couldn't take the car outside of Florida, although I'm not sure this was typical.

One would also need to check and see if the rental terms include driving into Canada. Some won't, and I have heard of people getting hit with fees when it was found (through onboard GPS) that the renter had taken the vehicle across the border or into a state in violation of the rental agreement.

 

[seobaina]

They might not even be in the same pool of vehicles and have to be delivered back to the originating point. Some regions have different franchisees (have fun dealing with a car dropped off with a different owner) and it might involve a swap to drop off that far away. Now I have rented a car with Nevada plates in San Diego and one with Colorado plates in Las Vegas. However, there are often strange rules depending on the state or the rental company. I've heard of some rental companies abusing this by registering more cars in states with cheaper registration fees, but that states audit the records (percentage of out of state vehicles rented) to see that they're not abusing it. I remember renting from Enterprise in Miami where the terms specified that I couldn't take the car outside of Florida, although I'm not sure this was typical.

One would also need to check and see if the rental terms include driving into Canada. Some won't, and I have heard of people getting hit with fees when it was found (through onboard GPS) that the renter had taken the vehicle across the border or into a state in violation of the rental agreement.

THanks. I'm not the one talking about taking the car into Canada though, that's another poster. I'm staying within the US and I always check that I can take the car out-of-state and have unlimited milage. It's a good tip for the other poster though.

 

[bcla]

THanks. I'm not the one talking about taking the car into Canada though, that's another poster. I'm staying within the US and I always check that I can take the car out-of-state and have unlimited milage. It's a good tip for the other poster though.

Definitely don't forget about mileage. I've seen weekend specials with only 100 miles per day.

 

[seobaina]

Definitely don't forget about mileage. I've seen weekend specials with only 100 miles per day.

Wow, that's bad. Thank you, I will make sure I check. I've actually found it for a much more reasonable price now but I'm waiting to hear back from the company to confirm that there are no out-of-state charges. I put in pick up and drop off points but I want to confirm. Thank you

 

[bcla]

Wow, that's bad. Thank you, I will make sure I check. I've actually found it for a much more reasonable price now but I'm waiting to hear back from the company to confirm that there are no out-of-state charges. I put in pick up and drop off points but I want to confirm. Thank you

Here's an example. $9.99 a day for weekends from Enterprise Car Rental at one of their "neighborhood" (non-airport) locations. This can actually be a pretty good deal for someone who might just be going for a short weekend trip but owns a vehicle that might not be in great mechanical shape. I could probably use one on a weekend visit to Monterey. 3 days would give me 300 miles, and I would probably use about 250.

http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/deeplinkmap.do?bid=002&cust=MSWSRTA&referedPage=multiDivOffer

Valid at participating neighborhood locations within the U.S. and Puerto Rico only for rentals reserved in advance. Rental must end on or before May 22, 2013. Offer rate of $9.99 per day applies to an Economy or Compact car rented on Friday and ending the following Monday, and includes 100 miles per day. For certain locations, rates of less than $9.99 per day may be available.

 

[SA mom]

We had the same issue last summer. I tried every coupon/code/discount card/discount program we could possibly qualify for and came across the same additional $400. We decided to take the train from one city to another. But, if you want to see things along the way, it will just cost more.

 

[seobaina]

One note for people to be careful about. I found a much better quote but in the small print it said that it may not include one-way costs. I emailed the company and the price did go up. It only went up by £50/$75 but still!! Glad I checked.