Car Rental Advice

amandaleigh2

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
We're heading to California in late May for 8 days, including 2 at Disneyland. We'll be arriving at LAX and leaving from SFO. I'm looking for suggestions for rental car companies. Sixt, Avis, and Budget have the cheapest prices, but their Yelp reviews are pretty bad. Has anyone used any of these three companies? Thanks in advance!
 
They are all fine. Every major company will have their complaints and unhappy customers online. Go for the best price and don’t fall for the upsells.
 
I am partial to Hertz. Have rented from them for close to 20 years with no issues. They are good at both LAX and SFO.
 


Great suggestions so far - mine would be to enroll in whatever frequent customer program for the rental company you end up choosing - then you are likely able to pick up your vehicle faster as at LAX it's all shuttle to the rental company's location and no one wants to wait in a long line after all that.

We also use Costco and if you do don't book it and leave it - keep checking up until your actual dates as I have found the price to continually drop up until about a week prior.
 
We're heading to California in late May for 8 days, including 2 at Disneyland. We'll be arriving at LAX and leaving from SFO. I'm looking for suggestions for rental car companies...
I highly recommend Silvercar.
Silvercar only rents Audis: A4, Q5, A5 convertible.
The model of car you reserve is the model you will receive, unlike all other car rental companies (I have reserved a compact and been forced to take a Suburban). Navigation and Satellite radio are included, rather than extra cost items.

I recently rented a Q5 in Denver, and the price was similar to a "midsize" through Costco.
It was very enjoyable driving through Rocky Mountain National Park, over 12000 foot elevation.

Silvercar will likely not be the cheapest, but some discounts are available:
FIRST20 20% off (first rental)
TFD119 25% off (might work)
You will need to contact customer service to confirm LAX to SFO is possible, but seems very likely (both are Silvercar locations and are major airports)

FYI: Car break-ins are an epidemic in San Francisco. Do not leave any items visible in a parked car.

FAQ: Why is it called Silvercar? Silver is the Auto Racing Color for Germany
 


The fees you pay when you rent cars at the airports are often very high. Consider getting a uber/Lyft from the airport to a nearby Enterprise, Alamo, budget car rental and then rent a car there. And repeat the process when you go back to the airport to leave. Sometimes you can really save a lot of money that way. Check with many different companies because the prices can vary a great deal. All of the companies have bad reviews so don't worry about that. In my experience the later in the day you rent the car, the more likely you will experience problems with the company. They all overbook.
 
I have rented from Avis, budget, hertz thrifty, alamo, enterprise both at airports and off. They all have bad reviews but none has been bad for us.
 
You need to price it out but my experience is typically exact opposite. We often go to the airport when we need a car vs neighborhood locations cuz the airport is typically cheaper overall even with added fees.
agreed. It is so much cheaper for me to rent a car at SFO rather than a neighborhood place. I just prefer do not like driving to the airport.
 
I agree with the others. If you go by reviews for car rental you'll never rent anything from anyone as the reviews are all terrible.

I have used all of the companies you mention without issue. I also enjoyed my one rental experience with Silvercar very much. My work now has me traveling more and we can only use Hertz for business travel. I do really like their Club Gold (which is free to join) as rental pickup is SO SO fast and convenient. I've found recently that Hertz has had some of the best rates for my non-work rentals as well, especially if you apply promo codes (that definitely did not used to be the case- I feel like Hertz always used to be the most expensive option).

I also agree to book something that can be cancelled (watch out for the pay up front rates-often those have a cancellation penalty) then keep checking. With a one way rental make sure you keep an eye on the drop fees as well and don't just look at the daily or weekly rate.
 
I've always gotten the cheapest deal with Hertz through AAA's member rate. You have to 'haunt the site' but I once got an 8 day mid-size rental for $167.00 TOTAL ($12/day+tax & fees). I had already rented an economy car (at a higher price!) but just kept checking the website and ended up with 2 price reductions & an upgrade which were cheerfully applied to my already-reserved rental. It included free cancellation within 24 hours.

And I agree, airport rentals are generally cheaper than offsite. And I did find that Avis did a better deal on one-way rentals (no special fees) than Hertz.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone! I have some time still, so I'll keep stalking the sites for better prices. Coming from the midwest, the car rental prices in California have been a bit of a sticker shock.
 
I have rented sooo many cars! I have always beat everyone with Costco.

And for those of you who haven’t done it, you just go to Costco travel website put in your dates,etc. and it brings up all the major companies like Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc. and gives you a great price. You go to that company’s desk at the airport. It is not a Costco desk. Also, keep checking in if the price drops, rebook. You are not putting down a credit card anyway so it doesn’t matter.

The only exception to this rule is in Alaska, LOL. I was able to get a car in Anchorage directly through Avis, Costco doesn’t rent as much in Alaska.
 
I have rented sooo many cars! I have always beat everyone with Costco.

And for those of you who haven’t done it, you just go to Costco travel website put in your dates,etc. and it brings up all the major companies like Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc. and gives you a great price. You go to that company’s desk at the airport. It is not a Costco desk. Also, keep checking in if the price drops, rebook. You are not putting down a credit card anyway so it doesn’t matter.

The only exception to this rule is in Alaska, LOL. I was able to get a car in Anchorage directly through Avis, Costco doesn’t rent as much in Alaska.

This has never been the case for me, but my bank has an exclusive agreement with Hertz and we get great rates through that code. I have found Costco to only be cheaper with Budget and Alamo, 2 companies I will never use again after horrendous experiences in the past.
 
This has never been the case for me, but my bank has an exclusive agreement with Hertz and we get great rates through that code. I have found Costco to only be cheaper with Budget and Alamo, 2 companies I will never use again after horrendous experiences in the past.
I think it also depends on how early you book. I have booked through Costco with Avis, Alamo, Budget and Enterprise. I have not had any issues yet. I rented a van to go to disney for 6 days for around $300. Everywhere else I checked it was at least $600 and up to $1000. I did book about 8 months early.
 
We went this past October and rented from Budget at LAX. It is super easy to sign up for Fast Break and it was a simple quick process, both for the pickup and return. I think our rental was for a midsize car for around $230 for 7 days. We ended up with a Toyota RAV4.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top