Car rental/"time is money" question

bleeps

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Apr 15, 2003
Messages
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Planning our first trip to DL!

We're visiting DL during the second half of a family trip to southern Cal. We'll fly in to San Diego, pick up a rental car at the airport, and see the sights in the area before heading up to Anaheim.

We fly out of Long Beach.

Here's my question: it looks as though the price difference of keeping the car with us at DL (even though we won't need it between checking in and then checking out and going to the airport) and dropping it off at the airport the day we arrive in Anaheim is about $85. That is, the cost of paying the parking fees at GCH and keeping the car more days costs about $85 more than dropping the car off at LGB, taking a cab over to DL, and then taking a cab back to LGB on the day we depart.

So the advantage of paying the extra $85 is that we don't lose the time it will take us to do all the car dropping off and cabbing over to GCH -- we just drive to the hotel, check in, park, then head into the parks.

Advice?

By the way, it appears that Enterprise will NOT allow us to pick the car up in San Diego and return it to the Enterprise location on Katella, right around the corner from DL. Unless I'm mistaken, if you are dropping off at a location that's different from where you picked up, you must drop off at an airport. Does that sound right as well?

Thanks!
 
Your question got me thinking because I run into these situations from time to time. I have always just kept the car because of the flexibility it gives us.

Pros:
If you want to drive up from San Diego waaaay early and have a full day in the park you can keep your luggage in the back until check in.
You could use the car to go to the beach or the store (I don't know if either of these would matter to you--they do to us.)
You save the time it would take to go to the airport and turn in the car. Long Beach Airport is about 13 miles away from Disneyland and depending on the time of day, that could be a looong trip. You could be in the parks or lounging at the GCH's great pool instead:goodvibes

Cons:
The cost
The hassle

I know $85 seems like a lot, but look at it in relation to the total cost of your vacation. In my (very humble) opinion, trying to save the $85 would be "penny wise but pound foolish" for your vacation enjoyment.

A quick hint --Assuming you are booking on a rental car website and not Priceline/Hotwire/etc., keep checking the car rental prices as your vacation gets closer. I just re-booked our car for 9 days in late October for a savings of $140!!! If you can get the price of the car lower, that $85 difference could go down.:wizard:

I hope you have a fantastic time!
 
I agree with PP - I booked our car 3 month ago for our trip next Saturday. Just rebooked it at a savings of $160 - so be sure to recheck prices before you go. Have a great time!
 
If you want to drive up from San Diego waaaay early and have a full day in the park you can keep your luggage in the back until check in.
No matter how early you arrive at the GCH, check in first.
Leave your bags with bell services, rather than in the car :idea:
It will save time (=$)
 

Thanks everyone! As always, great and helpful advice.

It does sound as though the time and hassle it will take to deal with returning the car early just to save some $ isn't worth it. I also didn't realize that, after booking the car (going to go directly through Enterprise) I could keep checking and try to get a lower rate if the rate drops.

I think we'll drive to Anaheim and go directly to GCH, check in and drop the bags, park the car, then enjoy ourselves until it's time to check out a few days later and head to the airport.

Appreciate all the help!
 

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