Car Rentals in San Diego: Are There Any Less Expensive Options???

[nancy drew]

We are trying to plan a trip to SD and Anaheim this summer, but the cost of visiting SD is quite prohibitive, especially when you figure in a rental car, which everyone says is absolutely necessary. We would need a car for 3 days. We would likely have to pay for parking at the hotel (I know there are some with free parking, but I'm not sure where we are staying yet so assume we pay for parking), we will have to pay to park at our destinations, we will have to pay for gas, we will have to pay for booster seats (I'm single, and carrying 2 booster seats through an airport is not an option). Oh, and we have to pay for the car rental. When I add it all up, this adds at least $700-$1000 more to our trip.

Am I missing something? Is there some really inexpensive car rental option out there where I can rent a car for 3 days for less than $400?

 

[Renae De Liz]

What are you needed a car for? What are you doing in your 3 days?

I go to San Diego often for San Diego Comic Con, so I can only strictly speak about the Downtown/SeaWorld/Gaslamp area. Just about every hotel there charges parking and where I've stayed it's around $30-ish a day. If you are staying in this area, then they have good bus routes, and there's a trolley that runs right through the area. Also if you wanted to visit other areas, an Amtrak station is super close. In fact, my family took the Amtrack from San Diego to Anaheim ( to go to Disney). It was nice, inexpensive, and a pretty ride. And it's great if you have young kids because they can walk around the train (unlike a plane which is much smaller and more difficult) for the 2 hour trip. Then flying out of SNA is really easy from Disney.

I just did a quick check on Hotwire and got quoted $22 a day for a regular car in San Diego. It's usually cheaper if you can pick it up from the airports, and drop it off in the same place.

Good luck!

 

[dougsmom98]

We rented a minivan through Budget rental car for a week for $300 included all taxes and fees. We used this BCD code which originates from Travelocity:
X474200.

We chose to go with a rental car because by the time we paid for hotel transfers from the airport and then shuttle service for our two days we spent in Hollywood, it would have been more expensive than a rental car. If this code does not work for you, check out the rental car page on www.mousesavers.com. They will have other codes that may help. If you rent a car, you might be able to stay on the outskirts of San Diego and find a place to stay that includes parking.

 

[endy]

Have you tried Costco?
I've got some great deals thru them. Last year I had a rental from SNA for 5 or 6 days for around $80.

 

[nancy drew]

I'll try some of those sites.

I'm still not sure where we will stay, and we may do 4 days instead of 3. We are going to the zoo, Sea World, Midway Museum, and maybe Cabrillo tidepools. The kids would love to go to a beach, but there don't seem to be many hotels near a beach (other than Coronado, and that's not in the budget).

I feel like it would be easier and less expensive to just take cabs and use Lux Bus to get up to Anaheim, but I feel like maybe it wouldn't since everyone seems to rent cars. I hate driving, especially in unfamiliar areas. It stresses me out beyond belief.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

There are a lot of hotels in the Mission Bay area that might be in your budget. That's a family, friendly beach. That would be very close to SeaWorld, too.

FYI- The parking at the zoo is free.

Parking for Cabrillo Tidepools would be the cost of admission to the National Park (which is only $5/per car).

I totally hear ya about driving in unfamiliar places, but a car really is necessary in San Diego, IMO. Public transportation just really isn't that good around here.

The Amtrack (train) up to Disneyland is a lot of fun and I'm sure the kids would like it, but I'm not sure if that would be cheaper or not.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I got a rental car from Priceline for SD 10 days for $177 tax included. If all else fails, put in a really low bid and see if they accept it.

 

[rsleleux]

My car rental is less than $300 for a week through budget for a full size car. Just search the web for coupon codes. Good Luck!

 

[rizzo0904]

if you have a visa card, i posted a great deal on another thread about alamo. i got a full size car for one week for $140.

 

[mad hatter fan]

if you have a visa card, i posted a great deal on another thread about alamo. i got a full size car for one week for $140.

what deal is that?

 

[rizzo0904]

http://usa.visa.com/personal/discoun...=15&pageId=197

that link with show you the rewards that visa offers. for me, the alamo one was the best. huge savings.

 

[nancy drew]

If we stay in the Mission Bay area, I have found a few hotels with free shuttles to Sea World. If we skip the Cabrillo Tidepools, maybe we could just take cabs to the zoo and Midway? I don't even know whether we will have time for the Tidepools anyway. Then we can take Lux Bus to Anaheim.

I don't know. Maybe I'll decide to rent a car, but if not, is that a feasible plan?

 

[rizzo0904]

I'd think a rental car would be close in cost, or maybe cheaper, than multiple cab trips. Try hotwire.com for your car...put in a bid of $12-$15 per day.

 

[lulugirl1968]

Another vote for Costco!

We just rented a car thru them (we are going to So. Cal/D-land) and got a MUCH cheaper rate than anywhere else we looked.

Good luck!

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

If we stay in the Mission Bay area, I have found a few hotels with free shuttles to Sea World. If we skip the Cabrillo Tidepools, maybe we could just take cabs to the zoo and Midway? I don't even know whether we will have time for the Tidepools anyway. Then we can take Lux Bus to Anaheim.

I don't know. Maybe I'll decide to rent a car, but if not, is that a feasible plan?

So are you trying to figure out if taking a cab vs. renting a car would be less expensive or are you trying to avoid having to rent a car in an unfamiliar area?

I still think the rental car would be less expensive, if you can find a good deal. But if you really don't want to drive around an unfamiliar city, I think your plan is doable if you stay close to SeaWorld. If you stay at a larger hotel, they may even have a shuttle to the zoo (?). Yeah, skip the tidepools if you don't have a car. They're fun, but it'll be out of the way a bit.

 

[rizzo0904]

I just compared...Costco is $10 cheaper than my Visa deal for Alamo. But I don't have a Costco membership and that would cost me more than $10. So if you have Costco...do that. If not, use the Visa sight...but you need to have a Visa card.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I just replied to another thread on rental cars today on this forum. Try priceline. Late June my wife has to go to San Diego for the ISTE conference, so we are meeting her out there, and then heading to Disney when she is done. I am flying in and out of LAX so I need the car to get to SD, and then get us back up to Anaheim. For 6 days, the cheapest I could get was through budget for $335 (pickup up and returning at LAX). I tried over a few days offering low bids on priceline and I got an $18 bid accepted. So with taxes and fees, that comes to $26 a day, and it was a STANDARD sized car. So the $335 total was slashed to $158. The only catch is priceline in non refundable. Once your bid is accepted, your cc is charged. The company I got the rental from is Hertz.

 

[rsleleux]

http://usa.visa.com/personal/discoun...=15&pageId=197

that link with show you the rewards that visa offers. for me, the alamo one was the best. huge savings.

Thanks for this link, I ended up cancelling my reservation for Budget and saved $70

 

[Dexican]

Thanks for this link, I ended up cancelling my reservation for Budget and saved $70

Has this expired? I can't seem to get it to work?