LAX car rental

[OhStuffandFluff]

We will be visiting Disneyland for the first time in early July this year. We plan to rent a car at the LAX airport in order to have it for our entire trip. We have 2 adults and 3 kids (13,11,and 3). We have never rented from LAX before and am looking for expert advice on the best places to rent from at this location. Also any other tips on getting the best deal for a car rental would be great as well! TIA!

 

[sherilaine]

First off I have found booking through Costco to save me lots of money - so if you have a Costco membership look there first.

We have rented a vehicle from LAX for every trip. After you collect your luggage you want to head outside and look for the purple signs showing you where rental car buses will stop for their passengers. These buses will take you to the actual rental car business. There are no rental companies directly onsite at LAX. I cannot speak to any other rental agencies as we always use Budget. If you do use them sign up for Fastbreak as it saves you from having to go in and wait in line - you pick up your car, show your ID and info at the gate and off you go!!

I also found a great route from ludari – as they offered the best route from LAX to Disneyland: “take the 105 East using the HOV/carpool lane (obviously you have to have two more in your vehicle) to 605 South (don't bother getting in the HOV/carpool lane because it's a short distance until you have to transition to the 91 East (use carpool lane once you get on the 91), stay in the carpool lane because there is an HOV/carpool exit to the 5 South. From that point stay in the HOV/carpool lane and they will be an exit (in that lane) for Disneyland."

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

First off I have found booking through Costco to save me lots of money - so if you have a Costco membership look there first.

We have rented a vehicle from LAX for every trip. After you collect your luggage you want to head outside and look for the purple signs showing you where rental car buses will stop for their passengers. These buses will take you to the actual rental car business. There are no rental companies directly onsite at LAX. I cannot speak to any other rental agencies as we always use Budget. If you do use them sign up for Fastbreak as it saves you from having to go in and wait in line - you pick up your car, show your ID and info at the gate and off you go!!

I also found a great route from ludari – as they offered the best route from LAX to Disneyland: “take the 105 East using the HOV/carpool lane (obviously you have to have two more in your vehicle) to 605 South (don't bother getting in the HOV/carpool lane because it's a short distance until you have to transition to the 91 East (use carpool lane once you get on the 91), stay in the carpool lane because there is an HOV/carpool exit to the 5 South. From that point stay in the HOV/carpool lane and they will be an exit (in that lane) for Disneyland."

OMG! Thank you so much for the info on the route to get to Disneyland! And thank you for the rental car info! Unfortunately we don't have a Costco near us, so no membership for us. But I will look into Budget and see what we can find. Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

Avis, Alamo, and National also have memberships like that where it’s easy.

Having to take a shuttle is irritating but LAX is huge. And when returning the car please oh please factor in that extra time.

 

[sherilaine]

Taking the shuttle is a nuisance - I have often thought how nice it would be to just jump in a car and be off but it is what it is - and we do not have the option to fly into a closer and smaller airport if we want a non stop flight.

Just plan for that time both coming and going as bumbershoot said. It can take 10 minutes for your shuttle to arrive, while it seems all the other buses have gone by twice, it's just the luck of timing in many cases. It can then take another 10 minutes to get to the rental location as they can go to other terminals along the way. Then it can take awhile to get your vehicle which is why signing up for membership for whatever company you pick is very important! I think almost all of them offer some form of priority pick up service which can save a LOT of time!

One of these days if we come for a short trip - I am just going to book a limo and enjoy the relaxing ride to DLR!

 

[deedubb]

Renting at LAX is a major PITA. I'm flying into SNA this time and will rent there (on-site).

 

[lilmissfoodie]

First off I have found booking through Costco to save me lots of money - so if you have a Costco membership look there first.

We have rented a vehicle from LAX for every trip. After you collect your luggage you want to head outside and look for the purple signs showing you where rental car buses will stop for their passengers. These buses will take you to the actual rental car business. There are no rental companies directly onsite at LAX. I cannot speak to any other rental agencies as we always use Budget. If you do use them sign up for Fastbreak as it saves you from having to go in and wait in line - you pick up your car, show your ID and info at the gate and off you go!!

I also found a great route from ludari – as they offered the best route from LAX to Disneyland: “take the 105 East using the HOV/carpool lane (obviously you have to have two more in your vehicle) to 605 South (don't bother getting in the HOV/carpool lane because it's a short distance until you have to transition to the 91 East (use carpool lane once you get on the 91), stay in the carpool lane because there is an HOV/carpool exit to the 5 South. From that point stay in the HOV/carpool lane and they will be an exit (in that lane) for Disneyland."

Personally, as someone who lives here and drives the route daily, if you take this particular route during traffic hours (which in SoCal are M-F 2:00-8:00pm for that direction), the 105 is WAY slower than taking the 91 (which also has a carpool lane). My suggestion would be to use Waze since it now offers routing using carpool lanes as an option.

In addition (if you're going directly to the park instead of to the hotel first), the Mickey and Friends parking structure is not always your best option. On weekends especially (Sunday is the worst because it has the most AP availability), that lot will fill up in the afternoon and then you'll be routed to some other lot and the traffic getting off of the 5 will be awful. Just a couple of weekends ago I was routed to the Anaheim Convention Center (but it was an exceptionally crowded day since it was the last day before Pixar Pier construction was to start).

Besides Orange County John Wayne (SNA), Long Beach is also a good option.

 

[Geemo]

In October we flew into LAX and rented a car (through Costco) from Enterprise.
We hopped on the bus for Enterprise and were there in about 5 minutes.
It was far easier than I expected.

 

[beansmom]

we've always found renting at LAX to be fairly painless.

 

[bumbershoot]

we've always found renting at LAX to be fairly painless.

As long as you’re aware of the process, it’s painless.

Except for the one time when that rental car bus didn’t even pull into the pickup lane and just went on by, after we had legitimately waited 20 minutes. And then had to wait another 20.

But that’s just one time.

 

[sherilaine]

Personally, as someone who lives here and drives the route daily, if you take this particular route during traffic hours (which in SoCal are M-F 2:00-8:00pm for that direction), the 105 is WAY slower than taking the 91 (which also has a carpool lane). My suggestion would be to use Waze since it now offers routing using carpool lanes as an option.

In addition (if you're going directly to the park instead of to the hotel first), the Mickey and Friends parking structure is not always your best option. On weekends especially (Sunday is the worst because it has the most AP availability), that lot will fill up in the afternoon and then you'll be routed to some other lot and the traffic getting off of the 5 will be awful. Just a couple of weekends ago I was routed to the Anaheim Convention Center (but it was an exceptionally crowded day since it was the last day before Pixar Pier construction was to start).

Besides Orange County John Wayne (SNA), Long Beach is also a good option.

That is interesting as the original person who provided that advice is local. Perhaps things have changed in two years. We arrived in March 2016 on a Friday and left the Budget lot around 1 and were at our hotel within 40 minutes so we thought it was fantastic advice but that was before 2PM so maybe that was our magic? We had taken a different route the first three trips. We are also not going to DLR when we arrive - we go further down I5 and exit to Harbor.

 

[lk2500]

One thing that will (hopefully) save you a lot of time and hassle is sign up for whatever rental companies "preferred" plan, it is usually free. I personally use Avis Preferred. That way you can just get off the shuttle, walk straight to your rental car and drive off. They send you a text telling you what spot your car is parked in and (at least at MCI) they will give you several options of cars to choose from. You just do a quick check out at the booth as you drive off.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

All of these posts have been so helpful! It is very much appreciated!

 

[isabellea]

Thanks for the post. We are renting a car at LAX in April and I hadn't realized the rental companies were not onsite.

Quick question for those who are used to do the drive from DLR to LAX. Our return flight is a Saturday at 8:15am. Air Canada suggests we arrive at the airport 2h prior so that means 6:15am and we need to drop the car off first. At what time would you leave Anaheim (we are staying at Best Western Park Place Inn)?

 

[sherilaine]

Thanks for the post. We are renting a car at LAX in April and I hadn't realized the rental companies were not onsite.

Quick question for those who are used to do the drive from DLR to LAX. Our return flight is a Saturday at 8:15am. Air Canada suggests we arrive at the airport 2h prior so that means 6:15am and we need to drop the car off first. At what time would you leave Anaheim (we are staying at Best Western Park Place Inn)?

Dropping off the car and getting the shuttle to the airport adds about 10-15 minutes depending on how soon the shuttle leaves after you drop off your vehicle - because dropping off the vehicle takes about 90 seconds tops!

The drive at that hour should be pretty quick - we have done that time on a Saturday and we got from our hotel to Budget in about half an hour and that included stopping to fill with gas.

Our experience has been we allow for an hour, to drive back to LAX, fill with gas, drop off the car and then take the shuttle to the terminal. That time of day you are usually met with shorter lines for check-in and security and you can relax and have breakfast once you are waiting for your flight. The later your flight the longer it takes in traffic and you end up not leaving that much later anyway!

 

[lilmissfoodie]

That is interesting as the original person who provided that advice is local. Perhaps things have changed in two years. We arrived in March 2016 on a Friday and left the Budget lot around 1 and were at our hotel within 40 minutes so we thought it was fantastic advice but that was before 2PM so maybe that was our magic? We had taken a different route the first three trips. We are also not going to DLR when we arrive - we go further down I5 and exit to Harbor.

No, it's always been that way (105 has always been awful). Perhaps the original person doesn't drive the 105 everyday (well, I could be I chose to take the 91 instead). I sometimes take the 105 towards LAX (but again, I let Waze chose and it usually only takes that route when traffic is lighter than rush hour). From my home to LAX, the 105 is definitely the shortest freeway route (and it still doesn't always take me that way). Leaving LAX (towards DLR), the 105 traffic period is wider (about 1/2-1 hr longer) than the 91. You leaving prior to 2pm made it not matter which way you went (the 105 may even be the longer distance, but I'd have to check on Google to find out). Harbor is the next exit after the Mickey and Friends exit (and can also be used on more crowded days as lately M&F has been filling up early). Yesterday (Sunday) we got to the park at noon and M&F was already closed. They want to send you to the lot north of the Toy Story lot (off of Disney Way and Clementine) but there was a lot of traffic there so I went to the Toy Story lot (off of Harbor) and there were no lines.

 

[sherilaine]

No, it's always been that way (105 has always been awful). Perhaps the original person doesn't drive the 105 everyday (well, I could be I chose to take the 91 instead). I sometimes take the 105 towards LAX (but again, I let Waze chose and it usually only takes that route when traffic is lighter than rush hour). From my home to LAX, the 105 is definitely the shortest freeway route (and it still doesn't always take me that way). Leaving LAX (towards DLR), the 105 traffic period is wider (about 1/2-1 hr longer) than the 91. You leaving prior to 2pm made it not matter which way you went (the 105 may even be the longer distance, but I'd have to check on Google to find out). Harbor is the next exit after the Mickey and Friends exit (and can also be used on more crowded days as lately M&F has been filling up early). Yesterday (Sunday) we got to the park at noon and M&F was already closed. They want to send you to the lot north of the Toy Story lot (off of Disney Way and Clementine) but there was a lot of traffic there so I went to the Toy Story lot (off of Harbor) and there were no lines.

Thanks - I think most of the people renting a car are likely heading to their hotel than the DLR parking lots - we stay at HOJO which is right off the 105 at Harbor so it's a pretty easy drive. Honestly I have run into just as much traffic - stand still traffic - in Toronto as I have seen in LA over our last 4 trips - I think traffic is something big cities are notorious for but is a necessary evil with that many people in one small area, considering California has a population greater than all of Canada!