Rental Car Help

[PFopma]

Booking air and hotels was a breeze compared to what I have been going through trying to find an affordable rental car for our upcoming Hollywood/Disneyland trip. The cheapest LAX roundtrip rental I could find came in at just under $400. Not too bad but it was with Midway and Fox and I have not had any experience with them. Read some bad reviews online which scared me off. I went back to checking all the other car rental companies.

When I tried Budget there was no availability at LAX for pick up on our arrival date. I looked at a list of LA offices hoping to find something not too far away from the airport. There is one in Hollywood that caught my eye and when I checked rates got one that was around $200 for a 10 day rental (compact car). Picking the car up in Hollywood and returning it to LAX. I called to make sure that there wasn't a hefty drop off charge and there wasn't. I checked Super Shuttle and Taxi's and the cheapest way to get from the airport to the rental office with 3 people was $44. Even with the Shuttle fare I am still saving a lot of money.

Does this seem like a good plan or am I missing something? The shuttle ride to get to the Budget office will take up some of our time but there are plenty of hotels in that area (Hollywood & Highland) so we shouldn't have long wait for the van to fill up. And I am hoping that since it is an off airport location there won't be long lines at the car rental desk. After we pick up the car we have a short ride to our hotel in the Universal City area. We are in the Hollywood area for 5 nights and then going to Anaheim and DLR for 4 nights.

 

[ORDisneyfans]

If you are still looking I have had good luck with hotwire. I just booked a fullsize car through hotwire for a total of $222 for 8 days. (8/27 -9/3 LAXroundtrip ) It is through Hertz though you don't know that until you checkout. The good news is Hotwire only uses the top 5 name brand car rental agencies. Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, Alamo and I can't think of the other one. Good Luck! Have a great trip!

 

[pixarmom]

OP, I know exactly what you mean. We needed a rental car because we're spending the week in Newport Beach after 3 days at DL. I shopped around a lot, and it wasn't looking good. We're saving quite a lot for our family of 5 by taking the Disneyland Express to DL, and then picking up a rental car at Alamo in Downtown Disney when we're ready to leave for Newport. We're returning the car a week later at LAX. (No additional fee for returning at LAX.) We also received an AP discount from Alamo, so we saved even more. It's about $200 for the week - full size - booked directly with Alamo on the phone. I know this doesn't apply to OP's circumstances, but might work for someone else.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

It wouldn't hurt to try http://www.carrentalsavers.com

Hope this helps.

 

[brenda1966]

Rental car prices jump all over the place, so you really have to watch them and book when you find a good rate. Then keep watching, and rebook if you find a better rate!

Of course if you do any kind of pre-pay via hotwire, you're locked in once you do that. But that's also a good option. How far out is your trip? With rental cars, booking far in advance doesn't always get you the best rate.

 

[sportbettor]

LAX has huge fluctuations on the price of car rentals. Just keep checking back. That said, the $200/10day price you got offsite is pretty good (assuming thats the allin price not the base rate). I have gotten prices as low as $12 or $13 allin at LAX before (and $18 allin for a minivan once)

Also if you rent through budget make sure you sign up for Fastbreak, its free and you don't have to wait in line at the counter at most office. In fact at LAX you dont even need to talk to a person, the shuttle drops you off at the Fastbreak waiting area by the rental cars, it has your name on the screen telling you which section to grab your car, you pick a car, drive it to the booth and you are off. Also make sure you go find good codes for them, best codes ive been finding recently at LAX are the southwest U072741 code, unfortunately the coupon code for triple SWA credits MUAZ021 doesnt work at LAX because its a non-corporate office.

Regarding FOX they really suck. The are understaffed in the office and unorganized. I waited almost an hour last time i used them. I would need to save at least $100 before I would consider renting from them again.

Also are you sure budget isnt going to charge for the drop off at LAX? They love nickle and diming you so im kinda surprised at that.

 

[Woodduck]

Trying going through the costcotravel.com site most of the car rental companies don't require you to be a member to see their prices through there. Also try retailmenot.com for discount codes. I have received the best prices from Alamo in the past.

 

[jasy]

I also booked through Hotwire.com. 8 day, fullsize car rental came in at $180. My rental is also through Hertz. The only other thing you have to remember about Hotwire though is you prepay for everything up front, which I don't have an issue with but you may.

I looked at everything, discounts with credit card, costco card, AAA, etc. and Hotwire still comes in far below everyone else.

I've never used this before so it will be interesting to see if everything goes smoothly. Fingers crossed that it does.

 

[Stefan]

Try again by visiting the respective companies and putting your info in. Keep doing so as your trip approaches, you will get a better price.

We just went in and re did our booking for a minivan for our upcoming trip. PRICE DROPPED IN HALF. Went from $668 to $334 for our trip. As well went to antoher company same thing, plus we have a discount coupon so even better

 

[prncssmel]

If you go through Costco's web site (don't need to have a card), you can find discounted rates.