Rental Car in LA

[julm26]

Help Can I actually find a cheap rental car in LA? We don't need huge - just 2 adults and an 8 yo. I always find cheap in Orlando but out of my element in LA. We are going from April 13 - 21st. Flying into LAX

 

[seashoreCM]

Prices change

 

[seashoreCM]

Prices change often, sometimes every day.

Keep checking back with the various car rental agencies. If you have coupon codes, try them each time you check back.

I do not recommend booking through a third party, even though some third parties have web sites that give you several price quotes for seberal companies at the same time. Too many hassles if something goes wrong.

Do not use coupon codes that you are not specifically authorized to use, for example if you use the Entertainment Book code you need to be prepared to show the page of the Entertainment Book. Otherwise the rental company reserves the right to cancel your reservation.

 

[webworm]

Help Can I actually find a cheap rental car in LA? We don't need huge - just 2 adults and an 8 yo. I always find cheap in Orlando but out of my element in LA. We are going from April 13 - 21st. Flying into LAX

Signup for KLM Flying Blue (free) and use ID 8572130 with National. All coupons seem to expire March 23rd right now. You can add one later for free upgrade from compact to midsize. A compact is $235 inc taxes and insurance. Sign up for emerald club (free) and as long as you book a midisze you get to choose whatever is in the emerald aisle.

 

[DonnaL]

julm26......I'm guessing from your signature this is your first trip to Disneyland....and don't know what else you have planned other than visiting DL. ..however, we are WDW veterans from way back and have rented cars in FL for many, many years and I am EXTREMELY glad we decided against it for our first trip to DL a few weeks ago. California freeways are a completely different animal......that's all I can say. We did not fly into LAX but Orange County (SNA) which is much closer to DLR, however, Greyline does offer bus service from LAX. We decided against using the bus and paid just a few dollars more.....seriously, less than $20 more ......for round trip private van service using ExecuCarExpress...total cost was $118 and that included a tips....I believe I found the link on mousesavers.com. Don't know if you are staying onsite at DL....we're DVC and stayed at VGC and used Von's for delivering our groceries.....again, wonderful service....right on time, everything I ordered. We only ventured elsewhere for one day of our visit (we were only there for five days....since both travel days are pretty much useless when flying cross country). The one day we left DLR property we used a Greyline tour bus which picked us up/dropped us off 12 hours later in front of the GC. We went to Universal Hollywood for the day and the price included transportation and Universal tickets.....it was $100 pp. So, I know I'm rambling on here.....you only asked about a rental car.....however, the main thing I wanted to point out is driving the CA freeway system is a whole different ballgame than driving in FL and if you're not planning a lot of other activities you may want to reconsider even renting a car.

On another note........we absolutely LOVED Disneyland Resort.....it IS way different from WDW, however. I think what we thoroughly enjoyed the most was the fact we could walk out the door of the GC and be anywhere in either park in about 10 minutes time.....literally no wasted transportation time at all. We can't wait to return......

 

[travelcoupons]

julm26......I'm guessing from your signature this is your first trip to Disneyland....and don't know what else you have planned other than visiting DL. ..however, we are WDW veterans from way back and have rented cars in FL for many, many years and I am EXTREMELY glad we decided against it for our first trip to DL a few weeks ago. California freeways are a completely different animal......that's all I can say. We did not fly into LAX but Orange County (SNA) which is much closer to DLR, however, Greyline does offer bus service from LAX. We decided against using the bus and paid just a few dollars more.....seriously, less than $20 more ......for round trip private van service using ExecuCarExpress...total cost was $118 and that included a tips....I believe I found the link on mousesavers.com. Don't know if you are staying onsite at DL....we're DVC and stayed at VGC and used Von's for delivering our groceries.....again, wonderful service....right on time, everything I ordered. We only ventured elsewhere for one day of our visit (we were only there for five days....since both travel days are pretty much useless when flying cross country). The one day we left DLR property we used a Greyline tour bus which picked us up/dropped us off 12 hours later in front of the GC. We went to Universal Hollywood for the day and the price included transportation and Universal tickets.....it was $100 pp. So, I know I'm rambling on here.....you only asked about a rental car.....however, the main thing I wanted to point out is driving the CA freeway system is a whole different ballgame than driving in FL and if you're not planning a lot of other activities you may want to reconsider even renting a car.

On another note........we absolutely LOVED Disneyland Resort.....it IS way different from WDW, however. I think what we thoroughly enjoyed the most was the fact we could walk out the door of the GC and be anywhere in either park in about 10 minutes time.....literally no wasted transportation time at all. We can't wait to return......

The one difference between California & Florida is people speed like crazy in FLorida, in LA everyone seems to stay closer to the posted speed limit by and large. Honestly I-4 is not much different from any California freeway, just know where your going & know freeway names & you'll be fine.

 

[rwdavis2]

The one difference between California & Florida is people speed like crazy in FLorida, in LA everyone seems to stay closer to the posted speed limit by and large. Honestly I-4 is not much different from any California freeway, just know where your going & know freeway names & you'll be fine.

Very true. I travel to LA monthly and the driving is not that bad. But then again, I live in the DC area where the traffic is just as bad if not worse. But if you don't hit rush hour the driving is a breeze.

 

[julm26]

Thanks Everyone for the tips. I am flying in for a training and my DH and DD8 are coming in 3 days later. This will be our first and probably our only chance to get to California (We live in Pittsburgh). After my training is over we will spend 2 days hanging out in LA, 3 days at DL and 3 in San Diego. So we will need a car and even rent one when we are at WDW. We like the freedom.
DH will be driving and he has no fear driving anywhere (DC many times.) So we should be fine.

Thanks for the codes!

 

[rwdavis2]

Thanks Everyone for the tips. I am flying in for a training and my DH and DD8 are coming in 3 days later. This will be our first and probably our only chance to get to California (We live in Pittsburgh). After my training is over we will spend 2 days hanging out in LA, 3 days at DL and 3 in San Diego. So we will need a car and even rent one when we are at WDW. We like the freedom.
DH will be driving and he has no fear driving anywhere (DC many times.) So we should be fine.

Thanks for the codes!

May I suggest a few things to visit? Griffith Observatory. The views over LA are spectacular. Reagan library is very impressive but most of it may not hold an 8yo interest. A drive to Santa Monica and then up to Malibu?
Have fun.

 

[mdsd8700]

We are taking our 5th trip to DLR in June. We always rent a car. There are so many great things to in CA. We have used CarRentalSavers.com for most of our rentals even with WDW or other vacations. This year I booked through our Chase Sapphire Card from advice I read here on the DIS. I was quite comfortable with our 8 day rate. I read that Citi Thank You and Capital One also have good rates when using their vacation portal. Not sure if you have any of those credit cards, but worth a look if you do. I would check on the Transportation Thread here as well there usually are some good posts about great rates by each month.

Good Luck.

 

[julm26]

May I suggest a few things to visit? Griffith Observatory. The views over LA are spectacular. Reagan library is very impressive but most of it may not hold an 8yo interest. A drive to Santa Monica and then up to Malibu?
Have fun.[/QUOTE

Thanks! We plan on doing Griffith Observatory and drive up to Santa Monica and Malibu! We are so excited - my DH and DD8 have a countdown calendar! Wish we had more time - but a week out of school was hard enough to justify for 2nd grade!

 

[a742246]

Another neat thing to do is rent a bike in Huntington Beach(or Newport Beach) and ride the bike paths along the ocean.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

I'd make a reservation that can be cancelled, and watch Hotwire for a better rate. LAX is a huge rental car market and as you get close to your travel date, prices will plummet.

 

[nikkistevej]

We are also doing a similiar trip in Aug. We are WDW vets, we do usually rent a car there, as we usually do the Disney cruise and the parks when we are down there, and like our freedom as well. I did get a rental for Aug already, no coupons-for $300 through Alamo. We just needed a reg sized car- just me, DH and DD10. Didn't think that was too bad, because we are flying into San Diego(staying a few days), and then DL for the next 5 days, we will return the car to LAX(flying home from there). Definitely thought that was a good rate for the different dropoff. Hoping to get it cheaper closer to the time, but Ok if we don't

 

[travelcoupons]

LAX is a huge rental car market and as you get close to your travel date, prices will plummet.

Not alway true, especially around major holidays. I was there around Christmas, got a midsize for a week for $200-something from Thrifty with code & coupon I got off rentalcodes.com, which was pretty good in that market around Christmas. That was about 2 months in advance after checking over & over. Rates then skyrocketed ($400+) after that and all but one or two of the rental car agencies ran out of cars (at least on their reservation systems) once it got within a week or so of Christmas.

 

[bumbershoot]

The one difference between California & Florida is people speed like crazy in FLorida, in LA everyone seems to stay closer to the posted speed limit by and large.

This has not been my experience. Actually, exact opposite. Every time I hit I4 in Florida it's a parking lot, and every time I am on the CA highways it's a speed-fest. Complete with very aggressive and quick lane changes. I can and do drive in both places, I've just had a different experience entirely.



OP we use National pretty much exclusively, and have gotten some nice deals out of LAX (and SNA) using the Emerald Aisle (rent a midsize when you have an Emerald Club membership...their frequent driver program...and you get to choose from whatever is in the Aisle, which is by no means always midsized vehicles). I use mousesavers.com to get discount codes (I have never seen codes that cannot be used by anyone there, so there's no "danger" of using a code you aren't entitlted to), make a reservation at a price I can deal with, then check it out often to see if there are new codes/coupons, or if prices have gone down.

I also used hotwire once, but I don't remember if that rate was good.

We like freedom, too. We like going to Trader Joes and Vons, and this last year we go to Weight Watchers meetings as well (there's a great Saturday morning meeting at the WW center nearish the Trader Joes). Freedom is good.

 

[mdsd8700]

using the Emerald Aisle (rent a midsize when you have an Emerald Club membership...their frequent driver program...and you get to choose from whatever is in the Aisle, which is by no means always midsized vehicles).

I didn't know this. We belong to the Emerald Club but have only used National once maybe twice and it was years back. So if I can find a good rate for a mid size car at National when I pick it up I can take anything they have available, no questions asked?

 

[mdsd8700]

using the Emerald Aisle (rent a midsize when you have an Emerald Club membership...their frequent driver program...and you get to choose from whatever is in the Aisle, which is by no means always midsized vehicles).

I was just on Mousesavers and seen the same information about the mid size reservation. Not sure how I was missing that all this time, but will definitely keep it mind going forward. Thanks for filling me in

 

[capapa]

Hi.

I live in OC, about 10 minutes door to door from Disneyland and I work in Hollywood. All of the hotels in Anaheim are close to Disneyland so you may not need a car for this part of your trip. LA is different. You need a car to get to Griffith, Santa Monica etc.

Depending on your schedule, I would suggest a one way shuttle to Anaheim. Then on the day you leave for LA, rent a car from your hotel. Most of the bigger hotels have agencies in the lobby. I do know there is an AVIS, National and/or Enterprise locations on Harbor Blvd, which is the major cross street to Katella - the street Disneyland is on. The rental places are very close to hotels, so you can easily walk. Anaheim is VERY different from WDW, things are much closer.

Hope this helps.