rental car "plan" - need advice

[Dduckmom]

Hi all! We are headed to SoCal for 10 nights. We fly into San Diego and fly out of LAX. We are spending 5 days in SD, then headed to DL for 2 1/2 days, then on to LA for 2 1/2 days. We are finding VERY expensive rental prices for the end of July/beg of Aug. I have 2 questions:
1) anyone have a great rate for a rental car - pick-up in SD and drop off in LA? We don't need a huge car, only 4 of us.

2) I am wondering if it's worth it to rent a car for 5 days and drop it off when we get to Anaheim. Then, pick up a new one in Anaheim, when we are departing, and drop it in LA, after we use it for our LA stay. We are arriving at DLR on a Friday and departing on a Sunday. We are staying at Candy Cane Inn and plan to walk everywhere. Almost all of our waking moments will be spent in a park so I don't see us needing a car at all in Anaheim. Does this sound crazy? Is it worth the cost saving?

I appreciate any feedback/help. We are getting rates of over $900 for this time period. seems nuts to me.

 

[Tropigal]

I am wondering the same thing! We are flying into San Fran and then after a few days driving to DL for a few days...then staying off site for 2 days before we go to Vegas where we will drop off the car.

Should we rent a car and return it for our Disney stay since we won't use it and then rent another at the end of our stay off site to Vegas?

Prices are crazy!

 

[usnuzuloose]

Hi all! We are headed to SoCal for 10 nights. We fly into San Diego and fly out of LAX. We are spending 5 days in SD, then headed to DL for 2 1/2 days, then on to LA for 2 1/2 days. We are finding VERY expensive rental prices for the end of July/beg of Aug. I have 2 questions:
1) anyone have a great rate for a rental car - pick-up in SD and drop off in LA? We don't need a huge car, only 4 of us.

2) I am wondering if it's worth it to rent a car for 5 days and drop it off when we get to Anaheim. Then, pick up a new one in Anaheim, when we are departing, and drop it in LA, after we use it for our LA stay. We are arriving at DLR on a Friday and departing on a Sunday. We are staying at Candy Cane Inn and plan to walk everywhere. Almost all of our waking moments will be spent in a park so I don't see us needing a car at all in Anaheim. Does this sound crazy? Is it worth the cost saving?

I appreciate any feedback/help. We are getting rates of over $900 for this time period. seems nuts to me.

What day are you looking to pick up the car? Is it on a Friday or Sat? Does the hotel's you are staying at charge for parking the car? Will all your luggage fit in a car for 4 people?

 

[ImDMous]

The end of July in San Diego is Comic Con and while most attendees don't need a car, I could see how it could bump up prices for everything tourism related. It's a huge influx of visitors and by far the most profits places see all year. Do you need the car the whole time you're in town? I know it would be a clerical nightmare but it might be cheaper to just rent the days you need it. If you are staying anywhere near downtown, traffic and parking fees will only add to your expense.

 

[Dduckmom]

I don't know how to do the "quote" thing so I am just replying to the questions that people have asked. First, thankfully, we arrive in SD on the day that Comic Con is ending. We didn't check this ahead of time and are grateful that we don't overlap.
We are picking up the car on a Sunday. The hotel we currently have in San Diego does not charge for parking. Good question about the luggage. Between myself and 2 teenage girls, there is quite a bit of overpacking that usually occurs. We probably need a midsize car.
As far as whether we would need a car every day, I can't say for sure. But, I don't want to limit what we are able to see if we don't have access to the car every day so I think I would prefer to pay the price and be able to go wherever we want. Only time I would not use it is when we are in Anaheim.
Thanks for your thoughtful replies/questions.

 

[MermaidMommy]

We had a similar problem with sky-high rates in late July/early August for a one-way rental from San Francisco to LA. After lots and lots of looking, I finally found a good rate through Last Minute Travel (recommended on the boards) for $243 for a week - around five hundred dollars or so cheaper than anything else I could find.

You can usually find a discount code so you don't have to pay the $50 membership fee. Their website is lmtclub dot com.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I was looking at Avis as well and saw a good rate, I would keep checking all the rental places from the airport. I see you can get a little cheaper rate. Just make sure your luggage fits. We got a pit cruiser once and it was a tight fit for just the two of us.