Los Angeles Car Rental from LAX

[hopefulresearch]

I need to rent a car for around 5 days at LAX. Any tips on which car rental company to go for and how I can get some deals? Small car is fine, on a budget.

 

[andylawcc]

i never rent a car at LAX before, so i don't have first hand experience on which one is better. But you can try Orbitz or Travelocity to compare prices.

I did read some horror stories online about renting from no-name company though.

 

[manly]

Welcome to ATOT.

Airport car rental rates can be higher than otherwise.

Costco membership # required: http://www.costcotravel.com/

Costco Travel offered a great rate on a rental at Boston Logan last fall. The car did break down on the highway, but that's another story.

 

[hopefulresearch]

Welcome to ATOT.

Airport car rental rates can be higher than otherwise.

Costco membership # required: http://www.costcotravel.com/

Costco Travel offered a great rate on a rental at Boston Logan last fall. The car did break down on the highway, but that's another story.

I do have Costco membership! Are you suggesting to rent in the city? e.g., take a bus into the city first?

 

[dud]

Ive rented in LA many times both at LAX and Ontario. All rentals (AFAIK) at LAX are off airport. Most agencies have lots in the same general area north of Century Blvd.

For me all of thr companies that I have dealt with are about the same. The only agency I would avoid is Fox.

 

[Vincent]

Maybe give hotwire.com a try

 

[Destiny]

Airport rates differ drastically on which time you pick up and drop off... most of the time they are cheaper than stand alone rentals...

Some companies are owned by the same parent company... Enterprise owns National and Alamo to name a few...

 

[hopefulresearch]

Is $200 for 3 days a good deal? Tax included. But does not include any insurance which is anotehr $27 per day...

 

[NutBucket]

Rentals may already be covered as part of your car insurance. $200 for 3 days seems high IMHO. Keep shopping.

 

[hopefulresearch]

Rentals may already be covered as part of your car insurance. $200 for 3 days seems high IMHO. Keep shopping.

thats the lowest costco price

 

[NutBucket]

what are your travel dates? Did you try priceline?

 

[BillGates]

Hotwire is my favorite also.

 

[mztykal]

I've always rented from Enterprise. It's pretty close and there's always a shuttle from LAX to the rental place at almost all times.

 

[phucheneh]

Even at the airport, someone can walk in and use a coupon/internet deal/whatever to rent something for <50% of what they would otherwise charge you. But you get shafted by extraneous airport fees either way.

I used Travelocity to do a quick search. Three days is $94 for a compact from Hertz if you don't pick up at the airport. 108 for a midsize.

 

[manly]

I do have Costco membership! Are you suggesting to rent in the city? e.g., take a bus into the city first?

no, just be aware the taxes for airport locations are generally higher. dud pointed out that free shuttles take you to off-airport rental agencies, but I believe these are still considered LAX locations.

Any major credit card already includes insurance on the car rental, but only if you decline it from the rental agency. Obviously, you should decline.

I rented from Budget and the rate through Costco Travel was better than any other discount code I could find. Might have been a price error. Too bad they gave me a clunker!

 

[jaedaliu]

Any major credit card already includes insurance on the car rental, but only if you decline it from the rental agency. Obviously, you should decline.

That should read MANY credit cards include insurance. Many also don't. Check with your credit card company.

You just have to do the legwork. Shop some travel sites, go directly to the websites of the different rental companies, and see what you can come up with.

I would not suggest taking a taxi/bus into the city to rent a car. It'll be a huge pain in the butt to pick up, AND drop off the car and take a taxi/bus back.

 

[NutBucket]

That's actually a bad plan in regards to LAX. Its a big enough pain just dealing with that airport in general. I would still rent at the airport but there are better deals out there.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Ive rented in LA many times both at LAX and Ontario. All rentals (AFAIK) at LAX are off airport. Most agencies have lots in the same general area north of Century Blvd.

For me all of thr companies that I have dealt with are about the same. The only agency I would avoid is Fox.

:thumbsup: This. Go with the one with the best rates.

I tend to rent from Enterprise or Hertz mostly.

 

[hopefulresearch]

:thumbsup: This. Go with the one with the best rates.

I tend to rent from Enterprise or Hertz mostly.

I tried hotwire.com and enterprise.com. Both are more expensive than Costco for LAX. However, if I choose a place inside LA (ie. not LAX) its 1/2 the price. Does this mean I should somehow find a way to bus inside the city to the car rental place first?

 

[NutBucket]

Tell us where the location is and I can try to help you with ease of public transit.

 

[bigrash]

I've rented from LAX many times. Normally I go with kayak or hotwire. Whichever rental company is cheapest what I book.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I tried hotwire.com and enterprise.com. Both are more expensive than Costco for LAX. However, if I choose a place inside LA (ie. not LAX) its 1/2 the price. Does this mean I should somehow find a way to bus inside the city to the car rental place first?

Public transportation in Los Angeles is a joke. You are paying for the convenience really. For such a short stay I would spend the money and go with the airport rental locations.

A few years ago I flew to Norfolk on a Friday night and rented a car to drive 3+ hours down to the outer banks of NC. No freaking way I would have tried renting from anywhere but the airport.

 

[hans007]

i rented from here once...
https://www.atwest-rentacar.com/

if you just want "A CAR" it can be cheap. if you are cool with a non big name rental car company with older cars this is what a lot of people do (i had a coworker rent from one of these type of places for months while he didnt want to actually buy a new car yet)

one noteable thing about this place is its the only place my friend and i could find that had a manual transmission car ( a 6 speed miata) that we could beat on to learn how to drive stick well.

the cars are not particularly new (the miata which is still on there was a 2005 i think , NB model) but it is relatively cheap.

the economy car is like $140 for a whole week. the insurance is optional... i only rented the miata for a day for $70 and the insurance was like $8 i think (though i was over 30 , so i'm assuming pricing is different depending on your age). i declined it as my normal insurance would handle it.

 

[geecee]

I was just in LA two weeks ago over memorial day weekend. I rented a compact (Chevy Sonic, I believe) from Alamo for 5 days for about $200, reserved a week before. So I think your price for 3 days is a bit high.

I checked Dollar, Alamo, Budget and Hertz, and I think they were all within $25-30 of each other for that car class. I would recommend joining the car rental company's insider program (usually free, was for Alamo, and Alamo gives a 10% discount to their insiders as well), and check the rates at their individual sites, which are sometimes better than the travel sites (i.e. Expedia, Travelocity). One of them, Dollar I think, even ran a "Wild Card" special, which guaranteed you a car up to midsize (could be any class below though) for a discounted price, so shop around a bit more.

LAX, as others have indicated, have all their rental car sites off airport, but the rental shuttles run pretty regularly (separate one for each company), and it shouldn't take you more than 15-20 mins or so (including wait for a shuttle). Alamo & National are owned by the same company, and were in the same place. I also liked Alamo because they had these self checkout kiosks where you didn't have to wait in line for a rep. Also, I used my Amex card to rent as I know it has insurance that covers any liability that my own personal insurance doesn't, up to $25K, I believe.

Also, you might just want to rent the smallest (i.e. cheapest) car that the rental car company has. You will often not end up with that car, as the last 3-4 times I've reserved the economy car, I always ended up with something bigger. Just be prepared though that you might actually get the smallest car. Additionally, check around online for coupon codes. A lot of the rental companies give weekend, and/or weekly discounts with a code.

 

[hopefulresearch]

I was just in LA two weeks ago over memorial day weekend. I rented a compact (Chevy Sonic, I believe) from Alamo for 5 days for about $200, reserved a week before. So I think your price for 3 days is a bit high.

I checked Dollar, Alamo, Budget and Hertz, and I think they were all within $25-30 of each other for that car class. I would recommend joining the car rental company's insider program (usually free, was for Alamo, and Alamo gives a 10% discount to their insiders as well), and check the rates at their individual sites, which are sometimes better than the travel sites (i.e. Expedia, Travelocity). One of them, Dollar I think, even ran a "Wild Card" special, which guaranteed you a car up to midsize (could be any class below though) for a discounted price, so shop around a bit more.

LAX, as others have indicated, have all their rental car sites off airport, but the rental shuttles run pretty regularly (separate one for each company), and it shouldn't take you more than 15-20 mins or so (including wait for a shuttle). Alamo & National are owned by the same company, and were in the same place. I also liked Alamo because they had these self checkout kiosks where you didn't have to wait in line for a rep. Also, I used my Amex card to rent as I know it has insurance that covers any liability that my own personal insurance doesn't, up to $25K, I believe.

Also, you might just want to rent the smallest (i.e. cheapest) car that the rental car company has. You will often not end up with that car, as the last 3-4 times I've reserved the economy car, I always ended up with something bigger. Just be prepared though that you might actually get the smallest car. Additionally, check around online for coupon codes. A lot of the rental companies give weekend, and/or weekly discounts with a code.

Cheapest I could find was $150 for the 3 days and then add another $50 for tax. So $200 for 3 days, this is renting at the LAX airport. If I rent at the city, I found cheaper by around $50.

This was the cheapest car.


I need the car at LAX for Aug-12 (morning) to Aug-15 (return later in the afternoon, early evening).