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How to rent a car (and roadtrip in California)
BuckminsterFullerene
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
This coming August, my friends and I will be road tripping in California. The plan is to fly into L.A. on the 1st and leave on the 30th. We want to rent a single car and split the cost between the 6 of us (we won't always be six so it will be bearable).
We are from the UK, so booking a car in the US seems quite daunting because of the the many options and variables. There seem to be a million sites, but few of them declaring what is included in the displayed price so it makes it hard to compare. If we want to book a minivan in August, what is the best way to go about this? I've heard about Priceline and Hotwire. Are these the best sites to get a competitive rate or will it always be cheaper to haggle at the location? How much insurance is worth getting? P.S. the oldest person is 23 so I assume some surcharges will apply.
Also welcome are any suggestions about road tripping in California/Nevada in general.
We are from the UK, so booking a car in the US seems quite daunting because of the the many options and variables. There seem to be a million sites, but few of them declaring what is included in the displayed price so it makes it hard to compare. If we want to book a minivan in August, what is the best way to go about this? I've heard about Priceline and Hotwire. Are these the best sites to get a competitive rate or will it always be cheaper to haggle at the location? How much insurance is worth getting? P.S. the oldest person is 23 so I assume some surcharges will apply.
Also welcome are any suggestions about road tripping in California/Nevada in general.
BuckminsterFullerene on
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You're probably not going to get to be particularly picky about price.
Call Hertz, Thrifty or Enterprise and explain that you're from the UK, that you're all under 25, that you'll need a minivan from 1-30 Aug and that you plan on starting in California and driving from LA to Nevada, or wherever. Don't lie, lying is stupid and will probably result in you having no transportation once you arrive.
And you'll probably end up spending a LOT of money on this. Me, being 30 and with an excellent driving record, a US license and Hertz Gold membership would be paying about $3000 for a month of a minivan rental. You guys being out of country and underage will definitely be more expensive than that.
Last thing - BOOK SOON. Minivans are very limited quantity as they're the preferred travel option for families, so you'll want to book ASAP to get a guaranteed vehicle.
The only thing I am still unsure about is how priceline.com works. Many people swear by it because you can "bid" on a car and get lucky. Does anyone have experience with this? Does it include insurance in the price or could I add it afterwards?
I don't know about Priceline for renting a car but I booked a big asian trip on there and it was great until everything was said and done. Once we got back we discovered Priceline had signed us up for all this shit. Free shit, not so free shit, and other misc. shit. We had to call a shitload of different numbers to sort through the mess and get our names off these lists. I don't know if they'll fuck you like that for renting a car, but I wouldn't try it. I'll never go back to that website again.
Shogun Streams Vidya
Insurance, registration, questionable reliability, and the headaches associated with being a foreigner and doing all that?
They did it in Top Gear. The registration wouldn't be a problem as long as they weren't using the van more than 30 days. The insurance however would have to be a consideration. The questionable reliability is what would make the ordeal interesting.
Shogun Streams Vidya
Who were probably Americans for that particular shenanigans
I've never been there, but I hear that it's really nifty.
I have done is as a passenger with my Dad (I live in CA now, but am a Brit like yourself).
Road-tripping California is easy (once you get the car). You generally only have to worry about finding the right highway, then you point your car and go. Even if you get lost, most roads lead to a discernable highway and you can navigate from there.
The only advice I really would give is:
a) Have someone who can read a goddamn map as the navigator
b) Make sure you have a map (should be free ones at the rental place)
c) Try and pick a hybrid... gas is cheap in comparison to the UK, but the savings when road-tripping can be significant
d) Have a plan before you leave the UK
e) Don't be intimidated by 4, 5 or even 6 lane highways (you will find these in LA). When in doubt, stay in the outer lane + 1. The +1 means people won't merge into you, and you won't accidentally end up in an Exit Only lane (these lanes force you to leave the highway if you are on them too long). On-ramps in CA can be horribly small, and some I have found to be terrifying, both to use and to drive past. While you should technically be in the most outer lane, like in Blighty, most Californians don't do that, and you're not going to get a ticket for it. It will help you stay chill.
f) Watch your speed. It's easy to go fast on straight, wide highways and get a ticket. Most highways are 65mph, but be on the lookout for speed signs, the speeds on different stretches of the same highway can vary.
g) Pack plenty of water, especially when heading out to Las Vegas. It's not scary, but it is a real, honest to God desert, and if something bad happens, you don't want it to spiral out of control if you have no water. You will need lots of water anyway, August will be bloody hot. Don't go out and about between 1 and 3PM. You will make yourself sick.
h) You won't get to haggle the price for a rental car. Most rental places have offered my Dad an upgraded car to the one he ordered for free, but the price is the same. As you're under 25, I wouldn't bank on that. However, last time he came in they just said "the keys are in the vehicles, so just take whichever one you want." Which was pretty neat.
Looks like I did have a lot of advice...
If you have the time, don't take the I-5 between San Francisco and LA for one of the directions. CA-1 is a beautiful road, but will take two days if you aren't gunning it. You could visit Hearst Castle, and stay there or Big Sur or whatever tickles your fancy. Other possible locations to visit: SF, LA, LV, Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Napa Valley (if you like wine)
EDIT: Oh, and try and avoiding driving in San Francisco city center if you don't have a GPS. People drive aggressively, the blocks are quite small so it can be hard to navigate on-the-fly quickly enough, and the one-way systems will catch you out.
Again, thanks for all the great advice. I would be very interested to hear what car company that was from. I think the biggest problem now is finding someone that will let us rent a Minovan for 5 and a half people to someone 23 years old. I understand about all the surcharges, but since we split it 6 ways it will be manageable. Otherwise I am not sure what we would do (we started off only being 3-4 passengers, but several people tagged on). I am wondering how much the difference between renting two small cars and one minivan would be. With all the surcharges and insurance it makes it very difficult to efficiently compare prices across a range of options.
You pretty much NEED a car in California from what I understand. Not many other options to get around and see the place.
If you can, rent at an off airport location. It is slightly inconvenient picking up and dropping off the car, but the airport locations have additional fees associated with having a on airport location counter/bus. Normally it's an only an extra few dollars per day but for a month long rental it may add up to quite a bit.
You might also want to consider renting two cars. A minivan/suv commands quite a premium price ($30-$40 per day) and there are often very good deals on cars ($10-12 day). keep in mind you will be paying for gas for two cars (but they will get better mileage)
I have had good luck with priceline for flights and cars. You bid how much you want to pay per day (excluding taxes and fees), check the under 25 years old box and then you will see a summary of the total rental costs (now with taxes and fees) before finally submitting your bid. If it is accepted they charge your credit card immediately. If the bid is rejected you have to wait 24 hours before bidding on the same car class for the same rental period. Hotwire is good for getting an idea what the going rate is. They operate the same way, in that you do not know what company you are renting from until your credit card is charged. You will be able to add drivers and insurance when you pick up the car. I'm not sure if this is the best route for you because your group is underage and you likely want multiple drivers registered. You won't know the all the extra drivers, and insurance fees associated with the rental company until you have already committed to them.
Not sure what problems Shogun had with priceline, I think that was a secondary offer from an outside company that sometimes shows up as you go through the checkout process, and you just have to decline the "trial offer" or click "no thanks".
American Express has a nice car rental insurance product. it's one small fee for up to 42 days of coverage. The page I linked is for US residents, don't know if they have a similar program for UK residents.
The drive south from San Francisco to LA on the Pacific Coast Highway is amazing and I highly recommend it.
They simply bought a car and drove to Cali and sold it there.
I imagine if you're renting a car around 3k you can buy a very decent one for cheaper.
(Personally I've never spent more then 1.2k on a car)
The problem is that the car rental places are going to make you pay for insurance and the underage surcharge 6 times a day. That's what is going to make this expensive. All the rental places I skimmed through are already sold out on minivans and wont rent the larger vans to anyone under 25. That pretty much leaves either an suv or 2 compact cars.
Buying a GPS unit outright will probably be a better deal than renting one from the car rental. If you or someone else has one, you can buy a North American Roads CD or d/l and just being the unit with you. Here's Garmin's map page for example.
Priceline can save you some money; the bidding thing works better the closer you are to your trip date, but since you need a larger car/van, I wouldn't wait much past July. Maybe call/email one of the companies and ask how quick their vans go during August. They have a thousand "small" yank tanks to rent, but less SUVs/vans.
All the sites (Hertz, Enterprise, National/Dollar) will have descriptions of the cars so you can see what you need. I would guess one in the Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban-size. California may have extra taxes (see a pattern here?) for bigger vehicles too for pollution laws; CA residents?
I have used mine extensively in the past year.
They are especially useful once you've gotten to your hotel/destination and want to go to the mall, or go sightseeing, or just want to go somewhere spur of the moment. When I was in DC and a mall I used mine to get to some restaurants after we were already there. And then when I head down to Seaside Park in NJ, I use it to find my way back once we go exploring. That is their best use, but they're also fantastic for navigating to a place too.
If you can, get a TomTom. In my experience, they're the best GPS units.
Yep.