Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Car Rental

My wife and I were lucky enough to get an overnight permit with a July 25th entry date. We are planning to fly into LAX on the 21st and fly back to ATL on the 30th. We need to rent a car so that we can get a glimpse at Yosemite and Sequoia NP while we're there. Any suggestions for a low-cost rental?

I've never rented in this area, but in other states, I just get on the internet and check out the various rental companies.

Seems like they are all quite similarly priced. Maybe our out-of-state regulars here have some favorites.

The quickest way to get a large volume of rentals to compare at one time is to use Expedia (www.expedia.com). Select CAR (ONLY), enter your dates, and don't enter any preferences. By not entering any preferences you'll get every car rental company near LAX. Be sure to look for a car company that is at the airport or very near to the airport with shuttle service to their rental car lot.

I would choose Expedia first. I would search online and not by phone because you'll get lower rates online.

You may want to research on Expedia and afterwards go directly to the rental car company's website.

Another option is to logon to www.rentalcars.com Rentalcars.com is okay but be sure to read the terms carefully. In Hawaii, I had to pay a non-refundable deposit or the entire rental through rentalcars.com, maybe that's their policy just in Hawaii. I believe I've rented from them on the mainland too, but I don't remember having to pay deposits for mainland rentals.

That's my advice. I'm a Secretary and I make lots of car rental reservations for business and personal use. Of course, for business we have contract rates with many of the car rental companies. If your company doesn't mind you using their discount, then by all means use your company's business account number when making your reservation, just be sure to pay for full insurance because you don't want the rental company to come back on the company you work for in the case where you might have an accident or worse yet...Total the Rental Car. You might put your job in jeopardy.

P.S. Check out the gas prices in California before you rent a car...this information may help you decide on the size of car you want to rent and the amount of gear you have will decide the size you'll need to rent. I drive a car that takes only premium and my last fill-up (last week) cost $4.39/gal. Also, if you drive Hwy. 99 in fog you may be glad you rented a large car because you'll be safer if you get into an accident. The Fresnonians, like Steve C., can tell you if Hwy. 99 gets lots of fog in July. You really don't want to take I-5 to Fresno, the gateway to Yosemite. Hwy 99 is much more scenic.

Have fun and post pictures and your road trip when you return to Georgia.

First, go to LAX Official web site and look under ground transportation. There you'll find a list of rental companies that are permitted to pick-up/drop-off customers from airline terminals. Then do what lynn-a-roo suggests. Like Steve stated, costs are similar.

I have worn myself searching various avenues for the lowest cost for my trip in late June. If you're flying out of ATL, then chances are you'll be on a Delta flight. If you're not already, join Delta's SkyMiles club(free). As a SkyMiles member, I received an email last week where Delta is offering a discount when you rent with Hertz. Unfortunately, it expires prior to your arrival but they send these types of emails out often.

I looked at off-site car rental locations but you still have to get there and back to the airport. Some off-site locations don't offer shuttle service to/from airport so check first. For me, I won't be returning my rental until about 4PM on a Saturday and most off-site locals are closed by then. Since I don't care which rental company I utilize and car type will be the cheapest one, I may go ahead and go the Priceline or Hotwire way.

John, I've always booked through Breezenet.com. By far the best prices you'll find with no financial commitment or cc guarantee. I've done this for about eight years now, usually flying west a couple of times a year to hike, and have been happiest with Dollar Car Rental - their rates are way below Hertz or Avis. and I've never had a problem with one of their vehicles in about 15 experiences.

The thing I like about Breeznet is that you can easily cancel and re-book when better rates appear. Before any trip, to Vegas or LA in particular, I'll reserve, cancel and re-book lower rates 3-4 times in the month prior to leaving.

Vegas has the cheapest rental cars in the US. A weekly car rental in LA will probably run 50% more than Vegas (but not nearly as bad as Frisco or Phoenix). I had a mid-sized SUV out of Vegas a few weeks ago for my Death Valley trip, and paid a rate of $149/wk ($258, after taxes and fees), and that was the most I'd ever paid for a rental out of Vegas in about 9 trips - but I insisted on an SUV this particular trip.

Pay attention to the total price when you're looking at a deal - "taxes and fees" vary widely between companies, and can add 40-75% more in cost. That's another thing I like about Breezenet - they list in descending order of total cost, not just the "rate".

My guess is, if you watch internet deals like Breezenet closely, you'll wind up getting a compact car in LA for (all taxes and fees included) about $300/wk, or maybe a standard size vehicle for $350/wk. I tend to book the smaller vehicles with Dollar - they're almost always out when you arrive, and they have no choice but to upgrade you.

One other piece of advice: when the price of gas rises substantially, car rental rates tend to go down. If gas keeps rising through the summer, watch rental rate deals closely the last two weeks before you leave. You may snag a killer deal at the last minute.

One word of warning: a new rental car company has popped up out west in the past year or so - Fox Car Rental. Avoid like the plague! They'll always have the lowest rates, but their cars (and service) are for the birds.

Very interesting info. Thanks everyone. I'm booking a rental in Michigan next month.

As for the Fresno Fog... we get it mostly in January. Not a chance in July.

We almost always use Travelocity to search for rental cars, and usually end up making the reservation through them also. Very intuitive and easy-to-use. You search results are always ordered by default by lowest cost for each of the car size categories, making it easy to select what you want.

CaT

Having lived in Sanger (Fresno's neighbor), I wouldn't even want to think about 100% humidity (required for fog) on a typical 110-degree July Fresno day!!! Not that such a scenario is even realistically possible, of course.

CaT

Fog? The only "fog" I see in July on the Niner-Niner is when I hit the wipers to remove the bug splat on my windshield!

Niner-Niner more scenic? I have to say that the "Stretch" tween B-field and Frez ain't too scenic unless the smog is gone and you can see the snowcapped Sierra! I wish I had auto-pilot.

This thread is very good information for rental cars. I don't rent cars a lot, but this information is very useful. Thanks to all of you.

I bet ol' Versatile Fred is busy at work on the orientation notes!

Fog in July...that is something to look forward to...

Thanks for all the tips! Right after I posted the question, I found a deal with enterprise rent a car for all 9 days at just under 300 for an economy car including taxes and fees. It is at an off-site location that would require me to take a taxi from the airport but this seems completely worth it since I am in no big hurry and it would be saving me about 150 bucks.

This seems to go against some of the advice I have seen here, so let me know if you guys see any red flags here...thanks!

John, that's not a bad rate, but you may be able to do better if you watch sites like Breezenet, etc., closely between now and then. Most major rental companies at gateway airports offer a free shuttle to and from the rental site. If you stay on this over the coming weeks, I'm sure you can find a similarly good deal with one of the companies that will shuttle you comp. Reserve, find a better deal, cancel, re-reserve!

If you find an exceptionally good deal, be sure to verify that it's unlimited mileage. Some rental companies have been known to offer unbeatable rates, but the fine print doesn't offer free unlimited mileage, which most people expect to be standard nowdays. If you have any plans to leave CA with the car, be sure that the rental terms allow you to take the car into that state. From what I know of your trip, though, this doesn't sound likely.

One other thing - many rentals now come with built-in GPS tracking, whether or not it has a GPS system for driver use. Some rental companies have the GPS systems set up to alert them if the car exceeds X mph over Y period of time. I have a friend who was popped an additional $500 a couple of years ago when he turned his vehicle in (Avis, I believe). Basically, they cashed him out for speeding. When he objected, they pointed out the fine print in the contract which allowed them to do that. These GPS systems can also let the rental companies know if you take the vehicle off-road, which can be another surprising "excessive wear and tear" fee when you turn the car in.

Rental cars at airports always cost more. Airport authorities add extra fees that are then passed on to rental car customers. Those fees don't exist at non-airport locations. The trade-off is a location further away from the airport and a longer shuttle ride.

We have used a number of rental car companies over the years, and more recently, we find ourselves using Enterprise. They often have the best (or very close to best) rates, and unlike other rental car companies, they will come pick you up if needed. Due to their popularity, however, they seem to have longer lines at the check-in counter more frequently.

What size of car did you sign up for with Enterprise, if I may ask?

CaT

I got the best price using hotwire.com last year on my trip to Colorado. They don't give you the name of the rental car company until you book, but who cares. You may also want to consider flying into Ontario, California, which is much closer to the mountain, and is an easier drive. Good luck!

I second docdiamond's suggestion of Ontario. Also look into Inyokern (IYK) which is closer yet. IYK costs more, but will also eliminate anywhere from 2 to 4 hours of travel time each way.

Have used all of the above search engines, but in the past couple of years have found Costco (click on Travel tab) or Hotwire the best deal. Have never been asked for my Costco card at the rental counter, although Enterprise requires you enter the number if you select that option on Costco. I think the last 3 or 4 rentals have been Hotwire. Use Hotwire when you're CERTAIN you're plans won't change, as you pay for the rental upfront, and can't modify it.

Lynn - you could save your company some $$ by switching from Expedia. I used to use them all the time, but they now tend to be spendy.

Also - there seems to be some consolidation in the number of rental companies, so prices are generally higher.

Economy...there are only two of us and we should have plenty of room for gear.

Concur with flying into Ontario.

With Inyokern, even though you save additional driving time compared to ONT or LAX, yet typically (depending on where you are coming from) the additional time spent at the airport between what is most often two or more flights to get you to IYK, could likely nullify any saved driving time. It depends on your itinerary and the length of the layover at your connecting point(s). Also rental car options at IYK are considerably more limited, as is your choice of airlines (I think only United goes there, at least last time I checked). But if all the cards fall in the right order for IYK, and if the price isn't a great deal more (which it usually is), it might be a good option.

Also, until somewhat recently, I had thought flying into Las Vegas would be farther away from Lone Pine than flying into LAX. It's actually about dead even. So flying into Las Vegas would get you not only pretty good air fare (usually) and no L.A. traffic, you also have a good chance (as with LAX) of getting a nonstop flight, as well as a very scenic drive through Death Valley on your way to Lone Pine (which you don't get from LAX -- of course, from either ONT or LAX, you get that wonderful drive up the east slope of the Sierra on 395). However, if going through Death Valley during the intensely hot summer months, make sure your car is in good working order, and you carry extra drinking water, etc., in the event of a car breakdown in the middle of nowhere in 120-130 degree temps.

Re: rental cars, with Travelocity, you get all the major companies for comparison, and you never have to pay up front, and you can cancel your reservation (which is all it is) at any time.

CaT

Kevin, I've looked into that in the past, but the problem I've found in flying out of Atlanta is that Inyokern is only served by United/Sky West, with Continental and American as partners. Any trip from ATL to IYK always seems to involve 2 layovers, and as much as a 13-hour trip each way. It's definitely more expensive, and then there's the nagging issue of rental car selection and rates once you're there (captive audience syndrome).

The last time I ran this possibility - last summer - I found that flying direct to Vegas (or L.A.), grabbing a cheap rental car, and driving to Lone Pine put me there not only ahead of a best-case Atlanta-to-Inyokern scenario, but several hundred dollars cheaper. As Atlanta-Hartsfield is the biggest, busiest airport in the known universe, it's a great convenience to get to almost any major city on the globe direct - but if Delta or AirTran (soon to be Southwest - yay!) doesn't serve a particular secondary or tertiary city, you're screwed. In both time and $$$.

Also, I belive John's goal in flying into and out of the L.A. area is to relax with his wife on the California beaches for a couple of days after a successful Whitney summit!

Don't forget about Burbank Airport. Minutes from I-5 and then another 15/20 minutes to the 14 and then you are on your way. Cuts out all of the LA traffic and the Airport is serviced by a number of airlines. Rental cars are very convenient there too.

I would say "cuts out 'more' or 'most' of the LA traffic", but not 'all', at least not every time. If you're anywhere in the LA basin, you always run the risk of traffic, at any time, and for any (or no) reason.

CaT

You raise some good points. Inyokern has some limiting factors like only one airline (United and its subsidiary SkyWest) and sometimes requires multiple hops. IIRC, car rental places are Dollar, Thrifty and Avis at the airport, and there's an Enterprise in Ridgecrest.

Depending upon where I'm flying, sometimes it's an excellent option; other times not so good. I factor in things like total travel time (to/from airports plus airline travel time), overall costs (airfare, gas for commute, parking fees, car rental costs, tolls, etc, convenience factors) as others do.

The point I wanted to make in my post above is to look into IYK as an option. I flew to this general area several times before realizing that airport even existed. I'd even stay in Ridgecrest, and drive by it, not realizing it was commercial airport but part of the Navy's airbase.

Personally, if I don't use IYK, then I use either Ontario or Las Vegas, but never LAX, Burbank, Long Beach, etc. Las Vegas is a good location for international flights - everyone goes to Las Vegas from around the world, and you can get some good deals. It typically costs the same to fly to Europe from Las Vegas as it does from Boston or New York.