Renting a car question

[goalie5hole]

Hi all,
I'm going to Cali in August and renting a car from LAX. I'm going to spend a few days in the Hollywood area then drive to Disneyland. Any suggestions on the best rental car company and/or where to return the car around Disneyland as I will be taking a shuttle back to the airport. Thanks

 

[sherilaine]

I think the closest rental car location to Disneyland is Alamo.

However, whichever rental agency you book with, make sure you sign up for their frequent rental program - even if you do not rent cars frequently - as most of them provide some 'front of the line' type pick up service.

We always rent from Budget that we book through Costco and we have the Fastbreak which allows us to stop at the Fastbreak booth, look up which aisle and # our car is parked, get in and drive to the exit where I provide my license and credit card and about a minute later drive away. It saves a LOT of time with pick up. It only takes a few minutes to sign up for any program like this and it could prevent you from waiting in a long line.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Check Mousesavers.com, too, for any coupons or deals on car rentals. Some people use Priceline for car rentals. Friends of ours paid $11/day for a car (a nice economy level) for their DLR trip. Enterprise is in the Hilton.

This is from another thread (HT: Webmaster MaryJo):
If you want flexibility there are several rental car agencies around Disneyland.
Alamo in Downtown Disney
Enterprise 231 W Katella
Avis 200 W Katella
Budget 200 W Katella
Hertz 2150 E Katella

 

[StormyCA]

Due to the upcoming DTD construction my understanding is that the DTD Alamo will be closed starting sometime in June, but do double check. There is another one nearby.

Also, be sure that you check on 'one way rental' surcharges if you aren't returning to the same location. Many of them don't appear on the websites when you are looking at estimates. Surcharge can be as high as $200.00 to drop off at a different location.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Due to the upcoming DTD construction my understanding is that the DTD Alamo will be closed starting sometime in June, but do double check. There is another one nearby...

Someone posted in another thread that the DTD Alamo office will be moving to the PPH in June.

 

[CalgaryTroy]

I second the recommendation to sign up for a loyalty program. I joined Dollar Express years ago and love walking by the huge line ups to jump straight into a car and drive away ( stopping along the way ofcourse to verify everything )

 

[hlbtimes2]

I almost always rent thru Costco travel. They have great prices! And you can use autoslash .com and it will track and see if a better rate becomes available. As others have said, be sure to check the surcharge to drop at a place other than where you picked the car up. I've found its typically cost prohibitive, and I'm better off just keeping the car extra days and returning to the airport.

 

[BlueFairy]

Hertz is free to join their rewards program. it lets you skip the counter. We have used Hertz for a one way rental, dropping in Anaheim before. The desk is at the convention center. We'll be doing the same again in a couple of weeks. I haven't found their one way fees to be outrageous, but you do have to be careful with that. We do not find they have hidden fees. What we see on our reservation is what we pay. Tolls being the exception of course. I don't remember how tolls are in LA.

 

[dina444444]

Hertz is free to join their rewards program. it lets you skip the counter. We have used Hertz for a one way rental, dropping in Anaheim before. The desk is at the convention center. We'll be doing the same again in a couple of weeks. I haven't found their one way fees to be outrageous, but you do have to be careful with that. We do not find they have hidden fees. What we see on our reservation is what we pay. Tolls being the exception of course. I don't remember how tolls are in LA.

You won’t encounter any toll roads really in LA. We don’t have many and there are easy work around to avoid them.

 

[skuttle]

I think the closest rental car location to Disneyland is Alamo.

However, whichever rental agency you book with, make sure you sign up for their frequent rental program - even if you do not rent cars frequently - as most of them provide some 'front of the line' type pick up service.

We always rent from Budget that we book through Costco and we have the Fastbreak which allows us to stop at the Fastbreak booth, look up which aisle and # our car is parked, get in and drive to the exit where I provide my license and credit card and about a minute later drive away. It saves a LOT of time with pick up. It only takes a few minutes to sign up for any program like this and it could prevent you from waiting in a long line.

We booked through Budget through Costco. I signed up for the Budget Fastbreak thing. SO I can use that with the costco booking? We are picking up at LAX and dropping off in Anaheim.

 

[goalie5hole]

Thank you all for the information