Road Tripping in the USA!

Why are you trying to pick between those specifically? IMHO unless you have specialist rental interests (Sixt is good for German cars) then Avis, Hertz and Alamo/National are all better and they are usually around the same price. With a standard rental I would favour Alamo/National as you get to pick your car from the reserved priced.

Be warned with SIXT, they have some bonkers geographical restrictions meaning you can't take the car out of California, Washington, Arizona or Nevada.
 
LA is the best start because it's generally cheaper to get to - there are many more direct flights to LA than there are to SF which keeps prices lower. At the moment with no particular sales on that difference might not be noticeable but once airlines start doing offers it is common to see LA from under £500 with SF nowhere near.

So if you are going to drive through LA anyway there is simply no credible reason to fly to SF instead.

Your route is the same as mine was (Though we also did San Diego). We went anti clockwise from LA as it means you drive down the Pacific Coast Highway which means all the view is on your side of the road and it's far easier to randomly stop for photos with zero notice :p
 
Go through the rental firms direct, often the prices are no different.

I used Budget once - never again. Worst rental experience I've had.
 
By direct I mean the UK websites - its very important you only book through the UK websites as you'll get a far better price and all the insurance you need included.
 
The rental facility at SFO is fairly terrible for Luxury cars so you might be in for a hard time trying to get an ATS there. Olly on here has tried several times and never managed it yet. For future reference you'd have been better starting/finishing at LAX - flights are cheaper too.

But don't worry too much because if they don't have an ATS there almost certainly will have one at LAX so you can just call in and swap the car over there.

Careful you don't get the joker in the luxury pack, the Volvo S60. Not joking - I almost had one last year! If they try it insist on an ATS, if they've got one you should absolutely get it as it's one of the few 'Luxury' cars that actually is in the LCAR category (Quite a lot of the other stuff, like the Volvo's, BMW's etc are GXAR).

When are you going? I'm desperate to start booking mine but it's not till September so the flights are all still bonkers money :(
 
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Zico said:
Still need to book my hire car for January.

Fox, what are those third party insurance companies that you've mentioned for CDW insurance?
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You don't need it for the US if you book your car from the UK direct with a decent firm or via a reputable broker as they are fully inclusive and include zero excess as standard with no additional insurance required.
 
I've had one two years running so hopefully you'll be lucky too. IMHO it's a great rental.

If you get a choice of more than 1 make sure you get a 2.0T not the dire 2.5.
 
Joe T said:
Let's hope I get the chance to be that picky! :D
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Annoyingly I've not had that chance - the main USP of National/Alamo is that you pick your own car from the lineup in your reserved class. But not for years have I actually been able to do that with a Luxury reservation - each time they've only had one car anyway.
 
I am going to exactly the same place in September and I've not booked flights yet as I don't think there is any need to pay the £700+ fares currently being asked. I'll hold out for a £500ish fare until June or July and if nothing turns up I guess I'll cough up.

If you fly from Dublin instead of London you can fly via LHR for £400in September on either BA or Virgin. Potentially worth a Ryanair flight to Dublin...

The headline Norwegian fares are annoying as they ruin low price alerts on Skyscanner because you only pay £500 if you want to travel with a carryon, eat no food and have no allocated seat. So really you need to add a pile more cash on.
 
The UK APD is 70 quid, annoying but not insane and not the reason why there is a huge difference.

Essentially the airlines charge what they think we will pay so we get ripped off with pathetic 700 quid economy fares whilst those from other EU cities sit on the same plane for half the price.
 
tigerstyle said:
Years ago I did www.insurance4carhire.com is this still the best/required?
Both groups not looking to overpay on unnecessary insurance for example.
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Not required - book the rental from the UK through a reputable UK broker (My current recommendation is Virginholidays.co.uk) or with the rental firm direct and all insurance is included with zero excess.

Group one: 17th June- 19th June
Collect - San Francisco
Return - Los Angeles
Car required: Small/Medium
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Small cars are shocking value, just rent a fullsize for likely the same price.

Group two: 8th September - 28th September
Collect: Chicago
Return: El Cajon/San Diego
Car required: Mini SUV/ Rav4?

Is the distance for group two going to be a real killer? Anyway around this?
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You will likely be hit with a 500 USD one way fee on that rental. Unless you have specific need to do this route I wouldn't bother. I suspect this the totally clichéd arbitrary 'Must do Route 66' box ticking exercise. Out of Chicago you've got 2-3 days of nothing before you reach interesting scenery anyway, you'd be far better focusing the trip on things worth seeing rather than box ticking routes.

Almost all of the good bits on that route start from when you hit Colorado and continue through to California. It's what I'm doing this year over pretty much the same timescale - so consider a loop-style trip taking in the great areas between California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. You'll see far more and spend less.
 
Start from San Francisco, drive across to Salt Lake city then to Denver then pick up 66 stuff back down towards California. No one way fee for rentals between cities in California, Nevada and Arizona and no dull bits.
 
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I was trying to think of an alternative to starting from Chicago, there isn't time for everything and chucking the PCH into a route out as far as Denver is imho too much in 3 weeks.
 
shrek2 said:
I use Google flight search which does let you do multi city and flying from Copenhagen to Dulles to Honolulu to Lax and back to Copenhagen in £700. Doing it from any UK airport is well over a thousand. Does anyone know if hire companies will be renting out the new mustang in September?
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Yes, the new Mustang is already on fleets and has been since late last year. The more time passes the more old Mustangs go off fleet, before long it will be entirely new Mustang.
 
Peerzy said:
Is there an easy way to find out what cars are likely to be at your rental place? Obviously I'm wondering if Alamo will have the new Mustang in Seattle on the 29th July :D
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Not really, it's luck of the draw but I'd imagine your chances are good.

Lethal` said:
Where's the plan for your next trip?
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Los Angeles > Vegas > Zion/Bryce > Salt Lake City > Arches/Moab/Canyonlands > Denver > Pikes Peak > Random Colorado > New Mexico > Monument Valley > Phoenix > Palm Springs > LA.

It's subject to change as I'm still working it out but the flights and car are booked :)
 
Blackhawk47 said:
The idea of a american road trip appeals to me but is it really necessary to plan your holiday via a excel spreadsheet?
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How else do you suggest you put together a 2-4 week trip with as many as 20 different hotel stays :confused:

You can just randomly turn up places and book as you go - I tend to do this to leave the last few days or so open - but if you don't plan to some extent you'll miss stuff and end up driving within a few miles of really great stuff without realising, etc etc.

It's therefore perfectly logical to have some sort of plan - especially if you like to prebook accommodation before you go to ensure availability and make sure you stay in decent places.
 
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