Road Tripping in the USA!

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
 
Thanks Fox - my trip does have San Diego in there too!

Good point about the coastal highway. Something about the anti-clockwise route seems to make more sense now.
 
DaveyD said:
anti-clockwise (LA => SD => LV => DV => Yos => SF => LA) be a better choice?
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Most people seem to do it this way, I'm not 100% sure why. But for me I'd want to keep the PCH drive to last. And I'd also want to be on the correct side of it, so there wasn't traffic blocking my views, and it would also be easier to pull over to stop and take photos and stretch the legs being on the coast side.
 
[TW]Fox;27226865 said:
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.
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Sixt was one of the cheaper quotes that came up when using www.Holidayautos.com though strangely enough it's now listing Budget rather than Sixt (unless is was another site I used that listed Sixt).

Collect 25/1 from 17:30 onwards with return 8/2 by 17:30
Budget = £205.30 Economy and £213.28 Compact
Alamo = £228.33 Economy and £232.47 Compact
Dollar = £216.81 Economy and £232.47 Compact
Thrifty = £216.81 Economy and £232.47 Compact
Avis = £233.65 Economy and £247.83 Compact
National = £239.28 Economy and £242.71 Compact
 
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Go through the rental firms direct, often the prices are no different.

I used Budget once - never again. Worst rental experience I've had.
 
Will probably sort out the booking at the weekend or after 6th December.

Used Hertz when I went to Austin for the F1 GP last November. Booked through KLM and price was good.
 
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.
 
Yes, I did understand. The only places I have looked have been through .co.uk or equivalent comparison sites in the UK.

My team leader at work suggested the HolidayAutos website.
 
Just to chime in, anti-clockwise is definitely better for the California trip - LA to San Diego is an easy freeway drive so the only reason IMHO to stop or detour is to come off the freeway within the last 20-30 miles and check out the little surf towns like Encinitas and drive into SD through Torrey Pines instead of I-5 - otherwise you are just fighting traffic around Newport, Long Beach etc. Use the extra night to break up the SF -> LA drive, the usual stops are Monterey (Carmel is nice to visit but hugely more expensive to stay), San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
 
Still need to book my hire car for January.

Fox, what are those third party insurance companies that you've mentioned for CDW insurance?
 
Making some more progress with my trip planning. :)

So far I've booked:

- flights to San Francisco (Virgin Atlantic premium economy)
- travel insurance
-airport parking (will need to change the reg, as the car I will be using hasnt been built yet, let alone registered)
- 3 nights in San Francisco
- rental car - Alamo "Luxury - Cadillac ATS or similar". I will push for an ATS as I really want to try one. Will pick up the car after the 3 nights in SF.

I think I will leave much of the rest of the bookings for a later date, although I do have a plan in place with hotels identified already.

Also just started using Quidco - the amounts are starting to add up!

This thread has helped a bit, so thanks for all the contributions. :)
 
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.
 
[TW]Fox;27430116 said:
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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Going in June. The difference in flights was more than offset by 3 days less car hire and parking. No need to have a car in SF. :)

Sounds like I will need to cross my fingers for an ATS then!
 
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.
 
If I end up with the 2.5 I will have precisely half the horsepower and half the cylinders of the last car we had over there! :p. We won't go through LA until later in the holiday, but Vegas is fairly early on so might try to swap it there if necessary.
 
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