![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Oh Canada, fair enough. I am using Avis for Canada too.
Note that in Canada it isn't zero excess.
Road Tripping in the USA!
- Thread starter [TW]Fox
- Start date
Oh Canada, fair enough. I am using Avis for Canada too.
Note that in Canada it isn't zero excess.
I wouldn't use them, the Enterprise brand is more aimed at local rentals and insurance replacements etc, they tend to get the cars moved out of the Alamo and National fleets (same firm).
There are thousands and thousands of hotels within that area, rates change constantly so what was a good buy for somebody may not be for somebody else.
Your best bet is to go onto Hotels.com, filter on Guest Rating to only show hotels above a 4.0 rating, set the distance filter to show your max acceptable distance from town and then order by price.
Then go through and pick the one you like the look of with favourable reviews. Hotels can vary so much even within the same establishment by room type and who the staff are at that time so one persons recommendation is nothing like as useful as getting a feel for how the place generally is by flicking through the reviews. Always ignore the outliers - ie 1 star reviews saying it was WORST HOTEL EVAR1111 and 5 star reviews saying OMG TEH BESTEST HOTEL!!£$££3 and just see where the general feel is.
Your best bet is to go onto Hotels.com, filter on Guest Rating to only show hotels above a 4.0 rating, set the distance filter to show your max acceptable distance from town and then order by price.
Then go through and pick the one you like the look of with favourable reviews. Hotels can vary so much even within the same establishment by room type and who the staff are at that time so one persons recommendation is nothing like as useful as getting a feel for how the place generally is by flicking through the reviews. Always ignore the outliers - ie 1 star reviews saying it was WORST HOTEL EVAR1111 and 5 star reviews saying OMG TEH BESTEST HOTEL!!£$££3 and just see where the general feel is.
Thanks Fox, any idea on a location in LA? It’s all so spread out, Hollywood, Downtown, LAX, Korea town, North of Hollywood and Universal. LA doesn’t seem to have a real centre of interest.
I will probably rent a car from LAX when we land as opposed to 3 days later when we head to SD. I'm not sure how well connected LA's public transport is.
I will probably rent a car from LAX when we land as opposed to 3 days later when we head to SD. I'm not sure how well connected LA's public transport is.
we couldnt find any central hotels in SF with free parking.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn San Francisco - Golden Gateway, on Van Ness. Has its own car park which we paid for and the room was pleasant. Wouldn't bother with breakfast however.
its at the end of a tram line going to the financial district and we got the bus to fishermans wharf with no probs.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn San Francisco - Golden Gateway, on Van Ness. Has its own car park which we paid for and the room was pleasant. Wouldn't bother with breakfast however.
its at the end of a tram line going to the financial district and we got the bus to fishermans wharf with no probs.
We found that as LA was so big, you had to drive literally everywhere so we picked a half decent looking place with really good reviews that was about 15-20 minutes away from the 'main' stuff.
Think it was called Jerry's Motel and although it was basic the service was exceptional and I can easily see why everybody gave it great reviews.
Think it was called Jerry's Motel and although it was basic the service was exceptional and I can easily see why everybody gave it great reviews.
Beverly Hills is the "nice" area of LA (among a few others, but BH is the main area to see as a tourist other than Hollywood Bvld)
A nice thing to do is to splash out a little and stay at the Beverly Wilshire on the Rodeo Dr/Wilshire Bvld junction, if nothing else your O/H will love it as she can step right outside and walk up the famous shopping street. Its the hotel/shopping featured on Pretty Woman, its pretty special.
Dont bother with trying to negotiate public transport in LA, its a giant sprawl of a city with large roads, and parking absolutely everywhere.
A nice thing to do is to splash out a little and stay at the Beverly Wilshire on the Rodeo Dr/Wilshire Bvld junction, if nothing else your O/H will love it as she can step right outside and walk up the famous shopping street. Its the hotel/shopping featured on Pretty Woman, its pretty special.
Dont bother with trying to negotiate public transport in LA, its a giant sprawl of a city with large roads, and parking absolutely everywhere.
Signed up as an Alamo Insider and checked prices. A 'Mustang or similar' for between 20/09 to 04/10 comes in at $487.10, then 12% off via Quidco; £300.93 in total - which seems fairly cheap?
Fox - how often do Alamo vouchers pop up? I've signed up to receive offers etc via email.
Edit - same rental is £544.12 on Alamo UK, so £478 after Quidco discount. Why is it more expensive? I can only assume insurance of some kind?
Fox - how often do Alamo vouchers pop up? I've signed up to receive offers etc via email.
Edit - same rental is £544.12 on Alamo UK, so £478 after Quidco discount. Why is it more expensive? I can only assume insurance of some kind?
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The USA price is exclusive of any CDW etc as most Americans have it through credit cards or car insurance. Once you add it on, which you have to, the price will be much much higher. It never ever beats going through the UK website. As a result the Insiders programme is of no value for UK residents.
Try virgin Atlantic car hire too. They use Alamo and are fully inclusive and often cheaper than going direct.
Try virgin Atlantic car hire too. They use Alamo and are fully inclusive and often cheaper than going direct.
Quick question for the rental car bods. Is Hertz Loss Damage Waiver the same as CDW? I want the "return it into the storefront at 50mph and it won't cost a dime" cover.
Here's what it says:
Also, has anyone had experience with renting the T6 category (Yukon or similar) from Hertz? I don't want anything smaller. We are arriving late at night and previous experience with other rental firms suggests that the booked category is often gone due to them selling upgrades earlier in the day.
Here's what it says:
Also, has anyone had experience with renting the T6 category (Yukon or similar) from Hertz? I don't want anything smaller. We are arriving late at night and previous experience with other rental firms suggests that the booked category is often gone due to them selling upgrades earlier in the day.
[TW]Fox;29119563 said:
Hertz were the only one I could find who could guarantee a Yukon/Suburban sized vehicle with their T6 category. From what I could see, the rest had the Tahoe/Cherokee size lumped in. Any other time I'd be happy with a Tahoe but I need the extra size this time and didn't want to chance it. It's a shame because it was a fair chunk more expensive.
The Tahoe and the Yukon are the same size (They are actually the same car but different badges).
The Suburban is a stretched Tahoe and you will need a Yukon XL as the equivalent to that.
The Cherokee isn't classified the same as the Tahoe or the Yukon as it is not considered a full size SUV. I believe Alamo refer to the full size class as Tahoe or similar. Never seen anything smaller than a Tahoe in the full size suv aisle.
The Suburban is a stretched Tahoe and you will need a Yukon XL as the equivalent to that.
The Cherokee isn't classified the same as the Tahoe or the Yukon as it is not considered a full size SUV. I believe Alamo refer to the full size class as Tahoe or similar. Never seen anything smaller than a Tahoe in the full size suv aisle.
Flights to LAX booked, £420 each 
Rough route, 1500 miles over 3 weeks;
Google Maps Link
Also got Boston --> NYC --> Washington booked next month, but that's via train so no driving!
Rough route, 1500 miles over 3 weeks;
Google Maps Link
Also got Boston --> NYC --> Washington booked next month, but that's via train so no driving!