Los Angeles Travel Forum

Hi
I am planning a holiday in California in August and want to rent a car when I arrive at LAX airport.
However browsing the usual car hire companies (Hertz, Budget,...) I got confused.
A quote from Hertz for 3 weeks with pick-up at the airport will cost me around $900. When I change the pickup location to a hotel branch in the city (Century City), the price drops to $570 for the same car and same period.
The difference is a "Hotel concession fee recovery" for the hotel and "airport concession fee recovery" for LAX. And there is a "Customer facility charge" included at LAX and not at the hotel. Could this make such a big difference?
Are there some other hidden charges that I am missing and will be charged later?
Any information and advice on this is more than welcome.

A lot of airports charge fees for rental cars (I remember Chicago's O'Hare having terrible fees!) because of the cost for them to be at the airport. They pass that cost onto you, unfortunately, but there shouldn't be any "hidden" fees - they should tell you exactly how much it will cost.
Since there is such a big difference between the airport and the hotel, I'd call and confirm that with the rental company first (and speak to a real human being to make sure) and then go with the hotel if it is still that much cheaper. There are shuttle buses you can hire to take you from the airport to the hotel that won't cost too much. If you search LAX shuttles you should find a list of them. I know one is called Primetime Shuttle and, I think, another is called Express Shuttle or AirExpress Shuttle, something like that.
If you call ahead and make a reservation they will be waiting for you when you get off the plane. You don't have to make a reservation but you'll wait longer if you don't because you'll just have to find a shuttle that has room for you and that could take a while, esp. in August when it's a busier tourist season here.

The contract you make with the car rental company should include the price of everything.

One thing to watch out for is if they charge for "mileage." I never rent a car from a company that will charge mileage. This can bring up the price quite a bit and also be sure to return the car with the same amount of gas in the tank. When they have to put the gas in, they charge a much higher rate per gallon than you would pay at the gas stations.

Cars rented at the airports are always more expensive per day, even within the same company, than you'd pay at other locations. It's basically a convenience charge. In areas where people would tend to need a rental, the price is higher, as a rule, than at locations farther out where most of us have our own car to use.

I don't know if renting a car from the hotel branch is more or the same as other branches throughout the city but you might check into that also. It would be worth it to take the hotel shuttle from the airport to your hotel. Then from the hotel, figure out how to get to the car company by public transportation.

Most quotes also do not include insurance, so you need to check into that, because it's very expensive.
I'm guessing that you're coming from overseas (not poking fun at you, but Americans and Canadians don't say "holiday"), so it's likely that your credit card will not offer rental car liability insurance as American credit cards do. If your card does not have it, then you will need to purchase it. It usually runs $15 or so per day.
Otherwise, there won't be any other fees.
I usually try to stick with the off-airport locations because you can save quite a bit of money. However, you'll often get stuck with a less desirable vehicle because those neighborhood locations don't have the selection that you would find at the airport. I've been given SUVs a couple of times, full sizes other times, and I always book compacts. They were called "free upgrades". If you do end up going that route, I'd personally call the office directly a couple of days before your pick-up and insist that you absolutely have to have the type of car that you booked.
Also, check to see if you can pick up the car in Century City and return to LAX (a one-way rental). Many companies in certain areas do not charge extra for local one-way rentals. I do this with Budget quite a bit, often just to get a cheaper ride to the airport.

If you are a visitor from Europe you will be better off renting a car through one of the UK sites. To give you an example I rented through Dollar Germany and pay less with all taxes and insurance included that I would with Dollar US.

This site may be worth exploring. http://www.rentawreck.com/ Good luck and enjoy California.

That's a good tip...rent the car from that country's company website. My company's HQ is outside of the US so my webpages automatically default to that country's website. I was looking for rental cars in AZ and the price difference using a different country's website (ex: Enterprise France vs. Enterprise USA) but booking for the same city, car, date/time was about $100 difference. You just have to show proof that you are from that country when you pick up.

I do find that booking at car rental branches outside of the airport is cheaper too. Yes, they do have less cars to choose from but if you aren't picky and are on a tighter budget it's worth it. Don't forget to check the branch hours too. Many branches outside of the airport close on certain days and have shorter open hours.

I like to use kayak.com to compare prices.

Any rate that you will get from the US site of Dollar, Thrifty, Budget, Alamo is going to be without insurance. To give you an example 4 years ago when I first rented a car in LA i paid as much in insurance as I did for the car rental itself.
Now with dollar UK or Germany I pay half of the US rates and have all taxes and insurance included.

I see this question a lot, and yet, I've always done better renting from the more competitive LAX market, than renting in the neighborhoods - exactly the opposite of others...so odd. I would actually take the subway from Hollywood to LAX for the savings.

Fox Rental Cars used to have phenomenal rates compared to the big boys, and they have a free shuttle from the terminal. That would be my first recommendation.

Insurance is expensive (full is often $21/day), but you really gotta take it....especially in LA where there is an accident every few blocks.

Few companies charge mileage, nowadays, but do ask.

I used to frequent Rent-A-Wreck, but got unbelievably craptastic cars at the LA branch. Avoid.

Keep in mind the dollar is lower than Euro and GBP, so you will be saving(if that's from where you are traveling).

And Maxima is dead on about the "free upgrades". I ended up with a Ford F-150 pick up after reserving compact. Insist and confirm the day before.