Advice on California car hire

[Mandat]

I'm planning a fly drive holiday in April this year, taking in Los Angeles, Las Vegas & San Francisco, with lots of various sights and stops along the way over 14 days.

I am planning to book a package with Thomson, which will include a hire car from Alamo.

I would be looking to upgrade the basic car to something bigger (maybe even an SUV) but I'm not sure whether it is more cost effective to book the upgrade with Thomson at the time of booking or to pay for the upgrade at the car hire desk in LA?

I know that a lot of you are well travelled and I'd appreciate any advice or help that you can give.

[fatboy b]

If you're looking to upgrade at the desk, then take a look at what they offer, and how much more per day they cost. If it's a big jump up, there's a good chance they'll be loads in stock, and there's a good chance of a free or low cost upgrade - but it's a gamble.

A few years back I booked a V6 Mustang convertible in San Fran through Hertz. When I got there, they offered me the GT-H V8 for $50 a day more, which was about 15/day cheaper than if I'd booked it initially. I managed to knock that price down to $25/day extra. When I went down to pick it up, they had 10 in stock lined up.

[louiebaby]

Unless it's changed, if you fancy driving to the Indian Skywalk to see the Grand Canyon, you'd probably appreciate AWD or and SUV.

The road is / was unsealed for quite a chunk. You wouldn't want to do it in a convertible with the roof down either, we made quite a lot of dust.

[steveo3002]

watch these "free" car deals with holidays , they often want $$$$$ insurance once you get to the desk

price up a decent sized car on any of the popular sites and chances are its way less that your insurance on the other , can always pay a bit more at the desk for something tasty

[Mazdarese]

Do you have to book it as a package? Could you 'delete' the car hire aspect from the package as it's likely that Thomson will be taking a cut. Book something direct, and when you get there just have a chat with the guy on the desk and get an upgrade. Check the items on the bill very carefully as they will try and add all sorts of crap that you don't need.

I booked a Nissan Xterra with Hertz online, and upgraded to an Escalade when we got there. Cost about another £200 for two weeks hire and was well worth it.

[steveo3002]

even if its included dont worry , say you cant drive and just jump on the rental car bus of your choice

all the rental companys run buses every 5 mins right outside the door , just make sure you get on the right one lol

you should be able to get in a full size car like a charger v6 for £300 odd for 2 weeks as a guide , the larger cars arent much dearer than the poverty models

[steveo3002]

infact you dont seem to have booked yet , any reason why you think thompson will be any better than doing it yourself

choose a flight , suggest non stop

then tripadvisor to check hotel reviews and then book with expedia (12% cashback at quidco)

id be happy to try and guide you for diy , should be cheaper and get just what you want

[Mazdarese]

steveo3002 said:

infact you dont seem to have booked yet , any reason why you think thompson will be any better than doing it yourself

choose a flight , suggest non stop

then tripadvisor to check hotel reviews and then book with expedia (12% cashback at quidco)

id be happy to try and guide you for diy , should be cheaper and get just what you want

This. It's much more of an adventure. We booked half of our hotels before we went, and for the rest we took a Netbook and took advantage of all the free WiFi and booked hotels as we travelled.

Damn, I wish we could do that again.

[Mazdarese]

A lex said:

Mazdarese said:

This. It's much more of an adventure. We booked half of our hotels before we went, and for the rest we took a Netbook and took advantage of all the free WiFi and booked hotels as we travelled.

Damn, I wish we could do that again.

We also did this and found some fantastic boutique B&Bs all down the West Coast - much more personal (and IMO fun) than hotels. We booked the first few nights and also our Vegas hotel and did the rest on the fly.

The only place we had any hint of a problem was at Yosemite - we ended up overpaying for a crap room, but hey-ho.

For the most part we got some excellent deals on rooms as we were rocking up at 5pm and what they had left they were happy to sell at massive discount.

We made a decision to stay in Mammoth Lakes for one night, and then drive straight to San Francisco through Yosemite. In hindsight, we probably should have stayed in Yosemite for a night because it's an amazing place.

[steveo3002]

yeah if youve not been to usa before , hotels are everywhere and unless its a huge local event or something big on in vegas you can pretty walk up at 6pm and ask for a room and get one easily

no package deal will do you any favors , you'l just get a paper coupon to givve to each hotel and the agent at the airport will point which rental car bus to get on

[Mandat]

Thanks for all your useful advice.

Based on the comments, we have decided against booking a package and will be booking flights, car and hotels seprately, so that we can pick and choose the specific itenerary that we want.

Look out for my next posts, asking about best deals on car hire and which hotels to seek or avoid.

[Spudler]

Email Best Western and Comfort Inn for their Hotel guide, they'll send them free(at least they use to) to your address.
Lists all US address, prices and discription etc of their hotels, invaluable.

[cjs]

I always book my car hire through the BA website with Avis. You get an all inclusive price, no extras to pay for insurance etc. Plus you get a second driver included. It is worth becoming an 'Avis Preferred Partner' before you book, this can help with getting an upgrade etc.

[Hub]

When I did this I booked it through Avis on their UK website, because they were much more transparent about all the insurance costs and one way rental fee etc. You don't want to rock up and be sold all the extras at the desk!

[steveo3002]

any co.uk based car hire firm will include all the insurance needed

once you arrive at the desk they will offer all manner of silly add on insurance incase of earthquakes, alien landings and god knows what , id advise you decline it all and double check that they dont add it anyway



dont sign next to any prices on the sheet , it should say 0 /pre paid