Car rental LAX
 

Dear All,
I'm planning a roadtrip with my son from LAX to NYC next Summer.
Idea is to fly into LAX from Amsterdam, take three weeks to drive to NYC (southern route), and fly back from there. This means picking up a rental in LAX, and dropping it off in JFK or LGA

Do you have any recommendation for a rental company ?

Also, which cellular operator offers nation wide (LAX->NYC) data service ?

THANKS,
best regards,
V.

I suggest you check out
 

the cost of one-way rentals. Unlike most European countries they are hugely expensive here. I did a one-way a few months ago from Seattle to San Diego and it almost doubled the rental cost for the same period.

Since you have the time, a railroad trip across the country may be an option.

IRT to cell, VERIZON seems to have the best coverage.

Your trip sounds like a lot of fun. Shop the rental companies and book on-line. Not sure about the data service, but I'm sure someone here will chime in.

I'd recommend flying out of Newark (EWR) instead of LGA or JFK. Driving out to Queens is always a major PITA in my experience.

If you're going into Manhattan park the car at Secaucus Junction at NJ Turnpike exit 15X, and take the train into Penn Station. Parking is about $20 and round-trip tickets are only $8. Not bad for a 15 minute ride into Midtown. You'll save time and money.

Verizon for cell phone service.

A quick look suggests over $2,000 to rent the car with a one-way. One option would be to extend your trip by a week and choose a more circuitous route to visit some other places on the way back and then just return the car to LAX. Or see about hiring someone to drive the car back for you, particularly if you have friends or family in the states they'd probably be happy to do that and see some more of the country as well.

For the phone, grab a prepaid "straight talk" phone from walmart, since you only need it for a month. They are a virtual network operator that piggybacks onto larger carriers. Get one that piggybacks on either ATT or Verizon and you will be set.

Verizon will have your best data coverage. How long will you be stateside? The best rates will be from a "mini lease" program. They're usually a 2 month contract. Avis was around $3,000 U.S.D. Unlimited miles. One way fee, and taxes were about $1500 and the car itself was about $1500.

Best of luck!

Completely read past the 3 weeks part. Mini lease isnt an option. Best bet it to shop around. One way fees are looking to be expensive...

Virtually every car rental company operates out of LAX.

I'd do a search on all rental companies on KAYAK - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once.

I've flown about 1.7 million miles in the past 15 years, and kayak.com is the best website for shopping for flights, hotels, and car rentals.

Note that there is always a large surcharge when you return a car to a different location than where you rented it from.

Many thanks for all your great feedback.

I notice in the 'fine print' of the rental websites I've seen huge additional drop off charges :mad:: are these (extra) drop off costs normal ??

Newark seems indeed better for the return flight. Would you say that San Francisco of San Diego might be better as our departure point, instead of LAX ?

Best Regards,
V.

This is why some travelers buy inexpensive used cars and sell them when finished. I bet some member here has a used Mercedes they will sell you good enough to make a trip.

This idea crossed my mind as well, but I won't have sufficient time to sell it at the end of the trip I expect (1-2 days), not to mention all administrative hassle (being a foreigner), and break down (delay) risk.
A 'throw-away' car will probaby still cost as much as renting.

I noticed this other option:
Auto Driveaway: Shipping a Car, Vehicle Transport Companies, Auto Transport Rates, Car Shipping Rates | autodriveaway.com,
but chances of a car needing to be driven from California to NYC at the time we'll be arriving, is very small; hard to plan this in the three weeks available, but if I had plenty of time this could be very interesting (and adventurous).

THANKS,
V.

It might be better to fly into an eastern city and drive an eastern loop for a week and a half. Return the car to the same airport. Then fly to a western city and do a western loop for a week and a half. I think the flight costs would probably be less than the one way drop off costs. And, unless you are interested in long boring drives, there's no reason to go east of New Mexico or the Front Range of the Rockies, or west of the Appalachians. :) Or, if you are really interested in looking at miles of cornfields, do 3 cities with 3 loops--NY, Chicago and San Francisco.

Interestingly, one-way rentals WITHIN CALIFORNIA are surprisingly cheap. I've rented in LAX or Santa Ana a few times and returned in San Jose or SF. The difference was only like $10-20.

Do you have any friends in CA who want to take a road trip? Perhaps you could co-sign a rental contract with them, then have them fly out to NYC, drive the car back to CA, and return it. Cross-country flights are only $150-200 and flight + gas might actually be cheaper than out-of-state rental fees. Plus, your friend would get to take a road trip!

Oh, and if you use Fox rent-a-car, make sure to get the collision damage waiver or make sure your credit card covers you. I'm now arguing with them over the repair cost of a door scratch. Then again, as a foreigner, you could probably get away with just not paying, since you have no US credit to damage, and by CA law, they can't bill your card directly.

Lastly, if you're flying from NYC, look at all three airports. LaGuardia occasionally has cheap international flights via Toronto.

If you do come through any part of NorCal, let me know!

I'll buy you lunch or dinner and get a few of the local guys to come out. Off the top of my head, some of the local cars are W126 AMG (6.0L), W124 Renntech (6.0L), W124 500E, W126 300SD with 4 speed manual, Euro W126 Coupe, and whatever clunker I'm driving.