Car Hire LAX (1 Viewer)

[injebreck99]

We are planning a months trip to the US next May, flying into LAX, never flown into that airport before, does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, of hiring cars, or any recommended hotels near the airport they can share please.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Just be prepared for the scale of the operation - it's huge.
The phrase concrete jungle is apt.
Whichever carhire company you choose, you'll need to take their courtesy bus to their off airport location.
Hotels - as long as you stick with the known brands you won't go far wrong. Look out for the budget brands of the premium companies such as Courtyard by Marriott.
Will all be pretty much of a muchness - large rooms (compared to Euro sizes] probably with two double beds in.
Basic breakfast often thrown in free.

 

[CherryPirate]

Have a look at "Name your Price" on the Broken Link Removed site. Some years ago I got a really good deal on a 5* hotel. Check it out.

Colin

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[Puddleduck]

And don't drive your car any distance until you have had a good night's sleep

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Just watch out for the extras- a sat nav can cost as much as buying one-if you ne.ed one take one with you.They will also try to tempt you into an upgrade , no matter what car you have ordered.Get a good map or better still print out some google maps before you go to get yourself orientated, of places you want to go to( Hollywood) route 66 etc. The roads are good but as in most places in the US they rely on north/south and east and west-can be confusing.

good luck

 

[injebreck99]

We have been to the US many times, just not into LAX, mostly Denver or Phoenix, or DallasFW,so we are well used to the US systems, mainly trying to find out which car hire companies to use/aviod.

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[Bill_OR]

@injebreck99 - the one memory I have of driving in LA is the number of lanes in the freeways around there. I was somewhat taken aback when encountering dual carriageways with 6+ lanes in each direction and all full of traffic! The usual trick of keeping out of the way in the nearside lane doesn't work as the nearside lanes invariably become exit lanes. I've driven without a problem in many parts of the US but I was very happy to get out of LA!!

By the way, when selecting a hotel, have a look at the map and if you need to stay near the airport then try to avoid ones that are under the flight paths as the airport is a very, very busy one!

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I have stuck with the majors such as Avis or Dollar. Pre booked of course and making sure that the "extras" are covered. LAX is the absolute pits..........

 

[Langtoftlad]

My crew colleagues recommend;

Broken Link Removed = cheap

&

Broken Link Removed.
" Alamo has got more protection and perks than others car rental"

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[Bridget]

I used Alamo. When booking my flight , by booking car hire at the same time made the flight much cheaper. As a company I found them easy to deal with- very efficient for booking out and checking back in. Took my own sat nav as this was an unnecessary extra. I found driving around LA and beyond no problem at all. I booked an apartment as it gave more flexibility for us than a hotel.
Hope you have a fantastic time

 

[Langtoftlad]

Alamo discounts:
Broken Link Removed

 

[Langtoftlad]

Hilton LAX actually overlooks the runways - if you're an aircraft geek...
Quiet enough with quadrillion glazed windows....
I stayed there when it was a Hyatt...

...which leads to the fact that most hotel buildings are owned separately to the hotel brand running it. Franchises.
As such the name over the door changes relatively frequently...
If you've stayed in American chain hotels, you'll know the score.

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[orridge]

We used to use Alamo all the time in LA, well recommended and you get to choose your actual Vehicle. They send you to the area of the type of car you booked and you can choose any in that section which often had a lot of different choices.

You could stay at LAX plenty of Hotels and can recommend the Hilton however we usually drove about 15-20 mins down the road (not on the Freeway) to Manhattan or Redondo Beach and can recommend the Redondo Beach hotel or the Crowne plaza nearby.

 

[injebreck99]

We used to use Alamo all the time in LA, well recommended and you get to choose your actual Vehicle. They send you to the area of the type of car you booked and you can choose any in that section which often had a lot of different choices.

You could stay at LAX plenty of Hotels and can recommend the Hilton however we usually drove about 15-20 mins down the road (not on the Freeway) to Manhattan or Redondo Beach and can recommend the Redondo Beach hotel or the Crowne plaza nearby.

Are there any nasty add ons with Alamo, I have been looking at various car rental companies at LAX, they all have different policies, a minefield to try to sort out.

 

[orridge]

No there should not be, you could also try something like Expedia as we have found the travel websites used to offer all inclusive pricing so you know exactly what you are going to pay and avoids any potential up selling at the airport.

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[Falcon 269]

You could also look at a separate hire car excess insurance policy. I have an annual policy with Questor that costs about £40 for annual world-wide cover. Much better than paying up to a tenner a day for extra insurance from the hire car company.

 

[hoot007]

Whilst in LA we always use autoeurope to rent our cars from usually the best deals around. It includes insurance.
Joyce