Alleyoop11

I've booked a rental car from San Francisco in late June for a five day drive down the Coast Road to Los Angeles. Pick up is at SF Airport, drop off at LAX. However, I'm not flying in or out of either of those locations, so I'm trying to change the pick up and drop off locations to somewhere more convenient, downtown in SF, somewhere near Irvine or Santa Ana for drop off, and it's proving difficult.
I've made the booking through Airport Rentals, who I've used a number of times in Australia. I'm told I'll have to cancel the booking and make a separate booking, but finding suitable locations doesn't appear to be a simple process. I selected another option but was then told that that option is no longer available. Things change quickly evidently, and I assume the price will change also.
Should I just stick with my booking and accept that pick up and drop off is going to take a long time with heavy traffic,or is there another solution?
Though an experienced driver, I haven't driven in the United States since 1980!

MmePerdu

In my experience car rental reservations are fully cancellable so look around on other sites such as on your airline site & individual rental company sites (Enterprise, Budget, Avis, Hertz, etc) to see if you can find exactly what you want, or closer to it. Keep your current reservation while you look around.

tomfuller

How are you getting from Canada to California? I have rented cars through Hotwire and Expedia, but usually deal directly with Enterprise.

Alleyoop11

Thank you, that's what I'm doing for now. I just need to be more patient I think, and expect that it will work out.

Thanks Tom, we're flying WestJet from Calgary to San Francisco. We're not renting the car upon arrival in San Francisco, we'll use public transport for the purposes of sightseeing and pick the car up the day before we drive the Coast Road.
I'll check Enterprise.

MmePerdu

Enterprise is my current favorite, made full use of their free pick-up & drop-off service while I was between cars. Their website says the service is available at non-airport locations so you may be able to make use of it, VERY convenient.

janisj

Take a look at autoeurope.com

They are brokers that deal with all the majors so you don't have to wander from ne agency's website to another. You can enter pick up and drop off locations like Downtown San Francisco and Santa Ana or whatever city pairs you want. They will display all the options for the locations you want . . . usually off airport locations are cheaper mostly because airports charge high access fees to the rental agencies.

Alleyoop11

The Enterprise site is very comprehensive, and tipped me off to the fact that it's my pick up time that's giving me the most problems. There was a message on many locations saying 'this location is not open at this time'. Many locations close at midday Saturday.
However, Airport Rentals have come back to me with pick up and drop off sites that suit me, so I'm just waiting to see if the other details are acceptable. If not, I'll change my pick up time for the sake of flexibility and convenience over expense.

sludick

You could consider taking BART to the airport to pick up your car, we have done that before. At that point, you'll be south of SF and away from the worst of that traffic anyway. Or Uber/Lyft to airport.

clarkgriswold

I don't think that Enterprise rates include all the insurances that you need as an Aussie traveling in the U.S.

Avis and Hertz both have pickup offices in SF and drop-off locations in Irvine (weekdays only probably). Use their Australian websites so that insurance is included.

I wouldn't use airportRentals because they have cancellation fees and other restrictions that you don't get when you book direct. I know you've been happy with them in the past but things like cancellation fees don't bother people until they need to cancel without much notice and find that the whole deal was non-refundable.

janisj

>>I don't think that Enterprise rates include all the insurances that you need as an Aussie traveling in the U.S.

Alleyoop11

Airport Rentals managed to find me a car that suited, with Hertz, pickup Mason Street, drop off in Irvine, at the times I wanted, so it has all worked out. Not the speediest booking I've ever made, but better to spend the time now rather than when traveling.
It's through Hertz Australia too, so Insurance is included. I normally take excess insurance with Rentalcover.com also. I have time to make that decision.
Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help, learned a lot .

5alive

Janis, funny side note, but that is changing. We went to buy a car a few years ago, and the dealership had 80s pop music playing. We asked why they didn't play newer music for young adults and the salesman told me that that the the younger generations just aren't buying cars like the older generations.

And if you don't have a car of your own, you aren't insured on a rental.

Gretchen

And if you don't have a car of your own, you aren't insured on a rental.

I think many credit cards carry the car insurance. We've never used our own car insurance when renting.

Christina

Credit cards are secondary insurance, so you are always using your own insurance, if you have it, it is by default on their terms. The only exception I know of is AMEX where you can opt into their special rental insurance program and then it is primary (but it costs $25 per rental).

I think if you don't have insurance or it doesn't cover the situation (like abroad), MC and Visa become primary insurance, which is a good deal. However, this is just for the car, it has nothing to do with liability or medical. I know when you go to Europe, you are required to pay a little for that no matter what your CDW insurance is. I don't know why the US doesn't do that, but I don't think they do. In fact, not sure you can even buy liability insurance in the US when renting a car, if you don't have your own.

There must be something I don't know about that, anyone? Becuase it seems crazy the US would let a bunch of uninsured drivers out there but lots of people rent cars periodically who don't own one.

Any car rental website I've ever used tells you when a place isn't open if you pick such a time, that's nothing remarkable.

Patty

Liability is included on US rentals based on state minimum requirements but this is usually a very low amount. You can purchase supplemental liability above the state requirement if you have no personal auto policy.

MichelleY

Patty is correct.

Odin

"However, I'm not flying in or out of either of those locations, so I'm trying to change the pick up and drop off locations to somewhere more convenient, downtown in SF, somewhere near Irvine or Santa Ana for drop off, and it's proving difficult."

a) you need to cancel and rebook, you can't change an existing booking, you have to make a new one
b) type in "San Francisco" in the search box to see a list of the downtown rental locations and same for LA, type in Los Angeles. If you only use airport codes eg SFO LAX, you might only see airport locations
c) airportrentals do offer CDW, just make sure you have it as insurance coverage by credit card for non US renters might not apply (my credit card company does not offer car rental insurance) and having car insurance on your private vehicle at home might not/will not cover car rental in the US.

doug_stallings

California is unique in the US, however, in not providing basic liability coverage with each car rental because companies aren't required to have it. However, drivers are required to carry liability. If you rent in California, you really must have either your own liability insurance (with your home or auto policy) or a separate plan, either that you pay for along with the rental or through your credit card.

Alleyoop11

Thanks, not as straight forward as hires I'm accustomed to here in Australia.
I'll take this up with Hertz to be sure I'm not vulnerable.
I'm taking out Travel Insurance for the entire trip, which covers any Excess charged, but not basic liability, so I need to know that is in place.

tom_mn

I’ve found Autoslash to be the go to site for the lowest rates. Rates can fluctuate so keep checking.

Other credit cards offer primary coverage, Chase Sapphire and Chase United Airlines, but that’s for US residents only.

I’m finding it hard to believe that major rental companies in California are letting cars drive off without liability insurance since the owner of the vehicle is going to be the #1 target in a lawsuit, but I don’t really know.