Well, we are totally on budget for a great vacation in California, however, with that being said what is breaking our wallet are the rental car rates In San Fran we need for 1 week, but, i was shocked at the rates that are posted now, so should I go ahead and book a rental car or should I wait to see if the last minute deals are the wasy to go, just curious, thanks in advance, chellolive

Are you strictly looking at pick up and drop off at the airport? I just looked at renting an economy car in June, picking up and dropping at Fisherman's Wharf and it was under $180 for a week, all inclusive. (Budget Rent a Car)

I've already booked an SUV for 9 days from SFO to SFO also in June and the total is well under $400 --but I did that a couple months ago. I bring up the same thing now and it is at least 50% higher.

Wow, thanks so much, well, we had only thought about the airport, however, now I will look at other options, again, thanks so much

In my experience Dollar consistently has the lowest rates in SF, either downtown or at the airport. They have several locations in SF proper, including one close to Union Sq.

There is no downside to booking now as you can rebook, cancel, or even just fail to show up with no penalty if you find a better rate or your plans change.

Patrick,
Have you looked into Fox ?

https://www.foxrentacar.com/Default.aspx

Are you kidding, Andrew? Fox in San Francisco is over $400 all inclusive for the same thing I found with Budget at $180. (But Fox is only at the airport there, so far as I can find). Their prices are better at LAX than SFO, but still more than AutoEurope is. And I've read some not-so-thrilled reports about Fox, including reports of dirty and poorly maintained cars, and very slow pick-up and customer service.

Chellolive, I recently rented a minivan out of Oakland Airport for 8 days. I had a reservation with Budget that was really cheap - about $30 per day on average (one week with one extra day). I noticed that the rates went up and down after I made an initial reservation, and I was able to get the cheaper one about a week later. But the day before we traveled I tried Priceline and was able to get it a little cheaper yet - about $25 per day. I think you could get an economy car a good deal cheaper than that if you get lucky.

well, all the advice has given me things to think about, we will be in San Fran the first few days staying at Fisherman's Warf and parking is 45 bucks per day however, I don't think we will need a car for those 2 days so there is 90 dollars savings there, now if I can just narrow down where to rent in the Warf area, any other advice is welcomed, thanks, me

I've picked up cars from Budget and from Dollar, both near the wharf. I'm 90% sure that Avis, Hertz, and National all have them there too. Incidentally, sometimes you can then return the car to the airport without paying an arm and a leg, but sometimes not. It's often the pick up at the airport where they really get you.

you are not kidding the airport is crazy, high!