My wife and I are flying from the UK to Los Angeles in June and will be travelling for 17 days. We intend to spend a couple of nights in Santa Barbara and continue through California, Arizona and Nevada.
The problem I have is that the plane is due to arrive at LAX at 7.30pm. Last year I had to queue for over an hour at the car rental place (in Orlando).
Should I stay the night in a hotel near LAX and get a taxi to the car rental place the following morning and then drive to Santa Barbara or should I get the rental car on arrival and drive to Santa Barbara. How long will that take?
At the moment I am sorting out car rental and a couple of hotels. Many thanks.

Orlando is the only airport I've ever been to where the rental car queue was extraordinarily long. It may also depend on the rental car co. The paperwork process at some rentals seems to take forever - Enterprise comes to mind or one.

Look into joining one of the frequent renter programs as well - you can pre-enter all the relevant info which can speed up the process when you get to the desk. It won't help move the line in front of you any faster though.

Some rental car co's have free express memberships, where you may be able to go directly to the car pickup location. Hertz Gold club is great for that - you just look for your name on a sign board and go straight to your car. I think Avis has something similar. I rarely use those 2 co's since their rates are usually higher. Dollar has a express club (free) - you still need to stop at the key pickup counter, but you can bypass the normal rental car counter.

After you go through customs and then take a shuttle to the car rental location and then go through the process of getting your car, it will then take about 2 hours to drive to Santa Barbara. My daughter travels a lot and usually arrives at LAX and rents a car. I'll ask her how long the process at the airport usually takes and get back to you. She usually calls when she arrives and I'm under the impression that there are no significant delays.

The good thing about picking the car up and driving to Santa Barbara the night you arrive is that you would avoid rush hour traffic. I was going to suggest you price an off airport location as you are renting for 17 days but I just put in a random 17 rental with Enterprise and the rate came back around $350 at LAX and $200 more to go off airport. I have never seen this before, it is the reverse of the usual. Since you can cancel without penality, you might want to book that while you look around at your options.

I'd pick up the car that evening -- but I'm not sure I'd drive to Santa Barbara right off an 11 hour transatlantic flight.

Even though you are flying "against the jet lag" it is still an exhausting flight.

I'm from/live in CA, lived in the UK for several years, travel both directions semi-frequently. The traffic, "wrong side of the road driving", and just acclimating to the different roads signs, I'd feel better myself starting out VERY early the next morning. Plus w/ immigration/luggage/rental shuttle - you'd be lucky to be starting your drive by 9PM and to SB by 11PM or later. That would just be a VERY long day.

If you are able to collect the car by 9:00 PM,check in to an airport hotel, get a good night's sleep and start your drive by maybe 05:30 (to avoid the morning commute) you'd be in Santa Barbara in time for breakfast.

I'm an LA native and have done a bit of travelling to Europe and back. I would second janisj's suggestions.

Hi toledo,
I would also recommend janisj's idea. You do not want your introduction to beautiful California to be Los Angeles's morning rush hour traffic. Ughhh!!! Traffic starts around 6 am and continues until at least 10am or so and then starts again around 1-2 pm until 6pm. Traffic is still really busy even during the off hours. You will love Callifornia, but not the LA traffic.

Have fun,
Michele

Another possibility is to drive out of LA and overnight in Sherman Oaks/Encino area. It's only about 20 miles to Sherman Oaks, and you'd be past the worst traffic areas and could get on the road to SB at a more leisurely hour than 5:30am

Thanks for all your replies. Five years ago we did the "Big Circle," only anti clockwise, starting in San Fransisco. This time we are travelling clockwise. I do remember the LA traffic. I have decided to take your advice,collect the rental car on arrival and stay overnight in a hotel within a few miles of LAX. Many thanks for your comments.

Is it a weeknight or a weekend night?

I'm sorry for the delay, it is a Tuesday night.