Any big differences between car companies as far as long lines, quick shuttles, etc. Do the big companies offer any advantages over the discount companies?
See some great rates for Fox and Deluxe, but have never rented at LAX, and have no experience with these 2. Any info appreciated!

I'm not really sure. I am going to LAX soon and am renting from Advantage. They had the best rates I could find. I am just hoping for the best.

It's hard to say what the differences would be, except in the cars. Rates are dependent on availability of cars on a specific date.

Check out rates at websites such as Travelocity, which will give you a range of rates.

If you are renting over a weekend, Enterprise usually has a 1/2 rate, Thursday afternoon/night to Monday night. Check out their website.

Otherwise, if you know how to bid on Priceline, you can get a car for about $12-$18, depending on size. If you are planning to bid on Priceline, IT IS CRITICAL that you read

biddingfortravel.com

first, before you bid. Scroll down past the hotels and airlines sections and click on the "cars" "Los Angeles" thread to see the latest successful bid rates. Also read their guidelines on how to bid. Almost all of the major car companies participate in Priceline.

Good luck!

The bigger companies have bigger, and I think more frequent, shuttles.

Some of the rental car companies, like Budget and Avis, are pretty easy to find when you return. Others, like National/Alamo, are a bit out of the way. I would stick with the larger companies because I know what I would get.

I have rented from Delux (previously Ace at LAX) several times. They are the cheapest, and even more so when you book on line and print out and take one of their coupons with you. Their trams stop at the red tram stops at the airport. Sometimes there is a wait to check in or out, but no more so then any of the big compaines, most of which, I have rented from at LAX prior to finding Delux.

Is Delux any further off site than the other companies? Did you have to wait longer for a shuttle than the big companies? Thanks!

Do a search for a map of car rental companies at LAX. If Deluxe does not come up it is near the corner of Aviation and Imperial, accross from Parking Lot B south of most of the rental places. In my opinion it is in a less congested area. Deluxe also runs Johnny Park, a low price parking garage, so you get picked up at the RED tram stops at the airport, not the usual (I think it is purple) tram stop for rental cars. (They are next to each other.) Once I waited maybe 10 minutes for a tram, but solved that in subsiquent times by calling them when I got to baggage claim to make sure a tram was in the airport area. Even though it is located accross from Lot B and you can take that tram, don't as it is always full. I go often and rent for a month at a time and they are by far the cheapest. They also do not pester you to buy additional insurance, as most of the big guys do. I have only had good experiences with them, but I'm sure like everything else there will be someone who didn't like them.

Actually, Aviation & Imperial is twice as far from the terminal as Avis and Budget. Those big guys do not pester me at all about insurance, they just circle where to initial the CDW and where to sign.

But neither are that far, really. If you drive to LAX and follow the car rental return signs you'll make it to Avis & Budget, probably not National, and pretty sure not the other. Just make sure you know where to return to and you are ok.

Alamo has a shuttle.The personnel however are a bit pushy.Dont let them push you to take extra insurance or an upgrade in cars.PAul

I've had such good luck renting and returning with Dollar there. Getting the free "fast" pass makes the check in and return really easy. And they seem to have very frequent shuttles to their lot.

I have used many of the big companies and never had any real problems other then the usual lines and pushing for insurance. In my experience Deluxe is no easier or harder to use than any of the rental companies at LAX. I have used Delux exclusively the last two years soley because it was far and away the cheapest. (Don't forget the 10% coupon when price comparing.) If the next time I need a LAX rental some other company has a better deal, I will go with them.

I rented from Budget the last time, and I had a 1+ hour wait in line to get a car last June.

My suggestion is to figure out which car rental place you prefer, and then join the 'preferred customer's club', or whatever they call it, and you can go directly to the 'preferred' window, otherwise you have to wait in long lines with us mere mortals.

I've heard it's a mess trying to drive around LAX. Heard it was better to get a ride to your hotel, and rent from there?? Any truth to those comments?? I've never driven around there, so I really don't know.
Frank

Let me make this so easy...
Horrible company...

judge for yourself...

my experience
www.deluxerentacar.info

Trip Advisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...alifornia.html

yahoo local
http://local.yahoo.com/info-20417363...ar-los-angeles


Yelp.com
http://www.yelp.com/biz/deluxe-rent-...efSnjVRA3R283w

More Info
www.myspace.com/deluxerentacar
www.youtube.com/deluxerentacar

hmmmm. When I click on your first link (your experience) I keep getting a "warning of unsafe site" and a refusal from my computer to open it.

I'm assuming from your newly registered screen name, though, that you DO NOT recommend Deluxe.

Have flown into LAX a number of times, but the last time was about 3 yrs ago, so don't know how they are recently. But we have always used Dollar. Shuttles to & from airport are frequent & it is not really that far from the airport. Easy to get into & out of their property. The have a large parking garage with usually more than enough rentals for everybody that shows up. The past few times I have been there though, the wait in line to check in for a car had been about 30 - 45 mins or even a bit longer. You may be able to bypass that if you join their club.

Bill. Exactly. The last time I picked up a Dollar rental at LAX, there was a huge line. There was a separate line for Dollar Express members (which thankfully I am). I waited less than two minutes!

Oddly, just today I started pricing one week rentals at LAX for September. I had a great Costco price for Avis ($ 196 total) and a discount code for National ($175 total). But Dollar quoted me $150 total as a "city special" right off their website. Interestingly, before add ons, this is about $15 a day. Since Priceline adds extra to the other add ons, I find it hard to imagine getting a better deal by bidding. And I'd rather not have to pay and risk losing full payment, when there is no such risk with Dollar.

OK. I live in L.A. county so I've never rented a car from the airport, but although I own a car, I've rented cars MANY times...i.e. while car is being serviced at the shop, out-of-town tourists/visitors thus need a bigger car, etc. And I've rented cars while on vacation in other states.
And as far as I'm concerned, it's Hertz. I go to them first as I've had excellent results with them and the only time they were a bit slow was in Honoulu, but only on one trip...when it was very crowded. Otherwise, I've gotten great service and cars. In Honolulu, when I asked for a Subaru, very late one night, they brought over a brand new one for me in which I was the first person to rent it. So, I'll stick with them over the tons of other agencies I've rented from. Happy Travels!

I'd probably go with Hertz too if I didn't care how much I spent. But unless you have some major corporate discount, I have found that Hertz is invariably at least 30% higher than Dollar, Budget, Alamo and others -- and often as much as double. I think of them as the big "corporate travel" player. Things like the AAA discount are a drop in the bucket off their high prices, I find.