Not necessarily true in LA area. I've done a lot of pricing for a visiting friend over the years. Usually Enterprise, Dollar or Hertz is the winner when you thow in the discount code. Hertz tends to be best if you're picking up and dropping off at different locations. However we have not tried the "off brands".

If you care about what you get, for example if you have a fair amount of luggage, check the car model offered at the rate you're booking. Dollar and Enterprise tend to offer a "micro" car even at the compact level, whereas with Hertz you'll get something larger and with more bells and whistles.

OK, if you say so. I hadn't checked Hertz to compare with my other bids for LAX in September, so I just did -- with an AAA discount.

So here they are:
Dollar: $150
National: $175
Avis: $196
Hertz: $237

This is similar to what I've found whenever I have checked.

All are for economy or compact cars. I usually get an upgrade if I want one at Dollar. However, usually I don't. With just two of us and the cost of gas, I'm usually happiest with a small economy car when traveling -- unless we plan on doing major driving, which would be rare.

Oh, and just for fun, I checked Hertz and Dollar both for the same period for a mid size SUV from LAX. To be fair, I did both without any discounts. Hertz: $399. Dollar: $235.

I have never paid that much for a car at Hertz. I've called them directly for cars most of the time. I've always paid from around $21.99- maybe about $35.tops per day for a car before the taxes,here in L.A... so as for those prices you're quoting, I have absolutely no idea what that's about.
For the poster, what you could do is take the super shuttle to your hotel and then rent a car from a car rental place closer to the hotel.There are a lot of Enterprise companies around and they'll pick you up and take you to their rental car place as others will usually also do. The prices might be lower if not at an airport rental sight. Happy Travels!

Guenmai, now I don't know what you're talking about. That $ 237 a week from Hertz for an economy car is about $34 a day AFTER taxes, or about $25 a day BEFORE taxes, which sounds like what you pay. It's just that the others are a lot less. Dollar for the same car is about $16 a day before taxes.

The taxes and add ons are a lot!

This thread is from March of last year, you know.

OK..NeoPatrick...I must have missed something as I did not see in your quoted prices that you were pricing by the week. I reread your post and maybe I've overlooked it again. Someone above was mentioning something about over the weekend prices and as I and many of us locals don't rent by the week, I think of prices in short individual week days or weekend days.
Also, since you commented on how expensive Hertz was over the others, I assumed that you were quoting weekend prices. Happy Travels!

Sorry for the confusion, but in my first post here I clearly stated "Oddly, just today I started pricing one week rentals at LAX for September. . ." The OP never mentioned weekend, daily, or week rentals, so there as much logic to think in terms of week rentals as there is to assume it is a weekend only. But just to be sure, I cleaarly stated I was looking at week long rentals.

You also said, "since you commented on how expensive Hertz was over the others, I assumed that you were quoting weekend prices." Huh? Are you suggesting that Hertz's week long prices may be much higher than the others, but their weekend prices wouldn't be? What would be the basis for that kind of logic -- assuming that prices would only affect weekend rates?


The whole point was not the difference between daily, two or three day, or weekly rentals, but clearly was only meant to show the correlation of the prices between different companies. I stand by my original point about Hertz being lots more expensive than any of the others. If you love Hertz and don't care about the prices you pay-- or if you have some wonderful special corporate price from Hertz -- then fine. Sorry, you were misunderstanding the entire point I was trying to make. I hope this has cleared it up.

Prices for car rentals also vary based on supply and demand.

I just had to price a week in Long Beach in October. Hertz for a compact was $150 TOTAL including taxes (with only an Autoclub discount). Enterprise was at $184.

If you rent at LAX as opposed to a HLE (Hertz Local Edition) you will pay extra taxes for the airport.

You're right about supply and demand, mlgb. And of course where you rent makes a big difference too. Although again let me point out that I could get a full week rental from Dollar at LAX for the same $150 (total including taxes) you're talking about for just a weekend one from Hertz at Long Beach. Too bad there's no Dollar at Long Beach.

Patrick has some great points here.


I used FOX in early July and found the wait after our arrival to be too long(40 minutes). In fact even though I got a great deal on a PT Cruiser convertible, the inconvenience of the long wait would prevent me from using them again.

Going forward I plan on using AVIS which I've had great luck with as they have some decent rates but more importantly the wait times are minimal and service is excellent.

I would use Hertz but I believe their rates aren't worth the premium you would pay over the other car rental companies.

Don't pay $196 with Avis when there is a coupon on the DEALS page of their website for $30 off.

Or , there's another coupon for 5000 Delta miles with a week's rental if you need miles. (this one's on the Delta website)

clark, since that $196 from Avis comment was mine, I guess you're talking to me. But why would I use a $30 coupon to reduce Avis to $ 166, when Dollar is already $150? You bring up a good point, though. I think some agencies, Hertz and Avis in particular are usually much higher because they offer all kinds of specials if you qualify or can use them. Those are fine, but still may not be the lowest price. I think it just again shows that paying their regular or simple discounted prices really are generally much higher than some other sources -- they need to be to allow those coupons, etc.

That rate I quoted was for a full week.

I don't see that I said for a weekend.

Also, consider that the Hertz cars are generally a step up in options.

Forgive me. I was still whirling from the comments from the other poster about all prices being assumed to be weekends, and then I did the same thing!

I'm not sure what you mean by "a step up in options". I have rarely if ever not been given an automatic upgrade with Dollar without even a certificate for it. I'm not sure what "options" you are referring to. Give me power windows, power doorlocks, and cruise control and I'm happy. I can only recall once not having all of those automatically -- and that was on the lowest grade car. What else do I want?

Yes, my friend does rent the economy or the compact. She has used Dollar in the past. You may get a car with no cruise control, believe it or not. Also things like a larger engine, enclosed and/or larger trunk, better options on the CD/radio, better seating. If you rent a strippo compact (especially from a US manufacturer) you don't get much.

I think she's always had a/c and automatic transmission, fortunately.

And definitely no power locks or windows.

Don't say "definitely" no power locks or windows. You have reminded me that ONCE when we rented the cheapest car possible from Dollar in Phoenix we didn't have either, although oddly the car did have cruise control. But the other 20 or more times we've rented the cheapest car from Dollar we've ALWAYS had them. (Although again, we almost always get upgraded at least one grade). One out of twenty is hardly a "definitely you won't".

You're right, I shouldn't have said definitely. More like "possibly". She hasn't been so fortunate as to get the upgrades. The worst car she had from Dollar was a Dodge Neon, which was a bit stripped but not really awful, and much better than the car she got one time from Enterprise (I can't remember what it was, but she swore Enterprise off after that).

This past year I'll take Avis and 5000-10000 delta miles anytime over Dollar or budget at $25 less. Four rentals cost me (maybe$100) more but for my $100 I got a free trip on Delta that would have cost me $387.
And with Avis I get a free day certificate with every 3rd or 4th rental.