yk

Perhaps you should look on Autoeurope and see if what they offer you. I picked a random week in June for SF/LA and I see Dogde Durango for $321.

NeoPatrick

yk, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I checked 5 different week long combinations at random and the lowest I found for a Durango was $479 or so. But none of them had a "select" button next to them, only an "available on request, please contact us". I'm not sure what that means.

I checked a few other possibilities too, but their fine print still says "one way fee may apply" -- I'm not sure when they tell you if it does or not.

I also checked a rental for Seattle to Seattle, and their rates were WAY higher than others I've found. But that is interesting. I always use AutoEurope in Europe, but never thought of them in the US.

yk

Patrick-

I used:
pick-up SFO
drop-off LAX
June 11-June 18, 2009
Automatic, 4WD

I still get $321.21 for the Dodge Durango. Yes, it does say "available on request, please contact us"

It was kerouac over on Europe forum who mentioned he's renting a car in the US via Autoeurope (he's getting Advantage rent-a-car).

NeoPatrick

Well, I'll be. You certainly found the right date to work. That site really is bizarre. Now when I try our full 10 day dates (June 15 to 25) I get a Durango at a total of $488 which is about what it was before for just a week, starting the same date!

Meanwhile, this is still the phrase that would have me concerned until they actually issued a contract. And as I said, it looks like we won't even be driving to LA anyway, so I won't pursue it at this time.


"Certain restrictions may apply when picking up and dropping off at different locations, including additional fees. If the one way is permitted, we will contact you to advise of any restrictions and/or applicable fees."

yk

If you're still considering the one-way drop-off, I think it's worthwhile to give Autoeurope a call and see what they say. And if you make a reservation, they will email you the rental voucher which *should* spell out any extra fees (if any).

Perhaps you should go ahead and do this and report back, as I'm curious to know what the answer is.

You can always cancel your reservation afterwards.

Sue_xx_yy

Although you have been considering car rentals, I offer this as an alternative to flying sfo-lax, which you have been considering.

Book with Amtrak the following (this itinerary avoids the Coast Starlight train, which is chronically late)

1. 8:20 (or 10:20ish if preferred) Thruway bus at the Ferry Building, SF arriving Salinas, 10:50 (13:00ish if taking later bus.) Hertz offers pickup at the Salinas station - you drive from here to Carmel for your 1 night stay.

2. Next day, drop car back at Salinas, in time to get 10:55 Thruway bus to Paso Robles arriving 12:50. You either have a night in Paso Robles, and take a Thruway bus the next day to Santa Barbara, or continue on the same day on this bus to Santa Barbara- either way you arrive SBarbara 3 hours after departing Paso Robles, or about 5 hours total after leaving Salinas.

Note: ****

It might be possible to just throw away the ticket segment Salinas - Paso Robles if you are able to work out a cheap dropoff in Paso Robles for the car you picked up in Salinas, since this would allow you to drive a bit more of the coast as well as have a night in Carmel. This option would also take a little itinerary tinkering which I leave to you.

****

3. Spend a night in Santa Barbara.

Next day, take the Pacific Surfliner to Los Angeles Union station (about 3 hours). For anyone reading who is unfamiliar with the train system in California, note that Pacific Surfliner is a California Amtrak train - these generally have better on-time records than the national Amtrak trains like the Coast Starlight. Note also that this segment fulfills the 'book with train' segment requirement for booking Thruway buses. Thruway buses are fast, clean, and have an on-board lav (but no snack facilities, obviously.)

Total cost of Bus-Train ticket: about $70 each, less if you break the journey up less - there's also a slight discount for seniors.

onemoneygirl

So glad you're coming back to California... maybe we can help you this time! i'm sad that you won't be driving through the Central Coast... I was all ready to volunteer to host a GTG!!

Happy planning!

Gardyloo

I've rented at one location and dropped at another umpteen times over the past 20+ years and in general haven't encountered excessive drop fees or inflated rental rates.

Until recently. I think the majors saw this as ripe fruit to be plucked, so e.g. last night I was booking a one-day rental with pickup at SNA and drop at LAX and the rate was $120 higher for a basic car than just picking up and dropping at LAX. So I rescheduled by trip to arrive at LAX 90 min. earlier than I would have at SNA and will endure the 405 for 40 min. if it saves me $120.

So I'm not surprised others are encountering the same hassles. Tough times for businesses everywhere I suppose.

NeoPatrick

yk, I was curious too so I called. First of all AutoEurope does still have a "no drop off fee" within California (and also within Florida -- good to know for me for future use, since I can't seem to avoid drop off fees now between Naples and Ft. Lauderdale).

About the contact us -- I got a rather nebulous answer. He said those vehicles are very limited. He also mentioned that they "probably" can't guarantee one more than about a month ahead of time. At one point he said you can only request one -- but when I questioned him on that, he said, "oh no. We should be able to guarantee it." He did specifically say they couldn't book one now for June, for example, because they wouldn't know if they'd be available or not.

In any case, this idea is out of the picture for now -- but interesting for future use when one is hung up on drop off charges.
AutoEurope also does NOT charge for a second driver (including non family member-- which is often an issue for us -$10 a day extra can add up.)

Sue, the trip does not include time for a central coast trip. I'm trying to encourage my friends to make their trip longer, but they are hesitant to be gone more than 10 days total due to their huge menagerie of animals at home. With 5 of those nights already in Ashland, it doesn't leave much. They have now thought since they are going to California, they really should include a night or two in LA (where they lived for a time) to visit friends. So the LA to SF part is really all about getting there rather fast. Carmel came into the picture only because they've never been there -- having driven up from LA a lot, but only to Big Sur.

We may just drive down to Carmel for a day from SF, or drive down and spend our last night there before they fly home from SF (they can get a 1:30 PM flight). They are now looking at flying from Florida into LAX first for a night or two and then taking a flight up to meet us in SF for the rest of the trip.

NeoPatrick

I should also point out that AutoEurope rates are inclusive of CDW and theft protection insurance. That doesn't mean a lot to me since I have coverage anyway on credit card -- but for those who need to buy insurance, this can be a big savings by getting your car through Auto Europe.

yk

Thanks for checking that, Patrick. I didn't check the website, but if you were to pick a different class of vehicle, say midsize, did they have that available (as in "clickable booking")?

I hope this may benefit you (or anyone else) in the future. However, there has been an ongoing rant thread over on Europe board against AutoEurope/Europcar regarding the fuel refilling policy.

NeoPatrick

Yes, only the Durango (and maybe another car or two -- like convertibles?) were not available by just clicking and booking. All regular cars were.

Sue_xx_yy

Hey, if time is of the essence, they can still go by train/bus and save a bundle (to say nothing of saving driving.)

Hop aboard the bus at 06:05 arrive Santa Barbara 13:45, change to Pacific Surfliner leaving 14:00 arrive Los Angeles 16:55.

Cost: $50 bucks each regular fare.

Not my idea of a vacation to do it in one mad eleven hour dash, but hey, they get to LA the same day, for about the price of gas for the Durango.

And yes, I also prefer the ease and freedom of self-drive, but then the car rental companies are going to call the tune. One must pick one's poison, I fear.

Anyway, hope your friends enjoy the trip.

NeoPatrick

Sue, I think you've missed the point in my messages that their plans are now to fly first to LAX, then fly up to meet us at SFO airport -- about noon when we arrive so we can all drive up that same day to Ashland. Besides they can include their flight on their FF miles ticket.

clarkgriswold

Doesn't the credit card only cover COLLISION insurance? In California, and a couple of other states, the car companies are no longer required to provide any liability coverage on their cars, so you must have a home/car policy that will take care of you while renting....or purchase liability coverage at the counter.

NeoPatrick

Things keep changing, but my Citibank cards have always offered full coverage in the past. Maybe it's worth checking again just to be sure.

I've even posted in the past about how we were talked into declining ALL insurance on an Avis (AutoEurope) car in the UK, and as a result when we totalled the car (don't ask) Citibank paid everything -- way better than the purchased insurance would have been.

But maybe I need to check again on US insurance.

NeoPatrick

OK, I've been on the phone this morning.

My Geico personal car insurance gives me exactly the same full liability and collision coverage on rental cars (up to 31 days each) that I have. My credit card also provides $50,000 collision/theft/replacement so long as I decline ALL optional insurance with the car rental agency. That coverage is in all states (and MOST foreign countries), Canada and Mexico included. It is also a no-deductible, but it is secondary coverage only, so presumably my Geico would actually pay that.

So the bottom line -- taking ANY insurance with the rental car agency is throwing money away. That's just what we learned when an AutoEurope rep strongly suggested we'd be smarter NOT taking any of their insurance. I was glad we didn't as it ended up saving us well over $1000 between the extra cost of the insurance and what would have been a "deductible" if we hadn't declined their insurance and the credit card would NOT pay.