Seamus

Silly doesn't begin to describe that idea. Your friends should take the money they spend on taxi fare and pay for some family therapy.

janisj

emcash has never returned to the thread - maybe it wasn't a serious question???

emcash

No it was a serious question- I just got sidetracked. Thank you all for your answers- even the judgy ones ;-)

It is going to cost us about 600 to rent the car and valet it at the hotels for a week- that was my main question- for all that $$ Maybe easier to just use cabs and uber and not have the hassle of taking the wrong highway at the wrong time and getting frustrated. While i know i could be sitting in traffic in a cab, i would imagine a cab driver knows better routes than i would.

But that being said, looks like we will rent a car.. really wanted to know if it was crazy to think otherwise and CLEARLY it is.
Thank you to tabernash2 for the WAZE suggestion- that sounds like a great idea.

Tabernash2

Yes, I depend on WAZE regularly, even in my home town because I have absolutely no sense of direction.

Those valet fees are annoying, especially in a city where cars are a necessity. Many restaurants insist on valet parking your car, too, when self-parking is readily available. It's kind of unavoidable.

Enjoy LA. It's a patchwork quilt of little neighborhoods which you don't realize if you stay on the freeways.

IMDonehere

That is a lot of money for a car at LAX.

clarkgriswold

I would still like to know how Tabernash's mathematics allow 150,000 rental cars in the entire state of California to handle a majority of the 45 million tourists annually just in Los Angeles.

Tabernash2

Sorry, clark, I didn't do any math. Consider that some tourists are visiting family and don't need a car, or are visiting SF where a car is not necessary, or are attending a conference and don't have time to tour around, etc. etc.

I'm curious about your math: only 150,000 rentals cars in the entire state? That's amazing, if correct.

emcash

IMDonehere, it''s 400 for a full size car for a week. 30 ish a night to valet and gas.

Tabernash2

Midsize might be large enough for 3. Street parking spaces are tight.

You've never been to LA? Be sure to post more questions/threads on things to do there, and check the thread for places to 'eat like a local in LA'.

It's a tough town to navigate if you dont know where and when to go someplace, and the route to take.

I actually keep WAZE set to avoid freeways, when I'm around Culver City, Santa Monica, or Marina del Rey, the places we frequent. Be sure to set it to freeways if you take a longer drive, like to Newport Beach, for instance.

emcash

Thanks so much tabernash.
We are tall stock, so a full size it must be And a full size in rentacar speak is not full size anyway

Tabernash2

I know! Rental car sizes are a joke.

Some favorite places: the Getty Villa, the Getty Center, Newport Beach & its Crab Cooker funky & delicious restaurant. Lots of little surprise pockets in the city, like Culver City downtown.

emcash

Thanks Tabernash- much appreciated!!

Tabernash2

I love visiting LA, and lived in Big Bear Lake for a few years. I'd be happy to answer your questions, as will most fodorites. Ask away. Only start a new thread to do it.

Italophile

I don't drive at all (epilepsy-related), but recently visited with my sister who does drive. I have a friend I travel often with who also doesn't drive (she has poor vision) so we are often stuck for transport in cities without good public transport. My recommendation for this family would be stay near Hollywood and use the coloured hop-on hop-off buses that ply the most popular spots every day. One price for the day. I think it's a reasonable alternative.

janisj

Clark: Your 'stats' are a bit misleading. Yes, LA gets approx 40 million visitors a year. But of those, less than 30 million spend even one night. More than 10 million are day trippers from nearby. Plus most people from California/Nevada/Arizona who visit LA drive their own vehicles there.

Then - a large % of foreign visitors (especially from Asia) are on group tours so would never need to rent a car. The actual number of folks flying in and possibly needing a car is less than 1/4 of your 40 million.

clarkgriswold

Yeah, let's advise all ten million of them to rent a car. Just what those freeways need.

Sigh

janisj

That is 10,000,000 in the course of a year. And that is total numbers - most are families/groups so when actual potential rental are probably less than 5,000,000 max. And that is only the max potential, most likely around 3,000,000. And most fly-in's are multi day visits.

So maximum maybe a couple of thousand rentals a day. and probably less.

IMDonehere

Very often there are extra fees at an airport. Did you look at rates near your hotel? It may be much cheaper to take a cab to hotel and then rent from a nearby facility. Whenever I rented LAX, it was on the company but at Ft. Lauderdale when I visit my mother I take a cab to rental facility off the airport premises and save hundreds of dollars.

rjw_lgb_ca

Now a quick word from someone who lives in LA Metro and works in a hot tourist area (Santa Monica, to be precise):

People who come to LA Metro on vacation and are not part of a tour group DO rent cars. LOTS of them. I see them 24-7 on our roads, driving those mid-market sedans below the speed limit while they try to find their way to Venice or Hollywood or Disneyland, yelling "why aren't they all in the same damn place?"

My advice always is: Just rent the car. LA Metro is larger than many countries, and there's a lot of interesting stuff to see. Most of which will be beyond walking distance. If you can spring for GPS (or have your own to bring with you), go for it; LA's roads aren't that crazily laid-out, but there are a lot of them. And relax and enjoy yourself-- you'll be on vacation!

Cjar

I hate to say it and add to the already enormous mess of a highway system, but ,yes, you really do need to rent a car. As mentioned everything is way too spread out. We have family in Burbank, Chatsworth and Huntington Beach and I grew up there myself. Southern California is not community transport friendly. They have made some efforts in recent years like the metro , but its range and accessibility is nowhere near what public transport is in other cities.
You really will spend a ton of money and waste precious hard earned vacation time using cabs and buses. There is a lot to see and do so plan your time wisely and have fun. Let the other rabid drivers do as they may, stay out of the fast lane and bring a couple forms of gps. I prefer my phone to my husband's for directions and he prefers the car's