Airport Car rental-California

[wtpfan]

We are planning a trip to Southern California Aug 9-19 with only 2 days max planned at Disneyland. I usually plan way in advance but we just confirmed our schedules (me, hubby and 2 teens). We have never been to California.

We are currently looking at flying into and out of Oakland (best price/times) but I want to make sure I can get a good deal on a car before booking. I just want to make sure it isn't better to book another airport based on easiness/deal of car rental.

Can anyone help with advice/coupon codes for car rentals at Oakland or other airports that will help make my decision.

The main things we are planning to do are:

SF-Alcatraz, trolley ride, golden gate bridge
Drive down coast
Santa Monica
Hollywood
TMZ tour
Beaches/towns from LA to SanDiego
Disneyland - 1 to 2 days
shopping

We'll work out where we want to stay based on refining this plan. But want to book flights/car ASAP.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bcla]

As long as you don't prepay (I've never been asked for a credit card or any deposit), you're not obligated to pay for a car rental. I've had as many as three open car rental reservations open (including two with the same company), but cancelled all but the cheapest.

Once my wife needed a car because her's was in the shop. The cheapest place I could find was Oakland Airport for less than 24 hours. The base rate was about $12/day through Dollar, booked just the day before. You can find great rates sometimes, but it's a volatile market. The advantage the renter has is that there is no obligation to rent. She bailed on renting (recruited me as a driver) and the agent at the counter said she'd cancel the reservation on the spot.

What I normally do is check on Priceline. When I find a good price I see if the direct website has the same rates. I would also warn against the low-end companies like Fox, Payless, EZ, or Advantage. They're are too many warnings against damage scams from these companies.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Also when looking to rent make sure it is big enough vehicle for your luggage as well. You can check all the sites at the airport online to find the best deal. I also learned that my regular insurance ( paying an extra 25 a month will cover for all accidents ) rather than paying their price. So check with your insurance as well. Just an FYI. If you plan on going to Alcatraz buy your tickets online before going as they sell out and you may not get any if you try to buy from the window.

 

[wtpfan]

Thanks for the great tips

Does anyone have any specific codes for rentals within California?

 

[Fantaluminishes]

Have you checked all Bay Area airports? Oakland is convenient, but SFO can often be cheaper. I'm talking about the flights. Not rental cars. Because I live here, I don't need to rent cars.

 

[wtpfan]

Have you checked all Bay Area airports? Oakland is convenient, but SFO can often be cheaper. I'm talking about the flights. Not rental cars. Because I live here, I don't need to rent cars.

I do check all airports any chance I get but I find it difficult because I also have to check cars at the same time because I don't want to jump on a cheap flight with great times and then have to worry about an expensive rental car....ughhh

 

[bcla]

Have you checked all Bay Area airports? Oakland is convenient, but SFO can often be cheaper. I'm talking about the flights. Not rental cars. Because I live here, I don't need to rent cars.

SFO has a lot of issues with fog delays. It's referred to as "flow control", where the fog will force them to reduce their runway use to one runway each (for takeoffs and landings) under instrument flight rules. The parallel runways are spaced too closely for simultaneous landings without visual flight rules. SFO packs their flights so close to each other that they need to use all their runways in order to service all the scheduled flights.

OAK, SJC, and even SMF don't have issues even with fog. OAK and SJC don't have enough flights, and neither does SMF. OAK only runs one major runway. SJC has them close to each other, but they really only need one (even in bad weather) to operate without delays. SMF actually has two major runways spaced far apart, but their volume really only requires one.

 

[wtpfan]

SFO has a lot of issues with fog delays. It's referred to as "flow control", where the fog will force them to reduce their runway use to one runway each (for takeoffs and landings) under instrument flight rules. The parallel runways are spaced too closely for simultaneous landings without visual flight rules. SFO packs their flights so close to each other that they need to use all their runways in order to service all the scheduled flights.

OAK, SJC, and even SMF don't have issues even with fog. OAK and SJC don't have enough flights, and neither does SMF. OAK only runs one major runway. SJC has them close to each other, but they really only need one (even in bad weather) to operate without delays. SMF actually has two major runways spaced far apart, but their volume really only requires one.

Thanks bcla
So you think we are making a good choice with Oakland? Is it fairly simple to rent a car and be on our way and also return the car? We are planning to do some things in SF first then head down the coast to San Diego area. Only problem is that we have to come back up to fly back. Is there anything interesting to do if we drive back up the 5 the day before our 2 pm flight? It's a Tues. Thanks!

 

[bcla]

Thanks bcla
So you think we are making a good choice with Oakland? Is it fairly simple to rent a car and be on our way and also return the car? We are planning to do some things in SF first then head down the coast to San Diego area. Only problem is that we have to come back up to fly back. Is there anything interesting to do if we drive back up the 5 the day before our 2 pm flight? It's a Tues. Thanks!

Nothing wrong with OAK if you can get a good price. Access to the SFO rental car center is through the AirTrain shuttle. I've only taken that for travel to the BART station from one of the domestic terminals.

OAK used to have the rental car center right next to Terminal 2, but that was years ago. Now it's at a consolidated offsite rental car center just off of Doolittle Drive with airport shuttles (sort of like Las Vegas) instead of company-specific shuttles like some airports.

https://goo.gl/maps/iPc9I

As for what to do - there's plenty if you mean you have a full day before your flight. I'd recommend Yosemite. It might help if you can break up who drives though. It's about 6 hours to get there from San Diego and about another 3-1/2 hours to get to the Bay Area. I could see spending maybe 3 hours in Yosemite Valley. Not ideal but I think it's still worth it if you've never been there. I would say there won't be any waterfalls though. Yosemite Falls will probably be dry by Aug with the low snow year. Maybe Bridalveil will be a trickle.