Juldie

I am very shocked to see car rental prices like this. $1000. I assume this is because I'm picking the car up in one state and dropping it off in another. I know some states do not charge one way drop off fees but apparently NM isn't one of them. Does anyone out there in Fodor's land have any suggestions of certain car rental companies locally to NM or CO who don't charge one way fees? I can fly int DEN or ABQ , pick up car and drop off in LAX. If anyone can help me I would be so grateful. Thank you.

janisj

It really has nothing to do with which state. Or dropping in a different state. Even within the same state drop off fees will vary by city pair. Often sacramento to LA will have no or low one way charges, but LA to Sac will have huge fees. Plus rental cars are just more expensive than they used to be.

Jean

It also depends on how many days of rental, what type of vehicle, and which rental company.

I did a dummy search on Enterprise for a 3-day rental in mid-September from ABQ to LAX. Compact car was $408, and Premium SUV was $702 (with lots of options in between). The 5-day rates for the same cars, same week, jumped to $680 and $1065.

Juldie

janisj - interesting, I've always noticed in Florida over the years that when I've flown into one airport and out of another there were never any additional fees for the car rental. So, I've thought certain states charge one way fees and others don't. Thanks for this info.

Juldie

Jean, thank you for your little experiment on my behalf. It's quite time consuming isn't it to check all of the car rental companies and different configurations of dates. I wish there was an easier way.

k_marie

Are you a Costco member? No recent experience but I have found good deals on rental cars with them. The number of companies is limited.

Juldie

K_marie, I am not a Costco member.

mrwunrfl

expedia mid-size suv
abq-lax sep 18-22 $600 total

But assuming you want a car for in Albuiqurque for three days and then want to drive to LAX You return the car back to ABQ at the end of the three days. Get a new rental there and you have 24 hours to make the 12-hour drive to LAX.
abq-abq sep 18-21 $166 total
abq-lax sep 21-22 $150 total

costco intermediate car is $228 for 3 days and then $125 for the one-way

Jean

mrwunrfl presents a clever alternative, depending on your actual needs for the car. However, most people wouldn't want to make the drive to L.A. non-stop, and if you plan any sightseeing and meals along the way it will take a lot longer than 12 hours.

Juldie

mrwunrfl: That's interesting. In our case we would be spending days traveling from ABQ to the west coast. But thank you.

mrwunrfl

Jean, it would be a 24-hour rental. Subtract 12 hours of driving over the two calendar days and you have 12 hours for food, fuel, sleep.

Juldie, just avoid using the car for local travel on either end of the trip.

Jean

Just note that that's not what they want to do. But it was a genius idea for someone wanting to reach L.A. asap.

mrwunrfl

How many days? That $1000 price could be a great deal. What dates?

Where do you want to stop and for how long in each?

What type of vehicle do you require? I see that an economy car can have a &73 daily rate while a full size car is $47. The daily rate can decrease with a longer keep.

mrwunrfl

One more thought. Your itinerary sounds flexible given that you are willing to start in ABQ or DEN. Here is another idea: make a driving loop from/to ABQ. For example, get a one-week rental ABQ-ABQ for $236 and then fly ABQ to LAX for $115 pp.

Juldie

mrwunrfl- i so appreciate you giving my predicament so much thought and consideration. Your idea is very sound if we weren't going to need a car in Los Angeles, but we do. I am curious if the prices you are stating - are they from Expedia or Costco? Thanks!

mrwunrfl

Why are you asking that question?

The ideas I have given are sound and still apply to you. Go back to reply #8 and think it through. Maybe somebody else can explain it to you. You didn't answer my questions and so I have pretty much lost my patience.

Juldie

mrwunrfl: I apologize for missing your reference previously stated in post #8 of the rates from Expedia and Costco. Thank you very much for your help.

clarkgriswold

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned picking up at a "local office" instead of the airport. Local car rental offices have lower fees attached, usually.

I saw a week from Albuquerque Airport to LAX for $810 with Enterprise, but it drops to $560 if you pick up at an Enterprise location a few miles away. So a $30 uber/Taxi ride could save you $220.

Also there's a 15% off deal on the Enterprise website for picking up at a "local" office instead of the airport. (the coupon only seems to take off 10% though

The caveat is that local offices aren't open on Sundays and usually close around 5pm on weekdays.

mrwunrfl

Ok, but I referred you to that post because it gave an example where you might want a car for a few days in Albuquerque before driving to LAX.

The same idea can be used if you want a car in LA.

Drive the car, however long it takes, from ABQ to LAX and turn it in. Then start a new rental at LAX and return to LAX after however many days you need. The daily rate for that car could be less than the daily rate for the one-way rental.

>> Why are you asking that question?
I asked that because your question was unnecessary. You could have just gone to expedia. You can also check costco even though you are not a member. You can also check at AARP.