Driving to LA
 

Hey guys,

My friends and I were contemplating a drive down to LA to visit around and also go to a concert. Since I am a complete noob when it comes to driving that far I was hoping to get some advice from you guys. The farthest I've driven was about 500 km from Ottawa to Toronto and we rented a car from hertz. This time, however, we're going over 2000 kms and into the States so I would appreciate some help.

My question is:
For a 3-4 day, 2-3 night stay, we were thinking of renting a car.

Would it be okay to just rent one in vancouver and drive down there or would that be too expensive? I've heard people say you should rent when you're in the states...

It seems my options would be:
1. Rent in Vancouver and drive down there (unlimited mileage package etc..)
2. Bus to Seattle or something, then rent and drive down there.
3. Bus all the way to LA, then rent in LA...

note that the oldest of us is only 22 so iono how that affects rent other than being more expensive (dunno about the states).

I was wondering which option would be best and most inexpensive and if there are better options?

Thanks

EDIT: forgot to mention the trip will be in early september if this makes any difference

u DEFINATELY do not want to bus to LA.... it's cheaper even to fly there from bellingham through allegiant air. $60 each way per person.

if you want to go on a road trip, cheapest would probably be have someone drop you off at bellingham then rent a car there and drive down/up if you want to go on a roadtrip. otherwise fly there on allegiant from bellingham

If you're 22, you might want to just drive your own car down there. A lot of the rental car agencies charge an extra surcharge for younger drivers. You may want to look into this to find out how much they charge.

Like J mentioned, just fly to LA from Bellingham. Saves you a whole lot of driving unless you want to make a road trip out of it and stop at a bunch of places along the way. You'll probably want to rent a car when you get to LA though, so check into their younger driver policies.

The "Underage Fees" charged by car rental fees are typically $25-$50 per day and can easily add up to be quite the expensive cost.

Dont' forget, not all car rental companies allow you to drive out of state, especially if you rent from Canada. Your best options at this point are:

1. J__'s suggestion but check with car rental company (if you're okay with the underage fee)
2. Fly there from Bellingham
3. Drive your own car

any ideas of where to rent a car for cheap in LA?

In for this thread, I'll be in LA in October for a week & would like to know my options. Flying definitely sounds like the best option so far.

^
Take a thorough look at this thread

take the train yo!

Van - Portland , $140 USD R/T - 8hrs-ish
Portland - LAX -- look it up on www.amtrak.com

Umm...don't take the train. It was one of the worst travel experiences I ever had going from Vancouver to Los Angeles by means of Amtrak.

www.hotwire.com






ya, train via amtrak is rediculous. Slow, expensive and inefficient. For half the price of a train ticket, you can fly down for a fraction of the time.

thanks for the advice so far guys
been busy lately but I will take the time to go over your suggestions thoroughly tomorrow.
Just thought I'd ask though, bcrdukes, does the rogers code still work for enterprise?

thanks

edit: sorry I think I forgot to mention I'm going in early September if that makes any difference

As far as I know, yes, however, I haven't used that code in a while myself.

LA traffic is a nightmare. Be forewarned!!

are u going to LA for SM Town World Tour?

^
lol yeah you got it. I also have relatives there so it won't just be for the concert.

btw
Do you guys think taking the bus to Bellingham, then renting a car there (potentially from enterprise) would be worth it in terms of cost?

I don't think there's any way for my friends and I to be dropped off so we'll probably have to take the bus. We want to have a road trip so we're thinking of doing that.
I'll have to test out that coupon code on Enterprise, last time I tried it didn't seem to work =/

I cannot seem to find any cheap flights from Bellingham to LA during the period of Sept 2 to Sept 6. Not even Allegiant Air. I guess it isn't the right time.

I called enterprise and whether you rent in Vancouver or Bellingham, you can only take the car to neighbouring provinces/states, so no long road trip to LA.
It seems if we really wanted to rent a car to take to LA we'd have to go through National Car Rental or some other place...

just wondering if you guys have any other recommendations? I would love to be able to fly down to LA then rent there but I cannot find any flights from Bellingham to LA during the early september period (3rd to 5th). Only found flights from Vancouver or Seattle and they are $300+...

I guess it just isn't the right time to fly?

Another option is to drive down to SeaTac Airport, do the Park'n'Fly option (there's a thread - please search) and fly down to LAX with Virgin America. Thing is, the costs may add up so you're better off just flying from Vancouver. It's summer season but when school is back in session, prices will drop.

just an update actually
I talked to Hertz, and with 2 coupon codes, 1 for 20% off and 1 that waives the underage fee I secured a 4 day rental for $172 after all taxes and charges. There was an addition $24 charge for "premium location" because the location I chose was for YVR (tried other locations and some were closed during my return date, and some were more expensive)
Unlimited mileage no restrictions so I can drive to LA. Well there is one restriction, no Mexico but that's perfectly fine.

Best I can do it seems lol.

Insurance, I'm just gonna buy it from ICBC, $10/day minimum 2 days. Way way better than the $36/day quoted by hertz.

i fuking hate hertz, rip off on the small stuff. They charge $25 a day for under 25 as well.

yeah but i have a coupon code that makes the overall rate cheaper,
plus on their website they are advertising a PC code that waives the underage fee
so all in all my best option so far.

don't forget to get extra insurance coverage for over the border.

Wanna pass on the coupon codes? This might be useful
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How long is the drive down to bellingham from van/surrey?

From the border it's about 15minutes or so..... dpends where you live and how long it takes you to get to the border + border wait times + 15 minutes.

I've driven down to LA before about 3 years ago, and gas going there and back was over $500. So just factor that in as well, plus driving around socal is quite a bit on gas as well, especially when you get stuck on the freeways.