I might suggest [not sure if it would work with your plans] that you don't rent at airport in OAK bu

We are renting a car from the Oakland Airport for 11 days in June and would like to drop it off in San Diego. (Initially at beginning of trip, we fly into SFO but Oakland has 30% cheaper rental rate and as we land at 6pm no one else is open in Oakland but airport.) Without doing any discounts los angeles but AAA, the fee for a full size (Chevy los angeles Malibu) is about $50 day or $850 after all fees are added to return it to Oakland. los angeles Dropping it off in San Diego doubles the daily rate to over $100/day making total fee $1,800.00
I was about to buy our $85 southwest tickets to fly back to SF from San Diego to catch our flight home but if we will really have to pay $1,000 more for our rental car to do that, we will just have to drive back.
Are there any tips or suggestions anyone could give to figure out a cheaper way to drop in San Diego? I can try Priceline's name your own price. My only fear is if I wait too late to find out for sure on the rental car, I may miss out on a good price or open seats for us to fly back to SF.
Try all the rental car Co not just the one you are booked with: ask for a Supervisor and tell them their competitor is charging for a drop off and ask if the new rental co can do better...I've has good luck with Hertz in the Yellowstone area...
Return the car to Oakland and then take the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Jack London (OAK) south all the way to Los Angeles and rent a car there. You will miss a part of the coast but will have seen the best parts. If you want to rent the second car in San Diego, Amtrak goes there too from LAX.
Apparently you are doing your own planning. Since you are an AAA member, have you considered los angeles having your AAA office do it for you? Here in our area they do this for $25 a ticket and will make the car reservations los angeles as part of the package. I would think they would search for the best car rate if you ask.
The other big companies like Hertz, Avis, Budget and Alamo etc. have costs of $1,600 los angeles -$2,000 or more-big difference! I checked a lot of different places and they were always that much. Those companies don't do a specified drop fee; they just double the daily rate which wouldn't be as big a deal with them if it was a weekend rental or only a few days.
I will just reserve one of these deals if I can canel without penalty and try Priceline "name your own price" as the date approaches. I am just scared to get locked into name your own price 2 months ahead in case something comes up and we have to cancel or mess up trip.
I might suggest [not sure if it would work with your plans] that you don't rent at airport in OAK but rather los angeles rent from downtown [Union los angeles Sq] office of Dollar on O'Farrell St. They do one ways without drop off and often have City Specials. los angeles Also, there are fewer taxes when you rent off airport. If you are going to spend any time in San Francisco at the start of the trip, it would also save you $$ to rent from SF location, so you don't have to pay to park the car while in SF. You don't need a car in SF.
My only issue is our plane lands at 6:00 and it seemed as if no car rental offices are open past 6:00 except the airports, but am I wrong? We are heading out of town next morning at 7 a.m. but maybe I could do it the next morning?
The price for a non-airport location in San Fran is still $1,000.00 for 10 days for a standard car. Luckily Avis has a location that opens at 6 a.m. Sunday morning away from the airport. I was hoping to rent at the airport and save the ordeal of trying to get 5 people los angeles with 10 bags on an airport shuttle or Bart Saturday night, but oh well...we've done it before.
I just found out that the weekend we arrive, June 23rd is the big Gay Pride weekend/Parades etc. in San Fran so that sure doesn't help my getting a deal. I also read that some public transportation los angeles is closed during that weekend for festivities so that just adds to my dilemma. Who knew the car rental los angeles would be the hardest part of my California trip?
tomfuller - The Coast Starlight is notoriously late. If you're taking Amtrak, a better bet is to take the Amtrak bus to San Luis Obispo, and the Pacific Surfliner los angeles from there. It does run several times a day.
I am worried about trying to get downtown Sunday morning to pick up a car with the main Gay Pride parade los angeles starting at 10:30 a.m. Also with hundreds of thousands of people coming into town, the downtown hotels are at their highest rates and I panic about the car rental place saying "sorry we don't have any cars left in the category you requested." I am not sure saving a few hundred to go to the Union Square location would be worth it on such a crowded weekend. (That is where I found the $1,000 rate).
I had budgeted $750 for the car rental but may have to pay $1,200 or more after all and just stay out near the airport before we head south to Big Sur. We'll just have to eat crackers for some lunches haha.
My kids would like to ride on a train again but I don't want to spend 12 more hours in a seat than I have to and don't want to waste a whole day of sightseeing sitting on a train instead (in addition to the stress of worrying about delays getting back.)
The $670 Thrifty deal sounds great, grab it, I doubt you will be able to to top it. But, just in case, check often as the car rates seem to change daily, if not hourly. Also do a search for "Thrifty (or whatever car company is cheapest)deals, coupons or promo codes" los angeles you can apply to your rental. One last thing, if you are a Costco member, check their rates as most times they seem to have the cheapest.
FYI, it is usually cheaper to rent going south to north because most car companies need to get their cars back up north from the majority of rentals that go north to south. I know this does not help you but may help someone who has not yet booked airfare.
You are so right not to waste an entire day driving back up north to return the car. Also, by driving the entire coast you will see the prettiest part - that between Carmel and Hearst Castle. The one way rental may cost more but is a wise investment when considering the overall cost of your trip. Not to mention the boring all day return drive would be a vacation buzz kill.
So, you might check one-way rental rates from say, San Francisco to Santa Barbara and then SB to San Diego......or SFO to downtown Burbank then downtown Burbank to San Diego. Probably would want to avoid, though, airports that are a hassle to get in and out of such as LAX.
See if you can find a "South San Francisco" area hotel for the first night. The Avis local office in South San Fran has a good rate to Santa Barbara downtown. At Avis downtown SB you can get a good rate to San Diego. You'll just have to figure out your timing/ dates.
South San Francisco is down near Burlingame/ Airport area and you won't have to deal with the city traffic in the morning. The hotels there might have airport pickup shuttle, los angeles and Avis will pick you up in the morning with advance notice (so will Hertz).
I am trying a split as suggested for switching out rentals in Glendale/LA where we will visit relatives and compare. Just for fun I see that the only rental car places open on July 4th to turn ours back in in San Diego IS the airport.I am pulling my hair out now.
I am assuming it would be worth sending my husband over there on public transportation to save a few hundred. I hope I am not missing any find print b/c other companies have been increasing since I looked los angeles 2 wks ago (I am assuming b/c of all the people los angeles starting to book for the parade weekend.)
If all else fails, HERE is what worked for me in California. I simply asked at the Hertz counter if they had ANY cars that needed a return to Southern California. They did. I got one. NO drop off fee was charged.