Best car rental options at LAX?

I 'm in LA for 9 days in a couple of weeks time, and need a low-cost rental car, and preferably one where I don't have to queue up for hours to get it either! Can anyone suggest good rental companies with competitive pricing AND hopefully queues that aren't too long when picking the car up...! Any alternative ideas welcome (but I DO have to have a car - for various reasons).

Thanks.

Hi vizbiz, As far as 'best' goes, I think thats always down to personal choice and experiences.

All of the car rental locations are off airport. This came as a shock to us initially because we had always rented in Florida where the rental garages are on-site. At LA the car rental bus picks people up from the airport and then its a short drive to the locations and all the popular ones are very close by.

We are flying into LA in 6 weeks and I waited and waited for a good deal. Suddenly Hertz are offering 25% discount, which has saved us alot of cash. This is brilliant for us because we stay overnight at the Marriott LAX hotel and Hertz have a rental desk in the lobby.. Win win for us.

I've seen lots of recommendations for Alamo coz of extra VS air miles but their quotes was far more expensive than Hertz. I've also read good reports about Avis. Another tip I picked up from the forum, was not to opt for a fuel package. Its so easy to agree to this but in my opinion they rip you off to the extent of £40+ on a 2week rental.

Hope that helps a bit.

I don't know much about LAX as I've driven past it but never flown into it, but for the last few years in Florida/LAS we've used Alamo booked via Virgin's website. We've found that when you add extras it isn't that much more than others if at all, but the main reason is you can choose not to go to the desk with "skip the counter" via online check-in. Just walk straight to where the cars are parked and choose one in the category you have selected and drive it to the kiosk before the exit. Pick up the satnav if you've asked for one, give them the CC you paid with and off you go. No hard sell and you get to sit in and try each car for size before you go. Other companies may do it too - but saves time and hassle.

We flew into LAX 2 weeks ago, we booked and prepaid for a car with AVIS after joining their loyalty scheme.

We found for the 7 seater/ 5 suitcase SUV ( Suburban ) AVIS were hands down the cheapest.

Getting to them is super easy, just go out side and get on the AVIS bus which goes by every few mins .

Something we didn't realise is because we had joined their loyalty scheme were we preferred members so should have got off the bus at the preferred kiosk but we stayed on to the regular kiosk which caused a few problems and delay. We did drive away with a Lincoln Navigator for only £20 more though so not all bad

Also, if you click though the Virgin Atlantic Partners you get miles as well.

Hope that helps

Si

In March I'm landing on my first flight into LAX in about 10 years so the car hire info was definitely of interest to me - thanks to all who posted.

I eventually booked through Autoeurope as they offer no cancellation fees right up until 48 hours before booking - which meant I could make a booking at same time as I booked (reward) flight then I keep rechecking regularly to see if a new better rate comes up or if I fancy a different car then just choose to modify the booking (don't have to cancel and rebook to get new rates even if with another rental company).

Originally I was going to have a Mustang convertible but then a change in trip circumstances meant I needed something bigger so modified (easily, with difference refunded automatically) to a Dodge Grand Caravan.

This morning I checked prices again and there was an extra promo from Alamo since I last modified on Monday for the Dodge so I modified again to pick that and saved myself nearly £50 more (again difference refunded automatically)

I did try to use Skyscanner last year as they do include the 'local' car rental agencies at much cheaper prices but on that trip I found their basic prices brilliant but by the time I'd finished adding on the CDW, zero excess etcetera it wasn't much cheaper than one of the national/ international car rental agencies and I just felt happier knowing that as I drove around on 'tour' if I had an issue with the car I could go to another branch of the national/ international car rental agency and swap the car whereas with a more 'local' one I could have issues out of state etcetera