Car hire: one-way from LA to Vegas. Any recommendations?

Hi,

My girlfriend and I have a west coast trip planned for July this year and the last piece of the puzzle is how to get from LA to Vegas. We'd like to drive, so we can say we've had a 'road trip' but booking a car is beginning to look like a minefield of possible hidden charges. Some providers are upfront with large one-way fees, while others talk about the 'possibility' of additional fees without detailing them.

Do any of you good folk have experience in this area and have any recommendations or horror stories?

Thanks,

Tim.

I believe Dollar do not charge a one way fee I in California, Nevada and Arizona.

We have never been charged any one way fees by Dollar in CA or NV. That said, those bookings were made via VH so I'm not sure whether that made any difference.

You're on the money in trying to avoid them. We knew we'd have to pay them for a one way SFO - SEA drive; I think it doubled the hire charge.

Paul

We used Dollar from LV to SFO. Didn't get charged out of state charges. We picked the car up from the Bellagio hotel rental kiosk but I think it's only the Treasure Island hotel which actually has a pickup/drop off location now, so you'd need to use this, the airport or the main downtown location drop off and then get a cab to wherever you're staying. Hotel drop off kiosks are best if possible.
If you didn't want to drive, there's a number of airlines doing the quick hop from LA to LAS which often works out very cheap but perhaps you plan to drive thru the grand canyon on your road trip to las Vegas?
Either way enjoy your trip - it'll be incredibly hot in LV.

I have been charged, or at least tried to get charged a one-way charge from CA to NV by a number of the rental companies when using the on-line method of reservations.
There are two ways around it, go in person to the car hire location or us a UK based company before you go.
When I book from the UK I personally always use http://www.carhire3000.co.com

Have just booked a return La to Las car hire with platinum insurance with Virgin Holidays, for small SUV for 14days and it came to £356. Actually got to speak to a real person and they have an offer on at the moment for Sat Nav for only about£1.50 per day extra.

At least this figure will give you an idea on what you may be charged for a one way price, there are plenty of pick ups in La and drop offs in Vegas.

Have a great holiday and yes it will be probably in the 40's in Vegas it can get very weary out of the air conditioned environment.

Good afternoon

I used Hertz one way LA-Vegas with no extra charges. About a five hour drive. Not wise to come off plane and straight to the drive as the desert bit somewhat boring. I stopped in the Courtyard in Hesperia http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel ... -hesperia/
for my o-night, about $100, clean and choice of Denny's or Golden Corral for B'fast in the morning. In & Out burger also there. Then 4 hour drive to the strip.

Hope that helps

Bob

Thank you all, I'll take a closer look at Dollar. We're spending a few days in each of LA, Vegas, San Francisco and Napa Valley so no worries about stepping off the plane and driving to Vegas. We're flying from Vegas to SFO as we don't want to spend too much time on the road per se but thought a 5 or 6 hour drive from LA to Vegas would be enjoyable - until we saw the one-way charges for an SUV at $500! :0

Dollar don't charge for one ways either LAX- LAS or in reverse. I generally use http://www.usrentacar.co.uk as their all inclusive plat package is usually way cheaper than Hertz (even with my plat discount). Be warned - the drive although easy, isn't exactly rivetting (but the In'N' Out Burger stop makes it bearable ): ). Barstow is a pretty weird place :0 .Depending on the day of travel the traffic can be very heavy and it will get VERY hot on the way- we generally leave early (stopping at Ontario Mills regardless of departure point ) .
DL

Dollar don't charge for one ways either LAX- LAS or in reverse. I generally use http://www.usrentacar.co.uk as their all inclusive plat package is usually way cheaper than Hertz (even with my plat discount). Be warned - the drive although easy, isn't exactly rivetting (but the In'N' Out Burger stop makes it bearable ): ). Barstow is a pretty weird place :0 .Depending on the day of travel the traffic can be very heavy and it will get VERY hot on the way- we generally leave early (stopping at Ontario Mills regardless of departure point ) .
DL

I ditto every single work the Dear Lady Dragon wrote.

Dollar don't charge for one ways either LAX- LAS or in reverse. I generally use http://www.usrentacar.co.uk as their all inclusive plat package is usually way cheaper than Hertz (even with my plat discount). Be warned - the drive although easy, isn't exactly rivetting (but the In'N' Out Burger stop makes it bearable ): ). Barstow is a pretty weird place :0 .Depending on the day of travel the traffic can be very heavy and it will get VERY hot on the way- we generally leave early (stopping at Ontario Mills regardless of departure point ) .
DL

I ditto every single work the Dear Lady Dragon wrote.

Double ditto. Though I do find the weirdness in some places quite interesting....but then again I always have to remind myself that there is picturesque weird and Manson weird out there in the desert.

I am doing this LA-Vegas drive next month and I'm renting with Dollar through usrentacar.co.uk

They do have free one way rental with Dollar but be warn that you will have to pay a full tank of fuel whether it is prepay or on pick up.

I am doing this LA-Vegas drive next month and I'm renting with Dollar through usrentacar.co.uk

They do have free one way rental with Dollar but be warn that you will have to pay a full tank of fuel whether it is prepay or on pick up.

If you opt for the gold or plat option a tank of fuel is included .
DL

[Darren Wheeler]

Another vote for usrentacar here too. One thing I have noticed with Dollar though is that the average age of the fleet is getting older, but that's just them getting their monies worth.

One tip, check to see if the Sirrius satellite radio works on all channels before you take it. Some of the older cars subscriptions have expired.


Remember to check out the giant thermometer in Baker

Good afternoon

I used Hertz one way LA-Vegas with no extra charges. About a five hour drive. Not wise to come off plane and straight to the drive as the desert bit somewhat boring. I stopped in the Courtyard in Hesperia http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel ... -hesperia/
for my o-night, about $100, clean and choice of Denny's or Golden Corral for B'fast in the morning. In & Out burger also there. Then 4 hour drive to the strip.

Hope that helps

Bob

+1, when we used Hertz we got a nice car with nav built in too (only booked and paid for Sirius).

We came straight off the flight via secondary immigration and then arrived in LAS about 11pm. Almost falling asleep on arrival - would def overnight en route if doing it again!

We drove Vegas to LAX on Thursday and I do not recommend Alamo. On collection hubby was told it would be a $150 one way charge. Despite firstly not being charged for the outbound journey and despite our booking confirmation explicitly stating "one way fee $0.00". They were particularly unhelpful and simply told hubby to call our travel/booking agent back in the UK - at $3 a minute on the mobile no chance. Thankfully we still had money on a phone card left. The upshot was we had to pay it and told it would be refunded. Not impressed with the service (or lack thereof) at the Alamo desk.

That's so odd, I've rented with Alamo, Dollar & Hertz for years and never been charged one way drops between CA & NV.

We drove Vegas to LAX on Thursday and I do not recommend Alamo. On collection hubby was told it would be a $150 one way charge. Despite firstly not being charged for the outbound journey and despite our booking confirmation explicitly stating "one way fee $0.00". They were particularly unhelpful and simply told hubby to call our travel/booking agent back in the UK - at $3 a minute on the mobile no chance. Thankfully we still had money on a phone card left. The upshot was we had to pay it and told it would be refunded. Not impressed with the service (or lack thereof) at the Alamo desk.

That happened to us once with Dollar (via VH) too. We got the money refunded within a day or so - as soon as it got within sight of a computer system rather than a human being, I think.

That's so odd, I've rented with Alamo, Dollar & Hertz for years and never been charged one way drops between CA & NV.

Just to add we were asked to pick a car with a CA plate - well since you're insisting we pay a one way fee, no we won't actually lol.

We are using usrentacar for the second time (they use dollar) but do not charge for one way. Suv for one week including sat nav £230 this July