Members Ryst Posted January 7, 2009 Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 Or should I stick with one of the big corporations? I'm flying out to LA next Thursday and was on kayak.com and found some pretty cheap rental car deals from smaller companies (I'm assuming local LA) that I've never heard of. Better deals than the bigger guys but I have no experience with them. Anyone have anything to share? Should I be concerned at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted January 7, 2009 CMS Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 I went through exactly the same exercise a month or so ago when I was putting my NAMM trip together. I was floored by how much more expensive rental prices across the board were compared to similar rentals in October and April of last year. Through Kayak, I found Ace Rent-a-Car (found through Kayak) which offered an "Altima or similar" for $296 for 12 days, compared to $420-$435 for National and Thrifty and a Green Collection Camry (my preferred rental) from Hertz at $589. In April, I paid about half the current quote from Thrifty. I couldn't find any reliable opinions about Ace, but was going to take a chance on it. But like air fares, car rental rates seem to fluctuate rapidly and wildly. For a while, I was checking daily to see if I could get a better rate somewhere and had no luck (Ace went up by nearly $100), but I saw rates starting to drop after January 2. Last night I called Hertz to have them put the $150 worth of AAA credit vouchers on my reservation (you have to do that in advance) and found that the basic rate had dropped by nearly $100. So at the moment, I can get my preferred rental from Hertz for only $50 more than the unknown Hertz rental, so I'll probably do that. But if Ace really came up with an Altima that wasn't beat up and smoky, it would have been the best deal. Apparently they're a booking agency rather than an actual rental company, and contract for rentals with various off-airport agencies throughout the US. In LA, it's Rent-4-Less. At least Ace is not a one-lot company and their policy states that if you have a confirmed reservation, they'll get you a reasonable equivalent car at the confirmed rate even if they have to get it from somewhere else. But seeing as how I'm arriving in LA at 12:30 and then driving to Las Vegas (for CES), I'd prefer not to deal with a rental that might involve an hour between the airport and driving away. If you see me in the aisles at NAMM, say hello. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted January 7, 2009 Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 I've used once of the very cheap rent-a-car companies here in LA (Fox) many times, and they've never been a problem. They tend to rent PT Cruisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PBBPaul Posted January 7, 2009 Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 I've used the LAX Thrifty many times. Their cars are invariably dirty and low end but I've rented for as low as $16/day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted January 8, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2009 If you see me in the aisles at NAMM, say hello. Cool. I will. Will you be stationed at a booth or just walking around like me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Ryst, Mike Rivers is everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted January 9, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Ryst, Mike Rivers is everywhere. Umm...I am pretty sure Mike isn't the one in the middle. So which one is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 So which one is he? Well, here's me and Mike at yet another show, and he's the one who's not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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