Are you planning a vacation in California or a trip to discover the American West and search where to rent a car at Los Angeles Airport? If this is your first time, you will surely be a bit confused among so many fares and companies.
On our first trip, we too were very confused about which car rental company to choose, among the many present in and around the airport. For this in this short guide we will give you useful tips to avoid running into unpleasant situations.
Los Angeles airport
Located 27km south of the city center, Los Angeles Airport is the second largest airport in the United States, with over 80 million passengers a year.
It is also the main gateway to California. Indeed Los Angeles it is almost always the starting and ending point of a California vacation or a journey to discover the American West.
Which rental to choose?
As a first piece of advice we can certainly say to rely on the most famous rental companies, especially to have adequate road assistance, even during the trip. THE most famous car rental brands in the United States are: Dollar, Budget, Payless, Advantage, Fox, Thrifty, Alamo, Hertz, Avis, National, Enterprise and Europcar. Furthermore, only these 12 companies are allowed to enter the airport area with their shuttle to pick up and drop off customers.
In addition to roadside assistance rely on well-known rental companies allows for greater price transparency. Large companies cannot afford to receive negative reviews, ruining the brand and the prestige gained over many years of serious work. However, in any case, always read the contractual conditions carefully.
How to find the best rates?
To find the best prices for a car rental, the best thing is to do the search through the most reliable price comparison platforms. The best car rental price comparator ever is to Skyscanner, which checks in real time all the main rental companies and presents them in order of price, for the relative requested period.
Check availability and book a car at Los Angeles Airport
What insurances to add?
There is no answer, because the best thing would be to add them all, but this would increase the rental rate. Definitely it is advisable to have the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) Liability Damage Waiver (LDW) and Road Assistance. If you don't overspend your budget, it's best to add your other insurances as well and pay the surcharge to remove the deductible, so you can stay calm and relaxed throughout your trip.
Where to pick up the car?
Once you have landed at Los Angeles airport, collected your luggage and made the necessary customs procedures for entry into the United States, you can finally exit the airport. Outside the airport there is a central platform where the various shuttles or shuttles that accompany customers to the various offices for car collection. It is necessary to take the shuttle that indicates the rental company with which the reservation was made.
Required documents
To collect the car you must present the reservation sheet, an identification document such as the passport and the relative credit card. There are some exceptions, such as Dollar which also accepts debit cards, but please read the debit card rental conditions on the official website.
How does the car collection work?
After the various bureaucratic procedures you are accompanied to the car park where the delivery of the booked car. The Dollar company, in case of availability of more cars belonging to the same category, gives the possibility to choose among the various car models available
Choosing the car you leave the parking lot. All 'exit from the parking lot an operator will mark the car's data and from here you can finally start your long-awaited journey to discover the American West.
Where to deliver the car?
At the end of your trip, the delivery of the car takes place always where the car was picked up, except if you have chosen the Drop Off, that is the car delivery in a city other than that of the collection.
Upon delivery of the car, an operator, after checking that the tank is full and that the car has not been damaged, will deliver a receipt. Once you have taken your suitcases, you can take the shuttle that will take you back to the airport.
Check carefully which terminal you need to get off at. If you are unsure about the terminal, ask the driver for information.
Some advices
If you want to visit Monument Valley or you are planning off-road routes, it is advisable to rent an SUV or an off-road vehicle, or at least a car with sufficient ground clearance to travel off-road vehicles.
Remember that cars in the United States all have automatic transmissions, so if you are not familiar enough with this change, read ours guide and try to drive carefully initially.
To visit Los Angeles, an economy category may suffice, but for long trips an intermediate class is recommended or higher. A larger car allows you to also have a more spacious trunk to store all the suitcases and hide them from the prying eyes of malicious people.
It is advisable to equip yourself before the departure of the international driving license. This is not required by the car rental, but can be requested during police checks.
If you don't have a credit card, apply for one now. The release procedure can take several months. If there is not enough time, the only thing is to try those companies that allow the rental without credit card. There are companies that allow rental with debit cards, such as Dollar, but there are various conditions to be met. Find out first about the required requirements and if you have all the required documents, you can proceed with the booking.
Anyway, for any rental always inquire well about the contractual conditions, can avoid unpleasant inconveniences. Each car rental company under different contractual conditions.
