Rental car from L.A. to Las Vegas?

Question

I am planning a trip to LA and Vegas... does anyone know if any rental car agency rents cars for 1-way trips from LA to Vegas at reasonable rates without drop off fees? I am planning a trip in October (I know it's way in advance!) but saw a quote with a few agencies (dollar, budget) with a $120 or 150 drop off fee which is almost double the cost of the rental price for 1 week!

I would assume quite a few ppl do this LA to Vegas leg, so would appreciate if anyone knows from experience or otherwise what the best way to go cost-wise is.

Answer 1

Try ENTERPRISE CAR RENTALS..



It is more expensive to rent one way at any agency here in the USA.

Answer 2

I'm doing the same thing in the beginning of november '09 actually. I will be renting a car one-way from Los Angeles to Vegas and then hopping on a flight from Vegas back home to LA.



I booked through Avis and I called my local branch ( in arcadia, ca) and I asked if there are any drop off charges associated with my reservation if I picked up my vehicle in Los Angeles (arcadia) and returned it in Vegas the same day six hours later. The rental sales agent said that the drop off fee is already included in the rate. Therefore it's going to cost me $62.32 to drive to vegas (not including gas + insurance).



I have a friend that also often rents one-way using Hertz from Sacramento to Vegas and he said it's usually around $60 ~ $70 for the rental.



I'm not sure why you are being quoted your rental rate and then an additional drop-off fees of $120 ~ $150. Am I missing something?

Answer 3

I've looked at this same situation extensively but for reason different than yours. And I have yet to come across any company that will do a 1 way without the huge drop off fee. Crazy thing is I even considered a UHaul Van... but man those are not fun to drive, get lousy mileage, and still not cheap enough.



What you might be able to find however is a good Charter Bus (One that goes Direct from LA to Las Vegas) service. But if you were going to do that you might as well fly. The Drive between LA and Vegas sucks... and I've done it a lot.

Answer 4

Drop fees are a necessary evil, because the California car has to be taken back to California. It can't be rented by the Las Vegas rental place because it's not registered in Nevada, so they have to pay someone to drive the car back to where it was rented from.



Be reasonable ! Why shouldn't they charge you for this?



Are you moving there? Are you taking too much stuff with you that won't fit into a big box that you can ship over there, and then take a flight for $49 one way instead?



I'm a little confused ... are you never coming back to LA or just not for a while ?

Answer 5

Not sure who you need but know when you drop a car at McCarren there is an extra fee. Check the flight costs because it may be cheaper to fly directly from LA to Vegas

Answer 6

Not trying to put Myth_Und down, but the opposite is the actual issue. California does not allow any rental vehicle to be rented within the sate, with a license plate that is not from California. Every other state will allow it. They base their fleet license plate requirements on the percentage of your business that is generated within their state. So, if I am Avis and I get 15% of my business in Ohio, then 15% of my fleet has to have Ohio license plates...those vehicles can be anywhere in the U.S., as long as they have Ohio plates.



So a car rental company sending a one-way into California, has to try and schedule a vehicle with a California plate if possible and when you deal with hundreds of rentals per day and thousands of vehicles in the rental fleet, it's a lot harder to schedule a specific vehicle than you would think. If that's not possible, then their only choice is to tag that vehicle in California, or go get it...and it's a lot cheaper to go get it, than to tag it in California.



If you can work your trip in reverse, you might be able to eliminate the drop charge, but I wouldn't really plan on it.

Answer 7

Use Thrifty Car Rental. They are always the cheapest and I've had no problems with them. WIth a Promo code such as AU11 for a discount.

Answer 8

Really interesting question, looking forward to going through the answers

Answer 9

Never thought too much about that

Answer 10

I am interested in this too