Los Angeles - Renting a car: Airport or non-airport?

I'll be visiting LA in a few weeks and am looking to rent a car. This will be my first ever visit to the city and I'm very excited, just need to find a good rental deal. :D The odd thing is I've checked airport and non-airport locations on AVIS so far and the prices are actually HIGHER for some of the non-airport related offices compared to LAX. I'm wondering if that's because it doesn't pad on the hidden airport fees, but assuming it's not that, I wonder why the discrepancy? Is there any specific location for grabbing a rental that I could look at?

I might go Priceline too, still haven't decided, but for LA I'm leaning towards going with a rental agency I know is reputable to avoid any potential hassles.

I'd bet that the high volume of the airport locations offsets the higher cost of operations.

i usually rent from hertz, and i have never seen their airport total rates to be lower than non-airport for a comparable rental. are you sure you're comparing total rates with all fees?

by all means, if the rental at LAX is cheaper than a local hertz, avis, budget, enterprise, etc. facility, go with LAX. but if it isn't, keep in mind that you will have an investment of the time and money spent getting to your rental facility.

i usually rent from hertz, and i have never seen their airport total rates to be lower than non-airport for a comparable rental. are you sure you're comparing total rates with all fees?

by all means, if the rental at LAX is cheaper than a local hertz, avis, budget, enterprise, etc. facility, go with LAX. but if it isn't, keep in mind that you will have an investment of the time and money spent getting to your rental facility.

I'm checking AVIS, and LAX fares definitely appear to be lower, even after taxes. Of course this is still just a quote, so the prices may still be off a bit. Getting to non-airport locations won't be a problem as I have a friend who can drop me off at any rental place, then when comes time to returning it I drop it back at the airport (usually I can still avoid airport hikes in prices this way.)

I might go Priceline too, still haven't decided, but for LA I'm leaning towards going with a rental agency I know is reputable to avoid any potential hassles.

The last time I got a car through Priceline it was from Hertz, the previous time was Avis.

The last time I got a car through Priceline it was from Hertz, the previous time was Avis.

Nice, do you remember how much you bid?

Nice, do you remember how much you bid?

My first bid is generally just slightly less than 50% of my AAA rate with Hertz (CDP#004). I have rarely had to raise it by more than $5.

P.S. Other than Hertz and Avis, the only other companies from which I got cars through Priceline were National and Budget.

Also, need to be aware that at some (not sure if all) non airport locations the unlimited mileage is not available. Make sure your contract is for unlimited miles if that's important to you (per miles can get very expensive)

So, it might be safer to just get the car at the airport upon arrival.

There are some coupons out there for $30 off on a weekly rental (I believe).
just google the coupon codes, I'm sure you've already looked at there website.

Thanks for the suggestions! I sometimes see Groupon deals so I'll check for them as well. :D