Midwest - Route 66 - Rental car?

I have decided to drive the infamous Route 66 from Chicago to LA in september with two friends. We will be flying from Europe to ORD on the 2nd of September and relaxing in the city for that day, before starting our trip on the 3rd and finally flying home from LAX on the 17th.

I would have thought that there would be some sort of company that would specialize on Route 66 rental, but a quick google search resulted in no hits.

Does anyone have any recommendations for car rental? I was hoping on a Ford Mustang convertible, but cant seem to find any. A convertible would be great, but something like a Toyota Corolla would also be fine.

I would have thought that there would be some sort of company that would specialize on Route 66 rental, but a quick google search resulted in no hits.I don't believe there are any specific Rt 66 rental companies.

The killer of any decent car rental price is that you are doing a one way rental.

A suggestion is to time your trip in the Spring so that you fly into California & do a one way rental to Arizona, then in the late spring (April I believe), one way rentals going out of Arizona can be had for as low as $5 a day w/no drop charge. So you could get a terrific price on a car rental if going the opposite way you currently have planned.

The other suggestion if you are bent on going when you have stated, is try calling various rental car companies (local offices in Chicago, NOT the national reservation lines) and describe what you are hoping to do & cut a rate that way.

Lastly, I believe there are some websites where folks can 'hitch' rides with others, perhaps post your idea there & get someone with a car to join you. I'm sure you could make a compelling deal to someone who has a car and has thought about doing the route. I also think there are folks who are moving and need someone to drive a car to their final destination.

Good Luck !!!!

Sounds like a lot of fun. I am also worried about the one way rental cost with typically mileage and the drop charge.

I know it sounds odd, but if you know someone in both cities, you could potentially buy a used convert and drive it and sell in it Cali. (might work better from Cali to Chicago.)

I've considered doing this with a motorcycle in India.

It might be cheaper than the rental.

I don't believe there are any specific Rt 66 rental companies.

The killer of any decent car rental price is that you are doing a one way rental.

A suggestion is to time your trip in the Spring so that you fly into California & do a one way rental to Arizona, then in the late spring (April I believe), one way rentals going out of Arizona can be had for as low as $5 a day w/no drop charge. So you could get a terrific price on a car rental if going the opposite way you currently have planned.

The other suggestion if you are bent on going when you have stated, is try calling various rental car companies (local offices in Chicago, NOT the national reservation lines) and describe what you are hoping to do & cut a rate that way.

Lastly, I believe there are some websites where folks can 'hitch' rides with others, perhaps post your idea there & get someone with a car to join you. I'm sure you could make a compelling deal to someone who has a car and has thought about doing the route. I also think there are folks who are moving and need someone to drive a car to their final destination.

Good Luck !!!!

I have decided to drive the infamous Route 66 from Chicago to LA in september with two friends. We will be flying from Europe to ORD on the 2nd of September and relaxing in the city for that day, before starting our trip on the 3rd and finally flying home from LAX on the 17th.

I would have thought that there would be some sort of company that would specialize on Route 66 rental, but a quick google search resulted in no hits.

Does anyone have any recommendations for car rental? I was hoping on a Ford Mustang convertible, but cant seem to find any. A convertible would be great, but something like a Toyota Corolla would also be fine.

If there are three of you, I recommend getting something larger than a mustang convertible, otherwise the person stuck in the backseat might not be your friend by the end of the trip.

we've booked a standard suv (jeep grand cherokee or similar) through Alamo on the kayak rate of $1,374.46. it seems a great deal cheaper than Hertz who would rent us a Chevy Traverse at $1647.74. still a lot of money for a 2 week rental, but i guess c'est la vie :rolleyes:

Enjoy your trip! Let us know how it goes!

we've booked a standard suv (jeep grand cherokee or similar) through Alamo on the kayak rate of $1,374.46. it seems a great deal cheaper than Hertz who would rent us a Chevy Traverse at $1647.74. still a lot of money for a 2 week rental, but i guess c'est la vie :rolleyes:

we've booked a standard suv (jeep grand cherokee or similar) through Alamo on the kayak rate of $1,374.46ouch ! once your trip is locked in & you know you are going, look into hotwire or priceline, I'd keep trying low bids on the latter.

ouch ! once your trip is locked in & you know you are going, look into hotwire or priceline, I'd keep trying low bids on the latter.

a bit of tinkering with different corporate id's and coupons, ive gotten the rate down to $1247,01...

sorry to go on a rant, but when searching around for a better deal, i've been searching priceline and an SUV (jeep grand cherokee) from Alamo is stated as $990 (before insurance and other options) while an economy (kia rio) is stated as $3,181.65(!!!!!!!)

i would prefer to rent from Hertz, as I know them from rentals in Europe, i get my SAS Eurobonus points and rates are normally competitive. It seems that either (1) i am completely useless at booking rental cars in the us; or (2) Hertz just do not want to give a decent rate on one-way rental...

why is Hertz so miserably expensive? or is Alamo just dirt cheap? a competing economy class car from Alamo would set me back $644 which is near-as-makes-no-difference 20% of the Hertz price...:confused:

why is Hertz so miserably expensive? or is Alamo just dirt cheap?Alamo is the #1 car rental company for folks visiting from outside the U.S. a cheap price is what they are know for, nothing to fear renting from Alamo.

What a worthy endeavour!!!! (and I live a block from old US 66 here in Oklahoma City)....some thoughts.....

If wanting to use Hertz, try renting from a non-airport location for lower taxes......for example, city taxes at ORD run 20%, and that 20% gets applied for the full length of the rental. Look for "Hertz Local Edition" locations near ORD or your hotel--- a $20 taxi ride may save $100s in taxes. (I'm happy to help)......or pick-up the car at ORD, but after a day or two, go to a Hertz Local Edition (maybe St. Louis area) to return that car, and pick-up another car on a new contract which would not have high airport taxes & fees.

Also, with Hertz, perhaps get a vehicle with "SiriusXM Satellite Radio".....this gives you 100+ radio stations with varied music, sports and news for $5/day. Across much of rural USA, the only over-the-air radio stations have constant religious programs. We find that the SatRad definitely keeps us moving along the highway, without frustrations abour finding radio stations!

Another cost-lowering option may be to find segments of the trip which Hertz does not consider "one-way" --- maybe check on Albq. NM to LA or Flagstaff, AZ to LA for a lower daily rate....or Barstow, CA to LA for a convertible!

Enjoy---I have friends who are fully Route 66 demons....let me know if I might help!

What a worthy endeavour!!!! (and I live a block from old US 66 here in Oklahoma City)....some thoughts.....

If wanting to use Hertz, try renting from a non-airport location for lower taxes......for example, city taxes at ORD run 20%, and that 20% gets applied for the full length of the rental. Look for "Hertz Local Edition" locations near ORD or your hotel---

Good idea

In Chicago, there are plenty of off airport locations in the 'loop' -- what I would do is stay near the airport at a hotel that has shuttle van service, then take the el to the loop, then go back to the hotel and get the luggage.

If the OP has the time, it may be cost effective to do several one way rentals rather than one big one.

Bob H