YVRorange

Anyone else having trouble trying to book a luxury car through the National site for LAX? I'm looking for May 16-18th....

odd?

Tide_from_PAE

There can be some nice Chrysler 200s on the EA. Sometimes the MSRP of cars will be significantly higher than that of the SUVs due to added options.

The good thing about LAX is that it's such a large and busy station that employees/contractors are always bringing up new vehicles from the car wash and overflow lot. Wait a few minutes and there will probably be something you'll like. You could also talk to the person directing the cars to specific aisles if there's something coming up you like that could reasonably be placed on the EA. For example, a red Mustang convertible is not going to be on the EA, especially on a sunny day. A Mustang coupe or smaller SUV with a less deluxe trim package may be placed on the EA.

All vehicles have hang tags with spaces to be checked if the vehicle can go on the EA or ES. There's a small chance that a EA/ES vehicle may be parked on a different aisle if the EA/ES is full.

It's possible to reserve a vehicle and downgrade or upgrade at the gate, but pricing varies.

TommyGun

Thanks for the advice Tide ^

I found a decent discount code for the UK National site, so I kind of talked myself into just booking a convertible for my whole trip as you're pretty much guaranteed a Mustang or Camaro from them and I REALLY want one of those for the Pacific Coast drive, but when I looked to reserve one today, the convertible class was unavailable to book!

Strange really, as judging from this thread it seems like they have loads of cars at LAX, so I wouldn't have thought they would sell out?!

Looks like I can actually get a convertible from either Thrifty or Budget for around $730 for the 18 days though, which is actually cheaper, but I'm not sure how likely I am to get a Mustang with those, and I REALLY don't want a Chrysler 200!

dwbf11

Chrysler 200 convertibles have not been in any rental fleet service I've seen since 2013. I think you'll be juuuuust fine

Foxtbh

Book it through one of the UK Broker sites instead (ie http://www.netflights.com) and you'll find it available to book. It'll be with Alamo rather than National but this will make little real difference on a a Convertible res.

StuartUK

Tommy
You need to book a car through the UK sites, as the guy above says...
Includes CDW & LIS insurances which we need...
Use Alamo or Netflights or usrentacar for your booking...
Also, if u want the full American experience as u put it, you need Hertz Adrenaline rentals.... V8 American muscle cars Cost u a bit mind!

I've rented from Alamo & Dollar many times, mainly in Vegas, and its always Mustangs... Don't see many 200's

Ben1985

Hi,

First time poster so apologise if this is in wrong section or already answered.

We arrive in LAX on Friday afternoon. Renting from Alamo.

We have booked a full size direct with Alamo. I was just wondering what the odds are of getting a free bump up (upgrade) to a mustang, charger, camaro, challenger?

If it's not likely what would I get as a full size car?

Any info or help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Ben

Foxtbh

The Charger is an FCAR so your chances of being able to take one for no extra charge if they have one is 100%.

Wadda

As for a free upgrade to the other cars you listed, I would say next to no chance unless they run out of full size cars and I doubt they will national/Alamo have hundreds of cars available at lax.

dwbf11

V6 fleet specials are not exactly hot sellers - convertible you may be right, but I would be willing to bet they'd have no problem giving a Camaro or Challenger on an FCAR res.

Hopefully OP comes back and reports his experience.

Ben1985

Certainly will let you know how I get on. Will take a look around at what's in the depot etc too and report back.

Thanks for the info.

Crossing my fingers for a piece of American Muscle (car that is!).

TommyGun

I hope you do get a Challenger (or something else cool) on your FCAR reservation Ben - I'd be VERY interested to find out if you can as I have a trip coming up in a couple of weeks myself

dwbf11 - do you think you'd need to be an Emerald member for them to let you have a Challenger or similar from the garage, or might they be just as likely to let a tourist like me with an FCAR reservation who'd need to go to the desk to sort the reservation out have one?

dwbf11

If you're an Emerald member your FCAR reservation will give you Emerald Aisle access. When I was there 2 weeks ago half of the EA was those types of cars (Challengers/Camaros). So I'd say join the club (it's free) to maximize your chances.

TommyGun

Ah, ok cool, I was thinking of doing that, but as StuartUK said we need LDW coming from the UK & I'm not sure that's included with the Emerald club, but I will check.

It would be really cool to pick up a Challenger on the EA, because they are actually the most expensive cars to book on the UK National site ($1200 for 9 days!)! In comparison, an FCAR is $308, and mid size $275!
I know the mid size gives EA access too, but if there are no Challengers or anything decent on the EA, would I be better off with a FCAR reservation & maybe just asking someone for something like that?

Apologies for all the questions, but you're clearly an expert (as are a few others on here), and hopefully this thread is helping other people looking who don't usually rent cars & have little knowledge of how it works ^

Tide_from_PAE

Emerald Club doesn't include LDW. US renters will often get some type of CDW/LDW via their credit cards, though a corporate contract, or paying the additional fee. UK renters who book through UK-specific sites will have LDW included.

One needs a midsize reservation or larger to choose from the EA. Reserve a full size and choose a car off the EA and the gate agent will likely be able to "downgrade" your reservation to a midsize. However, this might not always be cheaper as midsize rates may be higher. National's system does allow one to drive a "smaller" car than reserved if for some reason you book a fullsize and want to drive a midsize or standard car.