TWA884

Target has booster seats for as cheap as $13.00.

bzcat

It is a good idea to just buy a booster seat if you are going to be driving around for up to 2 weeks with a kid under 8 years old and below 80 lbs (~36kg).

There are 2 Target stores and a Kids R Us store in Culver City near LAX.

Koja78

Will the rental company let you drive out without one?
More and more thinking of bringing our own with us and dumping it on the way back.
He can sit on it during the flight too I guess?!

trooper

Just another voice emphasising the need to book an all inclusive rate.... ignore the ads you see aimed at Americans with incredibly low daily rates....you'll pay more than that per day if you wait until the counter to get CDW/LDW..... locals are covered by credit cards..... us foreigners are not.

Koja78

A.S. : what is ldw

Via broker sunnycars.be I get rates like:
INTERMEDIATE SUV: +- 565 USD onwards
STANDARD SUV: +- 830 USD onwards
INTERMEDIATE Standard: +- 2000 USD onwards !!!!
STANDARD Standard: 585 USD onwards

This includes:
Unlimited mileage
Extra coverage till 7.5 mio
CDW - TP
Own risk paid back
glas-tyres-bottom-roof damage
24/7 phone assistance

bhomburg

LDW= Loss Damage Waiver, also known as CDW=Collision Damage Waiver. This, with a zero deductible (co-payment) is the insurance to get as it reduces your liability to zero in case of accidents or theft, barring extraordinary circumstances.
Also, make sure you get a rate that includes SLI (supplemental liability insurance). In the US, mandated liability coverage is set by states, and although amount vary, the minimum is very very low by todays' standards - a few thousand dollars.

If you speak German, check billiger-mietwagen.de. Apart from being a good deal cheaper than your Belgian site, they are very transparent with what's included in the rate in terms of insurances, fuel options etc. You see everything at one glance.

BTW, if you stay in the San Fernando Valley the first night, your 7-year old may be interested in visiting one of the theme parks (Universal studios, Harry Potter, Six Flags....)

Some cars have integrated booster seats. I`m not familiar with them at all, though, as I usually fold all seats away to make room for the dog . I`ve seen them on higher-trim minivans mostly.

edit: The kid seat thing is one reason why renting a car upon arrival and returning it just prior to departure is the way to go. You can check those for free on your flights if you bring your own.

Koja78

I find all those attractions parks horrendously expensive in the states.

Will check the DE site... too long ago to use my German but google speaks it too

SWCPHX

I wouldn't recommend Six Flags Magic Mountain for a 7 year old. Magic Mountain is very high speed thrilling roller coaster oriented and many 7 year olds may not meet height requirements for the rides. Not to mention, it doesn't appear that the park is open in April according to their website.

Need

If your phone has data in the US, use WAZE app for navigation. It gives you up to the minute accurate information on traffic and re-routing. It even tells you where the police are.

Koja78

@need: Can we get a prepaid sim? (I guess so)

INTERMEDIATE SUV .. what can I actually expect of this "class".

TWA884

Yes. Take a look at this thread:
Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Jeep Cherokee, Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester, Nissan Rogue, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, etc.

bzcat

Let me translate that to European...

Ford Kuga, Nissan X-Trail, Hyundai ix35

OskiBear

If your primary goal on arrival day is to get north and be positioned for travel on Monday without much traffic, I think you'll be fine so long as you are somewhere along the I-405 corridor north of US101. You'll be on the route to Yosemite and past the direction where traffic is heading on Monday morning.

If you get to the Santa Clarita area, you can probably find some good suburban hotels (Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn) that have free parking and free breakfast. Rates should be low and you'll easily find grocery stores if you want to stock up on supplies for your upcoming road trip. It's also a nice, suburban area and better than being in the cities of San Fernando, Sylmar and Pacoima, which aren't as nice

Also - make sure you lock down your reservations sooner than later, especially if they are ones you can change without fee or penalty. I just realized that you are traveling in the middle of our "Spring Break" period, which will see higher than usual demand for rental cars and hotels.

Koja78

The X-trail I checked... as my dad has one

Koja78

guidebooks are advertising it as shoulder season.. not really then