About a week ago I posted a thread about flying with my dog. After much consensus about how improbable a good flight for me and my dog would be I decided to go with AmTrack. Unfortunately AmTrack does not accept pets so I have to find an alternative way to get from LA to NY. I drove a u-haul truck from NY to LA in 3 days and I am sure I can do it again. I do not want to rent a u-haul truck to take a suitcase and a dog across country so I was wondering if there is any way to rent a car that I can put 6000 miles on and not have it be ridiculously expensive. Any ideas?
Rental cars = rent by day, week, etc. I’ve never paid for miles.
Trucks = mileage charge. Cars? Nope.
Just shop around. I’ve done a couple of long-ish one-way rental car trips and it’s pretty amazing how much the prices will vary-- I remember one wanted to charge us three grand versus the $300-ish we ended up paying. I believe (and I could be wrong) that no one agency consistently has better or worse one-way rates, but rather their systems either do or don’t charge the outrageous one-way fees depending on how convenient it is for them to have a car dropped off at your destination. Also, most car rental places don’t actually charge for mileage, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Depends on the company and where you want to drive.
My wife and i rented a car from Enterprise a while back after our own car was stolen. We were allowed unlimited miles as long as we stayed in California, Arizona, and Nevada. I just looked at the Enterprise website and it said that vehicles aren’t allowed outside of those states, so it looks like Enterprise is out.
The OP doesn’t want a one-way rental; he wants to drive from LA to NY and back. He’s crazy. 
I just looked on the Hertz website, and they had a Toyota Corolla for about $195 a week, with unlimited miles. That wouldn’t include loss/damage waivers or other insurance costs, which can sometimes double the cost of a rental if you accept them all. If the OP lives in LA, i assume he probably has a car of his own; it’s possible that the insurance coverage on that car would also cover the rental, but you should check.
If you’re coming back wouldn’t it make more sense to simply pay a friend to board the dog for three weeks at their house. Less stress all round.
Call the major rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, etc.) and ask for their long-term leasing program.
Years ago I rented a car for about 2 months and found their terms quite reasonable, but I had to insist on a different branch of the companies, as the front desks weren’t used to that kind of transaction.
On thing that annoyed me was their initial insistence on my bringing the car back to the source once a month for maintenance (and probably to verify that I hadn’t absconded with it). It was impractical for me to drive 300 miles just so they could do an oil change and a visual inspection. I was finally able to convince them to let me handle it locally.
No telling if the leasing program is still available.
You might also check with local car dealers and car repair shops. One shop around here will lease for prices less than the majors, although the car may be a little older.
Another option might be to contact a drive-away company to see if someone needs their car moved from NY to LA. I don’t know what is involved in being a driver for something like this or if pets would be allowed. But it is probably worth a 10-minute phone call.
ETA: Oh, I see you need a round trip and apparently the use of the car in LA for up to three weeks, so maybe this isn’t an option for you.
Via the quickest route, that’s a bit over 2700 miles - figure 45 hours of time behind the wheel. Doable in 3 days? - yes, but that’s well into “brutal”.
Oh yeah I’m sure the PET OWNER just never thought of that wonderful solution. Gee whiz, what would possibly cause the PET OWNER to not think of that possiblity? I wonder? Anybody?
Maybe they like their pet and don’t want it sitting in a kennel for 3 weeks.
:smack:
‘A friend’ does not equal kennel, and why the attitude? OP wanted suggestions and that’s what he’s getting.
I recently rented from Enterprise for a road trip, starting in CA, and I took it well outside those state boundaries and was not charged a mileage fee. I rented for a week and put a lot of miles on it.
Yeah, my cat sitter charges $10/visit, and she comes to my house. Might be less insanity all around.
Interesting. I wonder if it’s only on certain types of cars, or if the rule only applies to Southern California, or if there’s something else i missed.
But i just went to the Enterprise site again, and each potential rental said that cars are not allowed outside California, Arizona, and Nevada. I tried rental locations in San Diego and Los Angeles.
Then i tried San Francisco, and it was even more restrictive. Here’s what it said when i tried to rent from the Mission Street location in SF:
If you are considering a common vehicle rental, make sure you tell them it’s not an airport rental. There are a number of hidden charges attached to airport rentals that cover the cost of all those alleged freebies rental companies offer when you fly/drive. We rented a SUV locally for a week and after all the hidden airport charges were removed, our cost was about half than an identical rental had we flown in.
I rented a car from Budget for 5 days and about 2500-3000 Miles. I paid 30 dollars per day, unlimited miles from Arizona. It had a similar warning about keeping the car in AZ, NV, NM and UT, but I told the agent I was planning on taking it to Seattle and he crossed it out and added CA, OR, WA and ID to it.
If you have plain old car insurance, you might check with them, usually your policy will cover rentals, as will a Visa Credit card provided you use it to reserve and pay for the rental. I can vouch Visa is no hassle, we got a bad chip/crack in the glass and the rental company expected me to pay out of pocket since I had declined the damage coverage, but I called visa one time and they took care of it no questions asked. My state farm policy would have covered me as well.
I was a little concerned about any potential breakdowns along the way, but the agent told me all I had to do was get the car to a Budget shop anywhere along the way and they would trade me out if needed. If you don’t have AAA, it might be a worthy investment before you go, a year membership is less than $100 and if you get one tow, locksmith service or out of gas rescue it will pay for itself for the whole year.
It’s not the most pleasant way to travel, but it got the job done. Cross country in three days by yourself sounds brutal though.
You do need to clear that with them first; some rental cars have GPS tracking units or something so they can tell if you go out of the areas you’re supposed to.
In the case of the OP, a simple “rent a car for 3 weeks, no mileage restrictions, are there any geographic restrictions?” call to each of the agencies should give the answers you need. My in-laws were here (near DC) for a visit a couple years back; their car died while they were here; they left it for repair and rented a car to go back home to FL. 2 weeks later, they returned from FL. No problems.
I wonder if rental car agencies have restrictions on pets, however. May be worth bringing some sheets to cover any place that the dog might be sitting, to avoid any complaints about dirt, dander etc.
Ah, indeed. I was wondering why it was going to take three weeks!
Looking at one-way rentals might still be an economical option if he doesn’t need a car while he’s in NY, although finessing two one way trips is probably just all that more difficult.
If you need to insure your rental, the cheapest option by far would be to enroll in American Express’s “premium rental insurance program” (or something like that). You’ll pay a flat fee of $20 to cover the ENTIRE rental period. You’d pay the same $20 to insure a single-day rental as you would to insure a month-long rental, so given your situation it’s a pretty nice deal.
Indeed once (many years ago) I rented a car with an Amex and I proceeded total it. I remember they were much less than helpful about it and tried to wiggle out of it but eventually they paid in full and it never cost me a penny.
But they are really not that pleasant once you actually need them. Not like in the commercial where they make it sound that they will be all smiles and kindness.
Not too long ago, I rented a car for a week and put about 3000 miles on it without any problems. Before I made the reservation, I went to the airport and asked at each kiosk whether they would allow me to rent a car for a cross country trip. Enterprise and a few other agencies had an “adjacent states” clause; Budget, National and others did not.