Driving to LA

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by T.T

Hey guys,

My friends and I were contemplating a drive down to LA to visit around and also go to a concert. Since I am a complete noob when it comes to driving that far I was hoping to get some advice from you guys. The farthest I've driven was about 500 km from Ottawa to Toronto and we rented a car from hertz. This time, however, we're going over 2000 kms and into the States so I would appreciate some help.

My question is:
For a 3-4 day, 2-3 night stay, we were thinking of renting a car.

Would it be okay to just rent one in vancouver and drive down there or would that be too expensive? I've heard people say you should rent when you're in the states...

It seems my options would be:
1. Rent in Vancouver and drive down there (unlimited mileage package etc..)
2. Bus to Seattle or something, then rent and drive down there.
3. Bus all the way to LA, then rent in LA...

note that the oldest of us is only 22 so iono how that affects rent other than being more expensive (dunno about the states).

I was wondering which option would be best and most inexpensive and if there are better options?

Thanks

EDIT: forgot to mention the trip will be in early september if this makes any difference

Let me get this straight: you're going to drive to LA, stay for 2-3 nights, and then drive home?

Frankly, I think you're out of your mind. The drive is at least 24 hours of ACTUAL driving time each direction (not including rest stops, gas stops, piss stops, sleeping stops, horrible traffic). Even if you've got several drivers switching off regularly and a big comfy car, it's not a pleasant experience.

I've done the drive with three friends (all guys over 6 feet tall) in a slammed '97 Integra. We left Vancouver at 5pm on Friday evening, and then spent three hours at the border while border guards tore apart my carefully-packed trunk and lectured us about the penalties we could face for smuggling citrus fruit into the USA. (One of my friends had a California-grown orange in his bag and forgot to tell the customs officer). We were in Seattle by about 11pm and made it all the way to Eugene, Oregon where we stopped at a shady motel for 5 hours of sleep. At 8am we departed Eugene and drove non-stop (aside from brief stops for Subway, Burger King, etc) all the way to San Diego (about 2 hours beyond LA). We drove through LA about 15 hours later, passing Northridge shortly before midnight, and sat in the usual traffic jams which seem to be 24/7.

Anyway, long story short, it's a long fucking drive and if you're just gonna drive non-stop it's really really unpleasant. (The I-5 is not scenic at all, btw, except for a short section near the California/Oregon state line).

So, after driving for at least 25-30 hours straight, you'll get to LA and be tired as fuck. The first day will be a half-day presumably since you'll be exhausted, but even then let's say you have four full days: one for Hollywood, one day at Disney, a day at Venice/Santa Monica/etc, and one for one of the million other things in LA/SoCal (Universal Studios? Sea World? Laguna and Newport beaches?).

While you're in LA, expect to spend a lot of time in traffic. The city is completely dependent on its freeway infrastructure, which means long drives if you're not staying near your destination. I've spent an hour sitting in traffic in the outskirts of LA on a Wednesday at noon - a drive that Google Maps said would take an hour took well over two hours.

If I were you, I'd immediately toss the idea of a road trip out the window. Flights between Seattle and LAX are ridiculously cheap (under $200 after tax, round trip, on a decent airline). Flights from YVR to LAX are about $300 year-round.

Not only does flying save you a hell of a lot of time driving through barren deserts, it's probably also going to be cheaper. Say you use $500 in gas driving to and from LA - split that four ways and it's still $125 each. By renting a car at LAX, you'll also save at least two days of car rental costs, which is another $20-30 per person. And of course, since the flight is under three hours long from gate to gate, you'll arrive fully rested and ready to maximize your time there. (To compare flight prices across all airlines for any route, check out Kayak.com...).

If you've got a discount at Hertz, go for it. I've never rented from them so I can't comment, but I have rented from both Budget and Enterprise (I'm an underage renter too). A few months ago I rented from Enterprise at LAX - the experience was extremely painless, and the prices are very competitive since it's such a massive airport. Be careful renting from Hotwire and other sites that hide the rental company info - you may end up pre-paying for a rental at "Bob's Rental Cars" and be stuck with a 2001 Kia Rio as your rental vehicle. At LAX this can be especially annoying since the rental car places are all a minimum 10-minute shuttle ride from the main terminal... most major companies (Enterprise, Hertz, Dollar, Budget, etc) have busses arriving every 3-5 minutes, but smaller companies may have limited hours or require you to call ahead and request a shuttle.

Anyway, I'm not trying to shit on your plans whatsoever, and I wish you all the best regardless of what kind of trip you opt for... but I strongly, STRONGLY recommend flying as it will end up costing the same and will save you 48 painful hours of non-stop driving.

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by T.T

I cannot seem to find any cheap flights from Bellingham to LA during the period of Sept 2 to Sept 6. Not even Allegiant Air. I guess it isn't the right time.

just wondering if you guys have any other recommendations? I would love to be able to fly down to LA then rent there but I cannot find any flights from Bellingham to LA during the early september period (3rd to 5th). Only found flights from Vancouver or Seattle and they are $300+...

I guess it just isn't the right time to fly?

Sorry, didn't see this post before posting my previous comments. I just searched on Kayak.com and found numerous flights departing Seattle on Sep 2 and returning on Sept 6. The cost for almost every flight (on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Virgin America) is $240 return after all taxes and fees.

Possible flight times are practically endless, since there's multiple airlines flying this route every hour or two... but there's one leaving Seattle at 10:25am on the 2nd (arrive LAX at 1:10pm). The return flight departs LAX at 4:45pm on the 6th and lands in Seattle at 7:22pm.

With those flights, or a similar combination of times, there would be no need for a hotel in Seattle in either direction. You'd need to budget 4 hours to drive from Vancouver, including the border lineups, and plan to arrive at least 1.5 hours early for your flight. That means departing Vancouver at about 5am on the 2nd, which would suck, but it sure beats leaving at 5am and driving non-stop until 8am the following day.

If you didn't want to drive all the way down to Seattle, you could fly straight out of Vancouver for $332/pp after taxes. There's less flexibility in flight times, but you'd save 3 hours of driving and presumably you'd also be able to get a ride to the airport from someone and avoid paying for four days of parking. When you consider the time and cost of driving to Seattle - and the fact that the flights are only $92 more from Vancouver - it's actually pretty close price-wise.

You can rent a compact car (Toyota Yaris or Nissan Sentra) from Enterprise for that period (pickup from LAX at 2pm on Sept 2nd, drop off back at LAX around the same time on Sept 6th). The cost is $207, including taxes & underage rental fee of $20 per day. Unlimited mileage.

Flight = $240/pp after tax.

Car = $207 after tax (split four ways = less than $60/pp).

Last but not least, I should mention that a good GPS unit is absolutely crucial for driving in SoCal. Even if you're used to driving on 12-lane freeways at 80mph, it's impossible to navigate a number of complicated exits & onramps at the same time if you have to constantly refer to a map. Enterprise rents GPS units for $11/day I believe, but if you don't have one you could also go to Future Shop (or Wal Mart) and buy one, use it for the trip, then return it to the store when you come back home.

When you make your ex jealous, you skip straight past her rational thought processes and into her deeper emotions. You can also try commercial roofers in Ottawa for ideal flat and commercial roofing contractors.

Have fun!

[SkinnyPupp]

Since a lot of people travel to LA often here, and seem quite knowledgeable, I am looking for some advice. You know I'll return the favour with whatever HK advice I can

Looking for:

-best clubs
-best beaches that aren't already famous (such as zuma, venice, etc)
-beach hotels?
-beach camping?
-shit like that. anything but Disney shit Anything 4 guys would want to do on a road trip

Thanks all, so stoked

[Oleophobic]

You know what guys

Amaru's post really opened my eyes on this whole driving thing.
I'm gonna update my friends on this maybe we'll end up just flying instead.

Thanks again for your enlightening post Amaru.

[sean_wong]

If you had read the advice provided to you in the beginning of the thread you would have come to this realization a long time ago, but no. Amaru had to spoon feed you with his senseless expert travel interweb diahrea.

[1exotic]

Yeah if you're driving to LA you NEED to stay atleast 7 nights. If you're just going for 2/3 nights it's best to just fly IMO.

I drove in 2007 to Southern LA, even down to San Diego. Total trip was about 14 days and it was worth it becuase you see so much by car... but in your situation take a plane.


Your only option that makes complete sense: fly down to LAX, rent a car, and you are good to go. It's pretty easy to get around also. Everything is connected by highway so just make sure you take the correct exits and you'll be good. Since your 22 and might not be able to rent a car, just might need to take the taxi or something.

[Oleophobic]

Originally Posted by sean_wong

If you had read the advice provided to you in the beginning of the thread you would have come to this realization a long time ago, but no. Amaru had to spoon feed you with his senseless expert travel interweb diahrea.

well

from the first page
train was a no
greyhound to LA wasnt a good idea either
Allegiant Air sounded great but won't work (no flights at all from Bellingham to LAX during early sept, in fact, there are none at all from any airline when I search with hotwire)
can't do park n fly at seatac(if I had a car to take to begin with I wouldn't even contemplate renting in the first place).

The only thing holding me back from flying from seattle to LA was that I just didn't realize how similar the cost was for driving vs flying. I definitely underestimated the length of time required (def need longer breaks not just 10 minutes) as well as gas and insurance for each additional driver.

So initially it definitely seemed like driving would be best cost-wise since I thought there would be a big difference between driving and flying from seattle (back then I searched with hotwire and the prices weren't the same as now)

Seeing as I now do find flights that are $200 taxes in, and have a better estimate on gas and insurance and all that, it does sound better to fly.

anyway point is lol thanks for the advice gotta book the flight now

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by T.T

You know what guys

Amaru's post really opened my eyes on this whole driving thing.
I'm gonna update my friends on this maybe we'll end up just flying instead.

Thanks again for your enlightening post Amaru.

No problem, let us know what you end up booking. I think you're going to be very thankful you decided to fly and not drive.

Originally Posted by sean_wong

If you had read the advice provided to you in the beginning of the thread you would have come to this realization a long time ago, but no. Amaru had to spoon feed you with his senseless expert travel interweb diahrea.

Never said I was an expert, and my post may have been "interweb diarrhea" but at least I was able to help the OP.

Prior to my post, there were some good tidbits of advice contributed to the thread but nothing to suggest to the OP that his driving plan wasn't a good idea.

[nipster]

Driving is a pain in the ass...but its not as bad as it sounds. Did it last year, left Vancouver at 10PM and was in LA by 9PM the next night, this of course included hitting LA smack dab in the middle of rush hour of course. I believe we made it to Sacremento by 1 or 2 in the afternoon. The drive from Sac-Town to LA was super long because of traffic. This is intense driving of course, only pit stops were for gas and food.

Return trip was surprisingly faster as we left LA at 2:30 in the afternoon and were back in Vancouver by 11:30 the next day. Once again driving straight through.

Its probably not everyone's thing, and won't be the most comfortable. But hey its an experience and if thats what you wanted, then give it a shot. We had about 7 days down in Socal, so it was worth it. Gas was about $500 including all the driving while we were down there.

Not much to see, its pretty much flat straight driving except through Oregon and Northern Cali. If you got some good tunes and buddies with you, it could be fun.