Car Rental

Providers

I’ve used Enjoy Travel to book so far and haven’t had any issues with them as an agent. For the actual rental, I’ve used Thrifty and Dollar.

Car Availability

On my second trip, Thrifty had no cars available when I arrived to collect the rental at the specified time. The wait time was going to be over 4 hours and it was already late, so I checked into a hotel and picked it up the following morning.

Checklist

  • Driver's licence.
  • Credit (not debit) card in your name with ~$500 available. You may be able to get past this requirement with a deposit paid via debit card, but this may require a credit check which could delay the process or be denied.
  • Phone with roaming data or US sim card for GPS.

Tips

  • Buy any extra damage waiver insurance you want at booking time and don’t accept any add-ons at collection time.

  • Most cars at LAX Thrifty/Dollar do not have a working GPS—you’ll need your phone to be working, or to have good maps and directions that you’ve studied beforehand.

  • Note: Sim cards aren’t as widely available as I remember from previous trips to the US. I’ve ended up buying a T-Mobile sim ($50), trying one from a vending machine in the car rental place (didn’t work), and finally adding on a roaming package from my UK network (EE) before setting off – this is the option I recommend.