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rental car co's w/reasonable 1-way rates?

Laurie

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I'm looking to rent a car one way between Portland OR and either Reno NV or Bay Area CA... I'd like to plan a trip with a TS week at the OR coast + a drive taking in Crater Lake + Lassen NP in CA + a TS week either at Yosemite or Bay Area.

Are there any rental car companies with reasonable rates anymore for this? We've done this in the past a few times, but I couldn't find info online and thought I'd check with TUGgers.
 

Talent312

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It used to be that National and more recently, Budget, had rational 1-way rates.

You could do a meta-search using www.autoslash.com , Kayak or a similar.
Select 3 or 4 car companies and go directly to their websites to see if they have specials.

Major CC issuers (AmEx, Visa & MC), associations (AAA, AARP) and Costco sometimes have discounts that may help.
 
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sue1947

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I've booked quite a few including 2 for this Jan. I just check all the same rental companies and discounts you would for a roundtrip and keep checking. I've got a one way from San Diego to San Jose for $450 for 3 weeks that started at $525. Both were using the Costco discount. I've got another one that I've changed 4 times as I've tried various discount codes and companies and I've been able to get it down by $100.
Sometimes the one way rates can be cheaper than roundtrip if they need cars moved. You need to try lots of different pick-up or drop-off spots. For instance, a one way rental from Orange County to Santa Barbara was cheaper than a round trip to and from Long Beach. If you are dropping off in the Bay area, check all the airports including Sacramento (which is frequently cheaper on rental cars). Smaller airports (like Santa Rosa) are also good to check since they frequently have lower taxes, though that only counts at the place you pick up the car.

Good luck,
Sue
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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The pricing is also sensitive to where the rental company has surpluses and deficits of cars. If you are picking up in a location with surplus and dropping in an area of deficit you will, of course, get a much better rate than in the reverse case.
 

exyeh

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I'm looking to rent a car one way between Portland OR and either Reno NV or Bay Area CA... I'd like to plan a trip with a TS week at the OR coast + a drive taking in Crater Lake + Lassen NP in CA + a TS week either at Yosemite or Bay Area.

Are there any rental car companies with reasonable rates anymore for this? We've done this in the past a few times, but I couldn't find info online and thought I'd check with TUGgers.

Laurie:
May I ask you about the TS info you mentioned above? What are the TS resorts I can choose to reserve for those trips?

OR coast + a drive taking in Crater Lake + Lassen NP in CA?
a TS week either at Yosemite or Bay Area ?

Thank you for sharing in advance.

Emily
 

MichaelColey

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I've found that one way rentals are a great use for free rental certificates earned from promotions and/or frequent renter programs (at least for National, although I suspect others are similar). On one trip, we flew into one city, stayed there a couple weeks, drove to another city, stayed there a few days, drove to another city, stayed there a week, then flew home. On our "driving between cities" days, we booked one day, one way rental cars using free rental certificates. While we were in each city, we used a separate paid rental. Some of the one ways would have been $300+ for a day.
 

Laurie

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Laurie:
May I ask you about the TS info you mentioned above? What are the TS resorts I can choose to reserve for those trips?

OR coast + a drive taking in Crater Lake + Lassen NP in CA?
a TS week either at Yosemite or Bay Area ?

Thank you for sharing in advance.

Emily
Emily, we only have one confirmation so far, into Otter Rock in Oregon.

I've always wanted to see Crater Lake, and I'd like to do this trip:
www.discoverklamath.com/attractions/docs/VolcanicScenicBywayMap.pdf
Location: Crater Lake to Mt. Lassen Nat'l Park
Distance: 500 stunning miles
Drive Time: 5 - 7 hours
Best Time: July to October for Crater Lake
http://www.discoverklamath.com/attractions/VLSB.asp

I'm exploring various ending destinations so that we won't have to backtrack. You can search your exchange company for options, nothing is that close on the southern end in RCI, but there's always new scenery to take in on the way.

It's too early to reserve a car yet, but I appreciate narrowing down the options to be most likely companies. Thanks all!
 

sue1947

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Emily, we only have one confirmation so far, into Otter Rock in Oregon.

I've always wanted to see Crater Lake, and I'd like to do this trip:
www.discoverklamath.com/attractions/docs/VolcanicScenicBywayMap.pdf
Location: Crater Lake to Mt. Lassen Nat'l Park
Distance: 500 stunning miles
Drive Time: 5 - 7 hours
Best Time: July to October for Crater Lake
http://www.discoverklamath.com/attractions/VLSB.asp

I'm exploring various ending destinations so that we won't have to backtrack. You can search your exchange company for options, nothing is that close on the southern end in RCI, but there's always new scenery to take in on the way.

It's too early to reserve a car yet, but I appreciate narrowing down the options to be most likely companies. Thanks all!

That's a beautiful drive anytime of year. The Crater Lake Lodge was recently redone and sitting in the rocking chairs overlooking the lake is pretty nifty. You might also look at Running Y in Klamath Falls as a timeshare. It's less than an hour from Crater Lake so a very easy day trip. Just south is Lava Beds National Monument as well. Running Y has some timeshare buildings (Worldmark) but also some nightly rental places and vacation rental homes so that might work well for a couple night stay between Otter Crest and Tahoe/Yosemite.
 
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