One More L.A. Story

I understand if you scan the length of this entry and skip it - in fact, this is your opportunity to pull the rip cord. I want to document this so that we don't have to rely on my slippery memory next time we visit California.

J and I did not plan for a hotel or rental car this time out since her brother now works for himself and has a fairly flexible schedule (and a larger apartment). We figured we'd work those details out once we got there and the trip began to unfold.

Once it did, I found a Best Western (good prices, usually decent quality) in Pasadena which is very close to the part of L.A. where J's brother lives. Keep in mind that to scale, something "close" in CA is what we might consider to be "far" in IL - or anywhere else. Plus, even with a map, things look like they'd be a lot closer than they are in reality. So, we ended up at one of three Best Western's in Pasadena - the one farthest from the downtown area. In other words, unless we wanted to rent a chainsaw, there was nothing to do without a car.

Actually, the hotel (motel?) was pretty nice. There was a fairly low-rent pool and hot tub combo outside so we soaked our feet since it was not exactly hot out there. (I found out that the day after we left, it went from 60 degrees to 95 - close to the record for this time of year.) The next morning, I started calling around for a car. We only needed it for one night and really only to get from the hotel to J's brother's place and then the airport. I started with Hertz since we've had luck with them in the past.

Hertz wanted $75 for the equivalent of a Toyota Corolla for one night and unlimited miles. I asked if we could pay less for "limited" miles but that was out of the question. Next, I called Enterprise since there was one two doors down from our hotel. They had a Corolla-type car for $39. That's more like it! We walked down and started the paperwork when the agent asked me if we'd be returning the car to that location. I told her of our plan and she let me know that there's a $50 fee for dropping off at the airport. Suddenly, it's $90 for a Corolla for one night. Insanity! She called the manager over to see what they could do for us - he said "Take $10 off the fee." At that, I asked for my credit card back and they were surprised that I didn't want to rent the car at all.

Also, during this transaction, a nice old lady standing at the counter told us we could take a bus to the airport for $3. That's a $77 savings! I wasn't taking the bus but I wasn't getting this car either. After we collected our stuff to leave, the old lady said "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything..."

We went back to the hotel and I tried Avis. The phone rep was really, really nice and told me that I could get a car in Pasadena and drop it off at the airport for $44. I was sold and asked him to lock the reservation. I also asked if they could pick us up at our hotel. He said they didn't offer a pickup service at that location so I'd probably have to get a cab or something. I asked how far the place was because J and I don't mind a good walk. He said roughly two miles so I got directions.

After about 45 minutes with no sign of the cross street, J got out a map and we realize we were not even half-way there. 45 more minutes and two rest/water stops later, we arrived at the Avis place. I told the guy that he better have our reservation because we just walked from the Best Western at the other end of town. He looked surprised when I told him which one. He asked what kind of car I wanted and I repeated my order. He said "How would you feel about a minivan for that same price? I have one that has to get back to the airport." I said ok and the transaction went quickly from there.

It was actually five miles back to the hotel. Sheesh.

The minivan turned out to be pretty nice. It had a DVD system, power side and rear doors (fun just to open and close) and a quick 6-cylinder motor. It was a comfortable ride, so after all that grief, it was a nice surprise.

J and I will probably get a lot more out of watching the Rose Bowl this year.