travel in cali?

[rajatQ2]

Hey,
I want to know something about travelling in Cali, and i figure most of you guys are from there ;-)...

Me and some buddies are going to vegas for new years. I am starting a new job early in jan in ice-cold boston, so i'm treating myself to a nice warm vacation :). SO anyway, I'll hopefully drive back to LA with my buddy who lives near Palos verdes.

After that i want to spend some time travelling around, and see my cousin in santa monica and my uncle in San jose. Is there any sort of public transportation that is not too expensive for me to do all those destinations plus maybe a few more that i'll come up with later? I am too young to rent a car me thinks. Thanks!

[DaFunkyUnit]

Southern California has very, very LOUZY public transportation! You will need a car, theres no other way around it, unfortunately...

If you're gonna be in the Bay Area, I recommend the BART.

[rajatQ2]

is 22 too young to rent a car in Cali too? in MA and IL we have to pay ridiculous rates.

[Freelance Superhero]

if you're in west LA, use the Santa Monica Blue Bus (http://www.bigbluebus.com). other than that, yeah, public trans. is horrible here.

[cheapchinese]

its also kinda chilly here during that time.....

and yea... go rent a car, cause you'll rather kill yourself using the public transportation here... unless its grey hound for la to the bay area...

[whitak24]

Originally posted by rajatQ2
is 22 too young to rent a car in Cali too? in MA and IL we have to pay ridiculous rates.
i assume you are just graduating college, if you're 22 and starting a new job.

so check with your school's alumni association. if you join, you will often get discounts on things like rental cars, hotels, etc. the huge thing with the rental car discounts is that they (may) basically book you as part of a "corporate contract", which means that you don't have to pay the underage surcharges. i saved a few hundred dollars because of that when i was out in cali last year.

if that doesn't work, you might want to check into the "rent-a-wreck" type places. i'm not sure how reliable they are or if they have underage surcharges, but it may be a cheaper option.

but unfortunately, renting a car is just damn expensive and makes the vacation pretty costly :( which is why you should be in a real city like NYC, boston, or DC that has good public transit ;)

[bachviet]

You have to rent a car here in SoCal. The rate will be $20 more for pple under 25.

[kimchicowboy]

metro in LA is still on strike, no?

san jose public transportation is ok if i remember correctly. but i haven't used it in years.

[rajatQ2]

Originally posted by whitak24

i assume you are just graduating college, if you're 22 and starting a new job.
Yep, you got it.


which is why you should be in a real city like NYC, boston, or DC that has good public transit ;)

I'm moving to boston for my new job :D

But not excited about driving that far in December new england weather ....

[boba world]

Had to travel all over the US for work when I was 22 as well, and Enterprise was the only place that would rent to my young ass. They have some kind of 9.99 per day thing but only 100 mile per day limit. Also, greyhound and other "shuttles" do the LA to Bay routes, all run around $40 give or take.

In the bay area, the BART (www.bart.gov) can take you around pretty well.

[PCC]

BART does not make it to San Jose. The closest it gets is Fremont, which is about 20 miles north of San Jose. Once on the BART system, it can take you into San Francisco and other points of interest, though.

[tupacboy]

if ur in so.cal... rent from enterprise rent-a-car... if possible try a local branch... you'll need a cc and lic... but sometimes they don't add the underage fee ($10) at the local branches... but all airports... ur gonna pay....

oh yeah... book ur car online with enterprise.... cheaper usually...

[Ladogaboy]

Rent a car for SoCal, and if you don't want to drive it North, take Amtrak.

[djsusm]

Cool, thanks. amtrak was what i was looking for...
rajatq