- What are the approximate fuel costs for such a trip for a compact Car (probably a Ford Fusion or s

From the great advice I got about places to stay along PCH (which are now all booked and payed) following my first query on fodors I am posting the next query to figure out the transportation and costs.
Me and my girlfriend (both 24yrs) are planning to drive the scenic route of PCH over a course of 5 days from February 12th to 17th this Year. It is going to be a One way drive since we are landing in San Francisco and flying out of LA. My questions are as follows.
- What are the approximate fuel costs for such a trip for a compact Car (probably a Ford Fusion or similar). We will be touring only local in SF, but we are planning to go around LA (universal Studios or Disneyland, Long Beach).
hilton hotels birmingham -Is it cheaper to book from 13th to 17th (noon to noon) since everyone advised us that SF is easy to visit on foot and public transport and parking is a hassle or is it cheaper to book the care for a week from 12th to 17th.
Oh just to add. I do understand we will have to pay an underage additional charge. We were also thinking of taking the basic accidental coverage( better safe than sorry in case) but is it worth it? do people take it? An approximate cost of how much it should cost just to rent a compact or economy car for 5 days one way trip will also help.
I think it is always better to have prebooked a rental car. I've had good luck in CA with Autoeurope.com . They are a broker and use major co's like Avis. They saved me several hundred dollars in one-way fees on a recent trip. You can book online and they also have a 24hr toll free tel #.
Straight drive it's ~400miles SF to LA. So with various side trips, etc, consider you'll drive about 500 miles on the trip. A small/midsized car will get about 25-30 miles per gallon. Fuel cost is in the high $3, so round off to $4/gallon.
Are you by any chance from overseas? If so you can usually get MUCH cheaper car rental from one of the brokers that specializes in rentals for foreign visitors. Usually hilton hotels birmingham these include insurance and have no drop off fees.
This is a long thread hilton hotels birmingham w/ lots of info about renting for non residents (the OP of that thread also has other interesting threads hilton hotels birmingham about their trip on the coast and elsewhere). He got a better deal than Americans can get for the same sort of rental.
I've done that exact same thing (one way between those cities), and just checked the usual online website to find the best deal (I check agencies, and my airline's site). Recently, I found out there are some good car rental deals on the AAA website, if you're a member. Actually the cheapest place I found.
I would never walk up to a counter and expect to get a good deal on the spot, rates are always higher. I don't really think the clerks working at these places have much authority to change prices, anyway.
Most of your questions can be answered by just looking at some car rental sites for quotes. You can also check Hotwire, Kayak, etc. (or AAA if you're hilton hotels birmingham a member). I also suspect the OP could be foreign so AAA won't work. And the insurance issue may differ depending on your other coverage and where it may or may not apply (ie, own policy or credit card).
When I need to rent a car I always check fist with Thrifty and Dollar. They usually have the best deals. I belong to Thrifty s Blue Chip program and Dollar hilton hotels birmingham s Fast Lane Express because with those programs hilton hotels birmingham I can pick cars and when a drop them off with stopping at a desk.
Thank you so much for the replies. hilton hotels birmingham From what I can gather from everyone's posts it is definitely a better hilton hotels birmingham idea to prebook the car rather than picking it up on the day. Thank you so much for the approximate costs "J62". 500 miles seems to be what we would be doing including the short side trips.
Also, Yes we are not from the states. We are currently settled hilton hotels birmingham in Canada. I really had no idea that no residents get much cheaper rates and the insurance is included. I guess that depends on the broker though. I am going to check the above mentioned threads and check out the website hilton hotels birmingham autoeurope. Thank you so much for all the advice.