California visit suggestion

<p>Going to see Santa Clara and University of San Diego for accepted student events. We have the arrangements for SD. When looking for hotel/car deals in Santa Clara, best car deal is from Fox. We are not familiar with them here in the east. Should we pay more for a name we know or are they west coast only but reputable?</p>

<p>I rented a car from Fox a couple of years ago and it was a great deal-- I'm local, but I needed a replacement while my own car was in the shop, and everything went pretty smoothly. The only thing is that they didn't have the model I had reserved -- so they gave me something else in the same class instead. But other than that there was no problem and it was a recent model car in great shape. Fox was cheaper in part because they are located a little farther from the airport --but I'm sure they have shuttles. </p>

<p>Have you made your flight arrangements yet? For a straight car rental, in California the best rates are generally from Fox or Enterprise, but sometimes you can do better by booking a flight with a combined package -- so you might want to check Expedia, Orbitz & Travelocity for hotel/flight/car combinations.</p>

<p>Thanks, calmom.
We have FFmiles for our flights, to SJC and from SAN, and even 1 of the SJC to SAN shuttles.
The hotel/car package in SD offered us Budget, which we know.
I think we'll take the SC deal, through Hotels.com. I was afraid Fox was in the rent-a-clunker category ;)</p>

<p>Hey mominva</p>

<p>Congrats on your daughter's acceptances
When not in school in AZ I spend most of my time in San Diego</p>

<p>Let me tell you that USD's campus is one of the most beautiful in the country, and my brother who attends,loves it.</p>

<p>Here are some hotels is San Diego that are near the campus but are also within walking distance of the beach</p>

<p>The Hyatt at Islandia ( right on the bay, great pool area)
The Bahia ( also right on the bay, has a little seal park)
Catamaran Resort Hotel ( prob the most expensive but its a little more seculded on the north side of mission bay, but it offers great deals on sailing, boating, and jet skiing) I would prefer this one</p>

<p>Make sure to visit Mission Beach ( a hangout for sd students)
while there visit Belmont Park.... and Sara's mexican food and ummmmm Gabiano's italian</p>

<p>im sure your d or s will fall in love with sd </p>

<p>pm with any questions</p>

<p>chillin,
Thanks for the tips. We'll be sure to check out some of your suggestions :)</p>

<p>ok good luck</p>

<p>Tell me how it goes</p>

<p>I have no specific experience with Fox, but a general warning about discount auto rentals: when you get the car check it over VERY carefully and document, and have them sign for, every little bump, dent, scratch, and ding in that car before you leave the lot. </p>

<p>Some discount houses run a scam where they make up for their low rates by charging every renter for the same minor dents over and over again. If you can't prove it was there when you picked it up you will very likely get charged. Hertz, Avis, and other higher-end companies don't bother with anything less than obvious frank damage, since they are charging a higher rate to begin with.</p>

<p>Good advice, thanks.</p>

<p>I've used Fox. The car worked fine, but when I had a problem, I tried to call three different Fox offices in the area and none of them had a human being answering the phone. If the problem had been serious, I would have been in big trouble.</p>

<p>We had a thread on here just recently about Silicon Valley that had good restaurant recs for Korean near Santa Clara....</p>

<p>... and I will wholeheartedly recommend Su's Mongolian BBQ right near campus! (Where campus = SCU, that is.) I myself am pretty much "right near campus" and could be convinced to "just happen to drop by" to Su's at some pre-determined time for delicious all-you-can-eat food, ahem.</p>

<p>Mootmom, you're on. I'll PM you soon.</p>