Deal: Road trips made easy with $7.99 one-way rental cars from Arizona to L.A.

Avis is offering a one-way rental offer that has cars starting at $7.99 a day if you rent in Arizona and return to a specified city (including ones in Southern California). That’s a real deal when you consider daily rates are rarely in the single digits.

Further, the drop-off rates for a one-way rental can leave you weak in the knees. But in this deal, there’s no drop-off penalty.

The deal: Drivers picking up in Arizona can return cars to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego or San Francisco. If you go to Phoenix by plane, bus, train or some other method and rent there, the tab for your seven-day rental for a compact, intermediate, standard or full-size car will cost less than $60.

When: The Arizona offer is good through May 31. There is a similar offer in Florida (different drop-off cities) that’s good through June 30.

Tested: I found many dates available for this deal, including renting a car in Phoenix on April 14 and returning it to Los Angeles on April 17. It costs about $24 plus tax for the whole trip.

Crack open your air miles to fly free to Phoenix or Tucson, and you’ve got a pretty low-cost getaway to travel wherever you like -- so long as you return to L.A. or other selected destinations.

Info: www.avis.com. Click on “Offers” at the top of the page.

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