So I had to rent a car last weekend. I made a reservation for a mid-size and went to pick it up. The guy behind the counter asked if I wanted to upgrade to a full-size, which I declined. He then asked me if I wanted an SUV for $50 more (one day!), which I also declined. His buddy at the next table try to push it on me by saying "man, he's giving you a REALLY GOOD DEAL, you should take it". Again, I said "no thanks". They almost seemed disappointed that I didn't take their "good deal".

Anyway, I went out to pick up the car and it was an Impala- a full size. So, they ran out of mid-size and had to give me a full-size anyway but wanted to charge me for it. I would have paid extra for something I would have gotten. Also, the $50/day extra for an SUV is just ridiculous. Most of the time, it's less than $10/day to upgrade.

Any good rental car stories out there?

 

They like to get you on the Prepaid gas thing too.... they charge you upfront for a full tank of gas then you just bring it back with whatever.... but more than likely you will bring it back with half a tank or more..... just one more place to **** ya.

Remember planes trains and automobiles?

 

Enterprise, and many other rental companies, have NO set prices. That rate you got when you called in was either the full retail rate, or the first number that popped into the agent's head. There are three main categories of rentals: personal (retail), corporate, and insurance, but on every single contract that goes out the agent manually types out how much you pay per day and he has authority to make it pretty much whatever he thinks you should pay. When an employee makes a reservation it's critical to key in the rate quoted so the branch knows what to charge the customer when she comes in otherwise nobody would know what to charge. A good branch manager trains his employees to adjust the price as needed to keep the lot sitting tight, that means making some way-too-cheap deals when there are too many cars around. It also means someone walking in saying they need a car no matter the price, that customer might get charged twice what he would have paid just asking for a car.

 

Check if your CC gives you insurance automatically - if it does, no need to buy it from the Rental agency.

 

ahhh hell no!!!

same EXACT thing happened to my pops. he just took it up to the manager and told him to charge him for the midsize car. its not your fault they don't have something you reserved. you shouldn't pay more.

 

yea the rates are definitely open to negotiation. The only x-factor is demand. A full lot and you can almost name your price. An empty one with a line...bend over.

I know that my USAA discount gives me 65% OFF their published rates. Getting a car is like $18 per day, unlimited miles. You don't need to even show an ID either so you can just say you're member of NAMBLA (some know what that is, I'm sure!) and should get a 50% discount. Odds are you'll get it if they need to empty the lot.

And, yea, if you have insurance you likely don't need to get theirs. I know mine covers rentals but you should verify for yourself.

 

I had to get a rental car once.it had zero gas when I took it off the lot..when i brought it back it had a 1/4 tank.they charged me like $10 for gas and i was like WTF is this for and...well you know the rest.

didn't want to fight over $10 so i just let it go.

 

wtf you get discounts for being in NAMBLA.. I mean aside from those on the cheap young ass. sorry couldn't resist

 

Chairman club all the way. Much better before all this terrorist crap. Rental manager would meet you at the gate ,carried your bag to your waiting car. Still pretty good, the manager or employee waits out side the security gates , carries your crap to your waiting car. You drop the car at your terminal. Avis guy or chick takes the keys carries your bag to check in.

Anything else looks like it sucks donkey balls.

 

Priceline for car rentals. I usually get a car for 10 per day and usually It says economy, but I end up with a midsize. When we went to UTAH once we got a full size for 15/day and then the la people I went with wanted to pay 10/day more to upgrade to an H3. What a pos, I'd have much rather upgraded to a caddilac.