Comments on: Why does one day less cost three times more?

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:57:44 +0000

@ Jay: Good call! In the airline world, they’d yank your flying privileges and your frequent flyer miles.

By: Jay Drew

Jay Drew — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:26:09 +0000

I had the opposite situation with a rental from Enterprise in Saint Louis MO a couple years ago. Airport location. A single rental from Wed-Sun was $500 according to their web site. But a rental from Wed-Fri was $200, and Fri-Sun was $130. Same size car. So I booked the two reservations back-to-back.

When I picked up the car, the person at the desk found the first reservation. I pointed out the second one and said “I’m more than willing to bring the car back on Friday, with a full tank, and you can give me a different, freshly-washed car. Or you can let me have the same car until Sunday at the combined price of the two separate bookings.”

The first time this happened, the desk person had to get the manager to look at the computer; he scratched his head for 3 seconds and said “OK”. The second time this happened, two months later, the desk person (a different one) said “Oh, *you’re* the one who found that” and approved the change herself.

Reservation computer systems are weird. Seat management systems are weirder. Corner cases abound.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:00:52 +0000

While I thankfully have not personally experienced this type of rate increase (yet?), I am curious why the car rental companies always claim that their “Computers are Down,” and thus are unable to offer a receipt whenever you return a car. I travel quite a bit and use different car companies and ALWAYS I am told that the “Computer is Down” when I try to turn the car in. It does not matter who I have rented from. Maybe car companies should spend some of their profit buying new computer systems that work!

By: chris

chris — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:31:02 +0000

why is it when we ask, beg, grovel, cry we get a flat out NO, sorry we can’t help you, but when a representative calls on our behalf, it’s “ok, we can help”. That’s so humiliating and irritating!

By: The Good Doctor

The Good Doctor — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:36:36 +0000

I learned the hard way when delayed airline connections caused me to miss my pre-arranged rental car reservation before midnight, forcing me into a higher rate (“walkup”) category. It was only a few bucks higher and I was going to be reimbursed for the trip anyhow, so it wasn’t worth my time and effort to protest. So now I make two reservations – one for the scheduled arrival time and one for the following day, cancelling the second day’s booking if my flight arrives on time. Sure, it may affect the rental car agencies’ yield management strategies, but they’re the ones whose policies have forced us to take these defensive measures.

By: Chris in NC

Chris in NC — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:02:45 +0000

Same here.. I have not used Alamo for 10+ years now, due to outrageous employee behavior by an agent in PHX. Granted all companies have their slip ups, but this is one company that I won’t voluntarily do business with ever.

I second the opinion that I avoid pre-paid reservations (except in limited situations). Generally you save less than 10% on hotel rates, and the risk just isn’t worth the savings (flight delays/cancellations). The only time I have booked a non-refundable rate is on the morning of reservation via mobile internet.

All I can say, is this is “yield management” at its finest. A so called invention by businesses to try and squeeze the most out of people’s wallets.

By: Art

Art — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:07:15 +0000

I have not used Alamo in 29 years because of the tremendous pressure they put on me years ago in Orlando to purchase their additional insurance. I can see from this that I made a good decision. I do not give any company a second chance. They either get it right the first time, or never get another shot at it. Vote with your wallets, people!

By: Barfeld

Barfeld — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:17:05 +0000

Sadly, this is not an issue of prepaid vs. not prepaid, but of “advance purchase” vs. “walk-up rate.”

It used to be that when I called a car rental company to say I’d be late, they said “Fine. We’ll start the rental period when you get here.” Now they give me a new reservation number, with new rate.

This past Thursday this same thing happened to me (due to midwest flight delays) and the new rate was actually lower. But other times it has been higher.

Luck of the draw.

By: MeanMeosh

MeanMeosh — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:59:10 +0000

This is Exhibit A as to why to avoid prepaid car rental or hotel reservations wherever possible, especially if the normal, refundable rate doesn’t have a penalty (usually they don’t). The savings usually aren’t worth the hassle if something goes wrong, unless you’re talking about a Priceline-type deal with a substantial discount.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:28:41 +0000

This is pretty atrocious, but this is NOTHING like airline fares.

If you book a flight reservation and then want to change it to the next day at the last minute, you have taken space from the airline, and then want to use a DIFFERENT seat. Perhaps the airline could fill your seat at the last minute, and perhaps not.

In this case, you are renting the SAME car! You just drove it one day less. So less wear and tear on the car for the same cost. What a crock, but very different.

Moral: Don’t prepay for car rentals. You can book reservations at no cost.