… don’t return it “early”, or you may wind-up being charged more.
I feel like in every corner people are ought to scam consumers. The article presented here reminds me of car insurance companies where if you drive too much, they charge you more, and if you drive a lot lesser than normal, the insurance company keeps quiet until you point this out to them.
I can sort of understand the rental company’s point of view. They schedule the number of staff at any location just enough to meet the demands. Too few and they end up paying overtime. Too many staff and they are paying for their staff to drink coffee and tell jokes (not entirely a bad thing … lol … ) If a car is returned before it is scheduled, they may have to pay one of their staff overtime to process the return. Good info, next time I rent a car I’ll remember to return it on schedule but not before. When possible I always hose down the car to get rid of all the dust before returning it.
For car-rental newbies, one tip to reduce your rental costs, be sure to fill the gas tank just before returning the car.
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Hertz has not been the most customer service focused rental company in the last few years by any stretch of the imagination.
Budget has always given us better service than we could ever ask for. We’ve had to switch out our rental car because a transmission warning light came on, thankfully before my folks left Vegas for the Grand Canyon, Replacement vehicle was delivered the next morning and without hassle. My understanding is you wouldn’t get a refund if returning early but it wouldn’t change the total rate.
Dad used to work for FEMA as an on call employee and the rental car and hotel would be booked for a month at a time and might end a few days before or be extended by a couple days. Renting with a government card and through their travel office got the car at a preset rate as long as a compact or similar was reserved.
Saved big bucks by not turning the car in at the airport but a nearby place with free shuttle to the airport.
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I had the opposite experience. Saved many dollars picking car up from non-airport lot, then when returning the car was told I could have returned it at the airport. I do not remember which agency I rented it. BTW, I reserved an economy car, when I went to pick it up all they had was a Mustang! Oh boohoo😀
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A trick that frequently works is to reserve one of their cheapest/tiniest cars. Because they are usually in short supply, one can frequently get upgraded to a larger car for the same price as the smaller one. A few years ago, I reserved a Corolla, and Avis gave me a Camry for the same price.
When I worked I tried to use National to take advantage of their Emerald Aisle. Most airports I used had the Aisle. There were usually some interesting choices, especially in Denver and LA. The choices were really good when I travelled too much and qualified for the Executive Aisle. I had a New Beetle convertible, a Crossfire, a RAM pickup with a hemi, a Mustang convertible, a Mini convertible, and numerous Cadillacs. I was never into SUVs but there was a good selection of them too. I took a Suburban a couple of years ago at Santa Barbara just too what driving one was like. Ponderous to say the least. The guy at SB treated me well because I was there for at least 2 weeks.
When Is A Reservation Not A Reservation? (Seinfeld car rental) (youtube.com)
Our company has a contract with Avis. When I use to do a lot of traveling (before Covid) I’d get free upgrades all the time due to the amount of times I rented.
That’s what we have for work. Nice to just stroll up and take any car that suits your fancy.
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