Have a confirmed reservation, show up for the rental car.... no car.

[GON]

I was just telling my wife last night that I hope we don't have this issue on or upcoming trip, then I see this thread! We are flying into Raleigh-Durham next month then driving to Norfolk. Hope and pray we don't run into this issue. It would destroy the whole trip.

What company?

My recommendation is to sign up for Avis preferred. Put in your credit card and driver license information. Then book the reservation using Avis on-line, find a good discount code. And you can always make a backup reservation with National. Both reservations will not be a liability to you unless you pickup a car.

Of course if you pre-pay, a whole different story.

 

[PandaBear]

What about calling credit card company and report of no cars to rent.

I would be surprised if the manager at the rental would not issue you a refund when there is no car and he is under the stress of "finding a car". Most likely he would just refund and want you to go away.

 

[spackard]

(del)

 

[gregk24]

What company?

My recommendation is to sign up for Avis preferred. Put in your credit card and driver license information. Then book the reservation using Avis on-line, find a good discount code. And you can always make a backup reservation with National. Both reservations will not be a liability to you unless you pickup a car.

Of course if you pre-pay, a whole different story.

We used Budget

 

[Dave Hess]

I’ve always used Enterprise for work and leisure travel.

 

[GON]

I would be surprised if the manager at the rental would not issue you a refund when there is no car and he is under the stress of "finding a car". Most likely he would just refund and want you to go away.

When things are bad at airport rental car locations- managers are hard to find..... It is a rough business outside of Enterprise.

 

[GON]

We used Budget

Avis and Budget are part of the same organization.

Many times I will pick up my Avis rental at a Budget space, especially if I need something outside of compact (my default rental car size).

 

[PimTac]

This generally won’t work for business travelers but I don’t rent at the airport. It is actually cheaper to take a airport shuttle and rent from your destination. While settling everything I ask if I can turn the car back in at the airport. They haven’t told me no yet.

It might surprise you the difference in price between airport rentals and offsite rentals.

 

[y_p_w]

This generally won’t work for business travelers but I don’t rent at the airport. It is actually cheaper to take a airport shuttle and rent from your destination. While settling everything I ask if I can turn the car back in at the airport. They haven’t told me no yet.

It might surprise you the difference in price between airport rentals and offsite rentals.

Depends. Part of the big issue is the airport fees or taxes. I've seen some airports that have minimal fees while others charge a lot.

And it's not common now, but I've looked for specials at airports and got a base rate of as low as $5/day. The overall price depends on taxes and airport fees. I've gotten $70 weekly rates at an airport where the total bill was $100. I looked into similar rates at non-airport locations and couldn't find anything that low. However, it really depends on the location and the time. There are some times where the non-airport locations are about the same base rate but much cheaper with taxes and fees.

I've also seen some local weekend specials. However, they might be limited on mileage.

 

[Wolf359]

Depends. Part of the big issue is the airport fees or taxes. I've seen some airports that have minimal fees while others charge a lot.

And it's not common now, but I've looked for specials at airports and got a base rate of as low as $5/day. The overall price depends on taxes and airport fees. I've gotten $70 weekly rates at an airport where the total bill was $100. I looked into similar rates at non-airport locations and couldn't find anything that low. However, it really depends on the location and the time. There are some times where the non-airport locations are about the same base rate but much cheaper with taxes and fees.

I've also seen some local weekend specials. However, they might be limited on mileage.

Yeah really depends. I think there's an extra $10 tax if you're renting at the airport but not if you rent somewhere else. Just depends how they tax the local area.

 

[y_p_w]

Yeah really depends. I think there's an extra $10 tax if you're renting at the airport but not if you rent somewhere else. Just depends how they tax the local area.

It's heavily dependent on the airport. I've rented one day for a $14 base rate where the total cost was maybe $22. There are flat fees per day and percentage taxes. But it depends on the price. If the base rate at airports is way less it can be much cheaper even with fees.

 

[PandaBear]

This generally won’t work for business travelers but I don’t rent at the airport. It is actually cheaper to take a airport shuttle and rent from your destination. While settling everything I ask if I can turn the car back in at the airport. They haven’t told me no yet.

It might surprise you the difference in price between airport rentals and offsite rentals.

It depends I think. When I use priceline / hotwire etc to rent during "normal" time I usually can find it cheaper at the airport. That's assuming you have excess capacity that some company wants to use up instead of wasting.

I wouldn't go that way right now though. You for sure will not get anything now.

 

[tyman]

Rent a U-Haul like people are supposedly doing in Hawaii

Wife and I looked into it but they didn’t have any F150 trucks. Only 18-26’ box trucks. Lmao

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Wife and I looked into it but they didn’t have any F150 trucks. Only 18-26’ box trucks. Lmao

I don't think I've seen pickups at U-Haul, but I have seen the E150 vans, and of course the box trucks . It could depend on location, though

Even the box trucks could still be cheaper than a rental car

 

[Wolf359]

I don't think I've seen pickups at U-Haul, but I have seen the E150 vans, and of course the box trucks . It could depend on location, though

Even the box trucks could still be cheaper than a rental car

The van might be more common and easier to drive than a box truck.

 

[ad244]

Im worried about this issue with a upcoming trip to a smaller regional airport which does have a couple different rental car companies onsite.
Has any BITOGer had luck calling ahead of time to confirm?

At this point, id rather just buy a car for the weekend then resell it before leaving for probably less.

 

[Wolf359]

Im worried about this issue with a upcoming trip to a smaller regional airport which does have a couple different rental car companies onsite.
Has any BITOGer had luck calling ahead of time to confirm?

At this point, id rather just buy a car for the weekend then resell it before leaving for probably less.

Try seeing if there are any cars on Turo available and just buy their insurance. Probably cheaper.

 

[tyman]

I don't think I've seen pickups at U-Haul, but I have seen the E150 vans, and of course the box trucks . It could depend on location, though

Even the box trucks could still be cheaper than a rental car

Idk about Hawaii but Uhaul has single cab full-size trucks, usually F150s. For getting like a refrigerator or washer/dryer where you don’t need a big box truck. Usually $19.95/day or 29.95.

 

[tyman]

Try seeing if there are any cars on Turo available and just buy their insurance. Probably cheaper.

This is what we did. Found a 2016 Lexus RX350 for $80/day. Even with their cheap insurance and prepaid clean, it’s still under $150 and guaranteed rental vs no rental car or $300/day for **** Ford Fiesta.

 

[Sonic]

No, moving vans, box truck rentals pull the same BS. Several years ago I reserved a U Haul box truck over 3 weeks in advance. The night before I’m to pick it up at 9am they don’t call but send an email to let me know my reservation has been cancelled due to no truck being available. Not even a larger or a smaller one. Lucky I just happened to see the email. Really put me in a pickle. I complained plenty but on deaf ears. They couldn’t have cared less.