Budget - Satellite Radio

With all of the great Skymiles bonuses coming out for Budget lately, I find myself renting from them much more often. However, I'm also finding it more and more difficult to secure a car with working satellite radio. Other than asking out at the lot and hoping the agent gives a flip, have any of you found a sure-fire way to ensure you get a car with activated XM or Sirius? From what one of the agents told me, Budget is no longer subscribing once the 30-day free period expires. Bad move IMHO. I'd be willing to pay $5-10 per rental (which would more than cover the subscription cost). Anyways, any tips?

Other than (ugh) going back to "the desk" and switching to another car, there is no sure way to know that the car you're getting has a WORKING sat radio. Some locations opt for sat coverage more than others. Example: I find most of the cars in the SJC location (and off site locations) have it, while most of the cars in the SAN location don't. My solution? I have a portable XM Radio that I use as a backup if the rental car I use doesn't offer sat coverage. Guess it depends how important it is to you...to me it is (and not for music)




With all of the great Skymiles bonuses coming out for Budget lately, I find myself renting from them much more often. However, I'm also finding it more and more difficult to secure a car with working satellite radio. Other than asking out at the lot and hoping the agent gives a flip, have any of you found a sure-fire way to ensure you get a car with activated XM or Sirius? From what one of the agents told me, Budget is no longer subscribing once the 30-day free period expires. Bad move IMHO. I'd be willing to pay $5-10 per rental (which would more than cover the subscription cost). Anyways, any tips?

Other than (ugh) going back to "the desk" and switching to another car, there is no sure way to know that the car you're getting has a WORKING sat radio. Some locations opt for sat coverage more than others. Example: I find most of the cars in the SJC location (and off site locations) have it, while most of the cars in the SAN location don't. My solution? I have a portable XM Radio that I use as a backup if the rental car I use doesn't offer sat coverage. Guess it depends how important it is to you...to me it is (and not for music)

Yeah, definitely not worth the hassle of going back inside, especially if it's not going to amount to anything. I have a portable XM player too but it needs the external antenna to be effective. It just isn't worth undoing my car kit every time I travel. Thanks for the input, though.

I don't use my portable Pioneer XM player with a car kit, I simply turn it on and plug in my ear plugs. I have an external antenna that plugs into the charger base, but rarely use it. Usually if I simply lay the player on the car dash, it works reasonably well. I keep it my backpack that I always carry with me on trips, so no big deal to take out.

Yeah, definitely not worth the hassle of going back inside, especially if it's not going to amount to anything. I have a portable XM player too but it needs the external antenna to be effective. It just isn't worth undoing my car kit every time I travel. Thanks for the input, though.