National - Always Sold Out

Is it me, or is it difficult to get a rental a few days out? I'd say I usually have a 50% chance of getting National if under 7 days before the the date I need a car. Does anyone else experience this? I would give them 100% of my business, but I can't.

Thinking it goes hand in hand with this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/national/1104506-high-rates-short-notice-rentals-supply-demand-new-policy.html

There just aren't that many cars around at times.

I've noticed low availability and high rates in YVR recently. Exec Elite helps with the low availability.. always a car with 24hr notice.

Ron.

I have corp rate so no worries about rate changes. But I did have trouble getting a res at PIT less than 7 days out. Turns out however they were willing to give me a 5 day reservation instead of 2 day. So yes they had cars they just wanted to save them for someone who would keep them longer. But it turns out it did not matter whether I booked for 2 days or for 5 days I still can return after 2 and get the same two day corp rate. So if you can not get a res less than 7 days ahead, try booking for a longer rental period even if you intend to return sooner. My corp travel agent figured this out for me.

I have corp rate so no worries about rate changes. But I did have trouble getting a res at PIT less than 7 days out. Turns out however they were willing to give me a 5 day reservation instead of 2 day. So yes they had cars they just wanted to save them for someone who would keep them longer. But it turns out it did not matter whether I booked for 2 days or for 5 days I still can return after 2 and get the same two day corp rate. So if you can not get a res less than 7 days ahead, try booking for a longer rental period even if you intend to return sooner. My corp travel agent figured this out for me.

Beware doing this...you very LIKELY will get billed for the entire rental length as there are minimum rental length requirements when things are tight like this. (Similar to rules like Sat night keep, must pick up after noon on Thurs for weekend rate, return before Noon...blah blah.)
If you have a FIXED corp rate as this person does, the min. keep rule may not apply. HOWEVER, if your corp rate is ENTITLED TO BEST RATE your Min. Rental Length Rule WOULD most likely apply. So if you booked the longer duration stay just to obtain the res and returned sooner, you could end up paying the full booked rate.

I know you want to Play The Game so you can get the car and get on the road, but Knowing the Rules as you Play the Game is Important too...

The Best Surprise is No Surprise....I'm just Sayin' ;-)

Beware doing this...you very LIKELY will get billed for the entire rental length as there are minimum rental length requirements when things are tight like this. (Similar to rules like Sat night keep, must pick up after noon on Thurs for weekend rate, return before Noon...blah blah.)
If you have a FIXED corp rate as this person does, the min. keep rule may not apply. HOWEVER, if your corp rate is ENTITLED TO BEST RATE your Min. Rental Length Rule WOULD most likely apply. So if you booked the longer duration stay just to obtain the res and returned sooner, you could end up paying the full booked rate.


I agree one has to check this. In my case my corp travel office made the 5 day booking for me and told me just to return the car early and I should not be charged extra. They were right, I was not charged extra, but we have a corporate govt-type rate that probably has some fine print about always charging the same $/day rate. Also my corp rate includes insurance so it would be apples and oranges comparing to a regular commercial rate. Also nowhere in the 5 day booking rate on my reservation did it say there would be a penalty for returning the car early. With so many business travellers out there using corp rates it seems worthwhile to check longer rental options. I don't think I would have known to try had my savvy travel agent not looked into this. Happily I got a National Car reserved less than a week from my trip. Am two rentals out from Exec level so it was a good thing all around.