Thrifty - Does Thrifty really track the states a car goes into?

I am planning on renting a car in Little Rock and driving to Pensacola. Thrifty has the cheapest rate, about $280/8 days but the contract says that if the car leaves a certain state radius (in my case AL, FL) the rate changes to $/miles, increasing the rental to about $400. With Budget I can get unlimited miles even as far as Florida for $340.

So, which to take, the Thrifty rate assuming that no one will know where the car goes, or the "play it safe" Budget rate. Both seem high, IMO, but I have looked and looked.

I had a similar doubt with them in Canada, but I took the car out of the province anyway and they didn't charge me anything.

Thanks, I suspected that.

Is it a Franchise location?

Make sure you don't rent one with built-in GPS! :p

There are stories told of cars with tracking devices and people being charged. I might rent from somebody else without such a restriction. I also might not knowingly breach the contract.

This article isn't about Thrifty, but if one company is capable of doing this, you can assume others are too:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-604461.html

But let's assume for the moment that Thrifty is too large and uncoordinated a company to track the specific whereabouts of every single one of its cars at any given time. Here are a couple of reasons why this might be a bad idea:

1. You are an honest person and trying to cheat a company isn't the kind of thing you'd do.

OR

2. Get a parking ticket, speeding ticket, flat tire, engine failure, or fender bender while you're out of the allowed zone and Thrifty will add insult to injury because they now know exactly were you've been. Feeling lucky?

This article isn't about Thrifty, but if one company is capable of doing this, you can assume others are too:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-604461.html

But let's assume for the moment that Thrifty is too large and uncoordinated a company to track the specific whereabouts of every single one of its cars at any given time. Here are a couple of reasons why this might be a bad idea:

1. You are an honest person and trying to cheat a company isn't the kind of thing you'd do.

OR

2. Get a parking ticket, speeding ticket, flat tire, engine failure, or fender bender while you're out of the allowed zone and Thrifty will add insult to injury because they now know exactly were you've been. Feeling lucky?

I know someone who works at Thrifty and they actually told me that some of the cars actually have trackers. If you are worried I wouldn't risk it.

There's way too much talk here about "breeching the contract." There's no breech, just different rates for different states.

What irks me is that Pensacola (2 states ouside the cheap zone, well, sounds like a lot but it's only about 90 miles) is more expensive than El Paso, easy twice as far from Little Rock.

The best course is probably to have the contract modified at rental for no charge or I'll walk to Dollar.

I'll also bring a map showing that within the unlimited miles zone is El Paso @ 980 miles, Briston (TN) @ 640, but Pensacola at only 480 miles is in the $/mile zone.

So, which to take, the Thrifty rate assuming that no one will know where the car goes, or the "play it safe" Budget rate.

There's way too much talk here about "breeching the contract." There's no breech, just different rates for different states.



(bolding mine)

Some people here may have gotten the impression that you were planning to drive to a state that triggers a higher rate and not tell Thrifty. It's not where you were planning to drive that's the issue, it's your apparent intention to do so without notifying Thrifty. It sure seemed like you were hoping to get the go-ahead to ignore Thifty's contract terms.

But if you are up front with them, then yes there is the possibility they will modify the contract.

I had a similar doubt with them in Canada, but I took the car out of the province anyway and they didn't charge me anything.

I needed a car to drive from New York City to Montreal and asked Enterprise, which is the firm I generally used at the time. Their cars have a specific limit of contiguous states, not including Canada. I rented from Hertz instead which allows use in Canada. (Indeed, at least at one time, the Hertz office at SAN would sell you a day pass to take their cars to the border region of Mexico on a specific date.)

My USAA LTD policy covers my use of rental cars for liability and collision anywhere in the world, but that seems to cut no ice with rental car firms.

I have seen articles in the press about surcharges when vehicles have been tracked outside the allowed region. Here's an article from an ABA journal on the legality of rental firms' use of GPS to track cars and to levy surcharges for, among other things, speeding:
http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/blt/2005-07-08/yen.shtml

Is it a Franchise location?

Yes, it is.

I know someone who works at Thrifty and they actually told me that some of the cars actually have trackers. If you are worried I wouldn't risk it.

Since it's a franchised location, they can do whatever they want with their cars. Some have trackers and some don't. It really doesn't matter whether Thrifty corporate puts trackers on their cars, since Thrifty LIT decides what to do with their own cars just as any independent company can.

What irks me is that Pensacola (2 states ouside the cheap zone, well, sounds like a lot but it's only about 90 miles) is more expensive than El Paso, easy twice as far from Little Rock.

The best course is probably to have the contract modified at rental for no charge or I'll walk to Dollar.

Dollar in LIT is a franchise, too. I can't recall (nor can I find out at this time) whether it is held by the same owner as the Thrifty franchise, but you may find the same policy there (unless your reservation specifically doesn't include the same verbiage).

Corporate DTAG usually offers unlimited miles in the Lower 48 states and Canada. Franchises are free to set their own individual policies.

rented a thrifty car through hotwire. got a great price, good vehicle, and got abused at the rental counter prior to getting the vehicle.tried to sell me all the extras one by one, did not want to take no for an answer. They NEVER give you the car you reserve, always try to give you a smaller car and telling you that it is an upgrade.

I can't speak to Thrifty, but there has been a lot written about this issue and people being added to the Do Not Rent list for speeding and the like. The companies don't publicize it, but don't hide it either. OP should presume that Thrifty will know.

For those who, unlike OP, would scam the contract, it's a foolish move. No insurance, whether purchased through the rental company, part of CC or other private coverage, covers anything when there's a breach of contract. Forget about who pays for the ding on the bumper. Who pays for the guy who spends 9 months in the hospital when you hit him and are found liable?

I can't speak to Thrifty, but there has been a lot written about this issue and people being added to the Do Not Rent list for speeding and the like. The companies don't publicize it, but don't hide it either. OP should presume that Thrifty will know.

For those who, unlike OP, would scam the contract, it's a foolish move. No insurance, whether purchased through the rental company, part of CC or other private coverage, covers anything when there's a breach of contract. Forget about who pays for the ding on the bumper. Who pays for the guy who spends 9 months in the hospital when you hit him and are found liable?

The contracts says that if taken out of state/province the mileage will be limited to 200 miles a day, so there is no scam just might get charged for extra miles....

rented a thrifty car through hotwire. got a great price, good vehicle, and got abused at the rental counter prior to getting the vehicle.tried to sell me all the extras one by one, did not want to take no for an answer. They NEVER give you the car you reserve, always try to give you a smaller car and telling you that it is an upgrade.

The way to avoid getting abused is to join the Blue Chip program, they are not supposed to sell anything to Blue Chip members + you can bypass the counter, although im not sure how it would work if you use hotwire.

I know someone who works at Thrifty and they actually told me that some of the cars actually have trackers. If you are worried I wouldn't risk it.

I just got back from a trip to FL and rented from Thrifty (MCO). Some of their vehicles do have built-in GPS tracking devices (particularly the Full-Size cars and SUV's). I rented an intermediate SUV, and there was something in the rental contract which stated the vehicle was not to be driven out of state, and that it was equipped with GPS tracking to monitor compliance. They also equip the same class of vehicles with remote engine-kill capabilities (in the event someone decides not to return the car).

That seems strange. Thrifty MCO is corporate, offers one-ways of all vehicle categories to other states, and says the following under driving restrictions, even for vans, SUVs, and exotics:

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS: Driving is restricted to the continental United States and Canada.

That seems strange. Thrifty MCO is corporate, offers one-ways of all vehicle categories to other states, and says the following under driving restrictions, even for vans, SUVs, and exotics:

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS: Driving is restricted to the continental United States and Canada.

Agree.

SIXT, E-Z, and some of the other smaller/discount brands have T&C which restrict the driver to FL only or FL+neighboring states, but I've never heard of any issues (either in my personal rentals or working with the traveling public) with corporate Thrifty being restricted.

That seems strange. Thrifty MCO is corporate, offers one-ways of all vehicle categories to other states, and says the following under driving restrictions, even for vans, SUVs, and exotics:

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS: Driving is restricted to the continental United States and Canada.

Kid you not, it was right there in the contract. I too thought it was rather strange as I've been able to drive unrestricted in the past with mid/full-size cars. This was the first time I ever saw that.