National - What makes a car a premium?

Last week I had a PCAR reservation and was given the choice of a Taurus, 300, Maxima. While I do love the 300's and despise the Space Shuttle cockpit style that is a Taurus, I hadn't driven a Maxima in a while and gave it a go....

Leather - No!
XM/Sirius - No! (no device)
BT Audio - No!
AUX Port - Yes!
Moon Roof - Yes!

Funny about the BT Audio, it would interface with my phone but not provide a means to interface with the radio.... A truly ... moment..

So what makes a premium a premium? Am I the only one who would just assume satellite radio and or BT Audio, leather would make a car a premium? Maxima isn't any bigger then an Impala, sportier yes, but...

I base my rentals solely on leather and XM and or BT...

Generally, MSRP is a good determinant of car classification. A vehicle with a sticker price in the high $20-Ks to mid $30Ks is likely to be a premium vehicle.

In my experience, the premium cars tend to be based on one of the following criteria:

They are newer models of current fleet staples. When the new Charger came out, many were premium while the old ones were still hanging around.

The high-end models of current fleet staples. While a standard Charger will hang out on the EA, the ones with the gizmos and the nice seats is a premium. The same with other cars.

Anything Cadillac, Lincoln, BMW, Lexus etc. that are considered high-end vehicles even though they may not be the high end vehicles in those lines.

Any car that is better than what the current site manager owns. "Hey, I can not even afford this. Put it in premium." This is the managerial discretion rule.

To add a futher complication into the mix, I find it to be location dependent as well. HNL had some vehicles last year that they categorized as "Premium" that would have fallen into (I believe) Full Size at many other locations.

To add a futher complication into the mix, I find it to be location dependent as well. HNL had some vehicles last year that they categorized as "Premium" that would have fallen into (I believe) Full Size at many other locations.

As InkUnderNails mentions, sometimes the difference can be trim level.

That said, if you look at the required features for "Full Size" and "Premium" on the National website, there's actually no difference between the two. :td:

Luxury does require a leather interior, fwiw.

As InkUnderNails mentions, sometimes the difference can be trim level.

That said, if you look at the required features for "Full Size" and "Premium" on the National website, there's actually no difference between the two. :td:

Luxury does require a leather interior, fwiw.

Premium-class but cloth seated Ford Tauruses and Chrysler 300s are not uncommon!

This is madening.. I guess, they have economy, compact, standard, mid-size, full size - none of them make any sense! LOL

Don't know why I assumed premium meant.... premium... Thanks everyone! :)

Leather - No!
XM/Sirius - No! (no device)
BT Audio - No!
AUX Port - Yes!
Moon Roof - Yes!

So what makes a premium a premium? Am I the only one who would just assume satellite radio and or BT Audio, leather would make a car a premium?

You're not the only person, but your criteria certainly aren't National's for its Premium buys. There are hundreds of postings discussing cars and features by class.

I've recently had a base (LX 4-cyl) Honda Accord as premium; a VW CC (pleather seating, no sunroof), as premium. The advantage of National is picking one's own car and avoiding such disappointments but outside of the ~60 US/Canadian locations with Emerald Aisle service one can wind up with pretty poorly equipped and generally uninspiring cars. (A lot of business travelers just want four wheels, a quick pick up and lack of hassle.)

The same things which may a car "premium" are the same things which make a pax "elite." Namely, that the marketing cookies at the vendor, in this case, National, say it's "premium."

It's just a way to get people to pay more (or feel better because they got a freebie UG) when what they really need is a car of a certain size.

I wouldn't over-analyze this one. It's just a market supply/demand issue. If National could locate Yugos and rent them for more than BMW's, it would.