MilesBuzz! - Forced car rental upgrades?

I'm a journalist working on a story about car-rental upgrades. I'm wondering if anyone has ever had the following experience:

- You arrive at the car rental location. You're told by an employee that your car is unavailable.

- You're given two options: 1) wait for several hours until a car in your class arrives or 2) upgrade immediately for only x dollars per day more.

If this has happened to you recently, I'd like to talk with you. You can contact me at chris@elliott.org or by phone at (407) 699-9529. My deadline is Thursday, March 24 at 3 p.m.

Many thanks,

Chris Elliott

Chris, I usually rent with Hertz, Avis, or National and I've never been asked to pay more for a larger vehicle when the car class I reserved was not available at pick-up.

I did have a situation last October with National where my flight arrived late and they were all out of intermediate size cars. The only thing available was a huge Chevy Blazer. I didn't really want that, but it was after midnight and I still had a 1/2 hour drive to my hotel so I took it. The thing was a real gas guzzler so I ended up paying more for fuel than I would have with an intermediate car. In fact, I paid more to fill the thing than I did for the entire rental! So even though I wasn't charged more by National for the larger vehicle, it still made a dent in my wallet.

I wish the car rental companies would set aside the proper size cars for those with reservations and offer the larger vehicles to walk-ups.

Thanks, MileKing. That's very helpful. My colleague Gary Leff points out that by posting this query several times, I've violated forum rules. Sorry about that, folks. When you're a newbie on these boards -- and when you're posting at 4 a.m. -- these things tend to get overlooked. ;)

It depends, whose fault is it, or whose irregularity was it?

I wqould think the renter would have an after the fact legal case against a rental company that refused to honor a reservation when the renter adhered to all his conditions.

(This is not a complaint) I once showed up early for a rental. The company gave me the choice of waitingg until my appointed time (about 4 hours) or paying more for an immediate upgrade. That was the only time I saw a huge line of people waiting for cars there which line I barely beat. I chose to waait (they let me ride the shuttle back to the airport where I got dinner) and the car I reserved was ready on time. Other times at the same company and location they have graciously given me cars early with no extra charge. This was a "second tier" brand name, Payless.

If the renter arrives late, all bets are off. The company might have or choose to have nothing available or have only walk up rates available, of couse at the risk of gaining a bad reputation however fair or unfair that may be.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

I run a small Dollar location in Montana. If anyone comes in who has a res for say a compact, and all that is on the lot are mis or full size cars, the renter always gets the larger car. It has been discussed everywhere forever that one should always book the smallest car and hope for the larger car.

I was once in Alaska, and looking at the 3 feet of snow at the airport made me question my decision abour the compact, but the agent asked if I would prefer a FordExplorer for $5 more a day. I jumeped at the chance!!

JudyJFLA

I've often been upgraded to the next class, on occasion two classes, when an agency didn't have the car class I'd reserved. I've never been asked to pay the higher rate that the car I got would normally go for. (I've also turned down free upgrades a couple of times in the U.K. when I knew I'd be driving on narrow roads and parking in tiny spaces.)

That said, if one shows up early (more than normal "we landed early" early) hearing "you can have what you reserved at the time you reserved it for, but if you'd rather take one of the larger cars we have available now it'll be $X/day more" isn't unreasonable. It's not like they're unwilling to hold up their end of the deal.

I have never been denied the car class I reserved and then offerred a higher class car for $$/day.

I have only experienced the opposite where they were out of the ultra-smal- super-tiny-teeny sub compact that my company forced us to rent and so they asked me if I would like the (larger fill in the blank here) instead at no extra charge. Two-three car classes upgrades are not unusual. At SJC where I use to rent 2-3x per week, I would rent the tiniest car available at Hertz and would always be angling for an upgrade to the Jaguar! :D

Same experience as all the others. Anytime they're out of my reserved car class, they upgrade to next available class for free. This has happened at more than one location, and with more than one rental company.

I was at one company in Hartford -- I think it was Avis or Enterprise -- and they didn't have the car class I reserved, and said I had to pay for the upgrade or wait. I was about on time for my reservation. Oh, wait, they offered to give me a minivan for the same price, too (Umm, no thank you). I just held out until they gave me something in a smaller class for a reduced price.

That experience made me go for Hertz whenever I could.

Doesn't seem like you have much of a story here.... ;)

I've only had one experience where I was forced into paying for an upgrade -- the San Diego airport Enterprise Rent-a-car location. I won't go into details but the reps were simply awful in many ways. I don't think this is a company-wide policy - just bad tactics by individual employees.

I've never been forced to pay an upgrade fee when the class of car I reserved was not available.

However, I had a situation some years ago with a free upgrade coupon. The terms of the coupon stated "if available". When I presented the coupon I was told the upgrade was only available if I paid extra. I think this was a Thrifty but I'm not sure.

I'm a journalist working on a story about car-rental upgrades. I'm wondering if anyone has ever had the following experience:

- You arrive at the car rental location. You're told by an employee that your car is unavailable.

- You're given two options: 1) wait for several hours until a car in your class arrives or 2) upgrade immediately for only x dollars per day more.

If this has happened to you recently, I'd like to talk with you. You can contact me at chris@elliott.org or by phone at (407) 699-9529. My deadline is Thursday, March 24 at 3 p.m.

Many thanks,

Chris Elliott

That's happened to me on numerous occasions. I always refused to pay for the upgrade, and magically (sometimes with a 10-15 minute wait) they find a car in my reserved class or they give me the upgrade for free.

Even if they don't charge me for the upgrade, I'm usually irked when they give me too large a car, particularly an SUV. It's not so bad going from a subcompact to a compact or a midsize, but I really don't like driving large cars; I especially hate SUVs. I also don't like sports cars, especially the 2-doors without any real trunk space and barely enough room to fit 2 children much less 2 adults in the back seat. I detest convertibles.

It's very annoying when they "upgrade" me without giving me a chance to object. :mad: Like when you go to your Hertz #1 Club space and see a huge SUV when you reserved a subcompact. I recall an incident last year when I went to the parking space with my rental and saw an SUV. I went to the counter to complain; and the agent said, "It's a complimentary upgrade, sir." I replied, "I don't really want an upgrade. Don't you have anything smaller." He very politely responded, "Of course, sir." After a few minutes, he gave me another set of keys and directed to another parking space. When I got there, I found a little red convertible (probably a premium car). At first, I was going to go back and complain and ask for another car, but it was late and I realized that I probably would not need to transport anyone during my trip. In all likelihood, the agent thought he was doing me a "favor" by giving me a premium car for the cost of a subcompact.

PT --

You can notate your Hertz #1 account regarding vehicles that you *don't* want. I've seen this discussed in the Hertz forum.

Bob

Once with Dollar, they tried to get me to upgrade for $10.00/day. When I declined, they gave me the upgrade for my original price, because they were out of the class I reserved. So they were willing to give the upgrade for free, but they would have taken the extra $$ if they could have gotten away with it.

As others have mentioned, I have arrived several times to hear the we don't have your car but for $XX a day, you can have this one. I usually just have to tell them No about six times and then they give me the bigger car.

I've never had to pay for an upgrade under circumstances like that, though there might be third-tier companies out there trying to do what you mention. I've had a time or two where the whole lot was empty and they were dispatching cars as fast as they could clean them. In those circumstances if you had a high-level car reserved you'd be stuck for a wait. But thankfully I've never had that happen with Hertz, Avis or National, and even Alamo seems to be getting better.

I've also had a case or two where I've gotten upgraded from a compact all the way to a minivan or SUV for lack of other cars on the lot. I learned for the first time what gas-guzzlers the SUVs were in such a case on a 2-week rental 5 years ago; with prices as they are today I'd have to turn it down.

Am also noticing less pricing spread between compact and full-size on weekend rentals (am a big leisure traveler). On some of my bookings of a mid-size, the full-size (2 notches higher) was only $2/day more. That might indicate they're having more trouble than in the past in renting out the bigger cars, possibly because customers are more conscious of fuel economy.

The only semi-unpleasant "your car is not available" experience I've had was with Alamo, and they didn't have our family's minivan (reserved on a dirt-cheap leisure rate). We eventually persuaded them to give us two midsize cars instead for no additional charge, however, which worked out fine.

I also keep getting automatics from Hertz in TLV when I reserve sticks. I think they don't trust Americans with sticks. ;)

I had this happen once with Dollar at BDL. I reserved a mid-size, and when I got to their location I was told all they had in the mid-size category was a Jeep Wrangler. In my mind a Jeep Wrangler is not the same as a 4 door vehicle with a trunk and suspension, but they wouldn't budge. My only option was a $9/day upgrade to an Altima (which Hertz considers a mid-size). I took it, wrote to Dollar when I got home, and a few months later finally got my money back. I didn't get an apology letter, and I will never rent from Dollar again.

Once with Dollar, they tried to get me to upgrade for $10.00/day. When I declined, they gave me the upgrade for my original price, because they were out of the class I reserved. So they were willing to give the upgrade for free, but they would have taken the extra $$ if they could have gotten away with it.

I've had this happen with more than one company where they will try to upsell you and, when you decline, magically you wind up with the proposed vehicle anyway because the class you wanted is sold out.

Having said that, I do NOT buy into this "upgrade" label. I rent what I need for the specific trip. There are reasons why I may not want a larger and/or less fuel-efficient vehicle. I do photography in national parks and wildlife refuge. Often the roads are narrow and parking space is limited. A larger vehicle can be a problem. Plus, sometimes the distance between gas pumps is significant. And then there's such things as $30K in camera gear in the back of an SUV with no trunk or cargo cover so that it's visible to potential thieves.

And, having said that, where does Hertz get off calling a Cavalier an intermediate car when the rest of the industry and the free world knows it's a compact???

I was given a nice convertible once without paying any extra for it. I don't know if they were out of normal cars or not.

If it happens again I might try to negotiate something else. It was December in the midwest. :rolleyes:

I always use Thrifty, and they don't impress me as the sort that would play games at their customers' expense.

It may be interesting to see whther the late charges increase with a car upgrade - if you are an hour or two late - would you pay the upgraded cars' hourly fee, or the hourly fee for the car your originally booked?

I have had several situations in which I was "upgraded" without charge to a car in a higher class. I have had so many bad experiences with GM rentals I try to avoid them as much as possible (fewest bad experiences have been with Pontiacs and Buicks, so if only GMs are available, I go for those). I have "downgraded" my rental on several occasions to get better quality cars in lower classes, such as Camry's or Corolla's. I never asked for or was offered a reduced rate when I do this, since the few dollars I might have saved in these situations were not worth the add'l time.

By the way, I have on several times been stuck with a vehicle I did not want (too large, not enough trunk space, etc.) because the airport location was out of other sizes. With at least most of the majors, you can go (and I have gone) to another of their rental locations and do a vehicle exchange. The neighborhood location might be glad to get that barge while you take one of their 10 mid-sizes. I've only run into one situation in which the location was not allowed to do this because of some franchise requirement, although I felt like the manager would have if he could.

While it's too late for your deadline, I'll add my experiences here in case anyone might profit from it. I always book rental cars at the absolute rock bottom rate in the smallest sub-sub-sub Playskool sized car available. I've been known to use priceline for this purpose. On each of the last four times I've picked up my car, I've been asked if I want to upgrade to a [fill in the blank] for [fill in the dollar amount] each day. Each time I've declined, and each time I end up getting the upgraded car anyway. I've always attributed this to agent not having the sub-sub-sub compact car available, so they're trying to talk me in to paying for the upgrade that they're going to give me anyway if I decline to pay, but by trying, they at least have a shot of getting some revenue. This has happened to be with Avis, Enterprise, and National.

I usually rent where the price is decent. Lately, I have been doing weekend rentals from Hertz thanks to the nice codes posted on FT. I have been quite satisfied with the #1 Gold service from Hertz.

A few short stories from the 1990's.

1. I arrived at the Alamo at CMH and they asked me if I wanted to upgade from my compact car to a Lexus for $6/day more. I asked if I could use my coupon for $5/day off on a mid size/+. I jumped at the chance to pay only $2 more for the 2 day weekend rental to rent the Lexus. That was in 1996 & they were out of the LS400 so I rented a GS300 instead. Nice car.

2. In the early 1990's, I would reserve a compact car for $62 for a week & I would get a larger car instead. Once, the compact car A/C broke in 110 degree heat & Alamo gave me a new 1992 Caprice that had COLD A/C! I kept the car for 4 weeks paying only $62/week. I drove "old" clunkers at the time & the Caprice was a real treat. Work paid mileage for a couple of out of area trips so the rental was essentially free.

3. Once at FAT, I reserved a smaller car & with my upgrades/coupons, etc., I ended up with a Cadillac deVille & paid only $23 for a 2 day rental. Drove to Tahoe that weekend. ^

4. Reserved a Geo Metro at $39/week in 1987. Was offered a Buick Regal for $20 more for the week. Jumped at the chance as there was 2 of us. :D Drove all over California that week!

Renting cars for leisure enabled me to keep driving old cars until recent years. Saved alot of $$. I now own my 2nd new car I just bought recently. Will rent cars on weekends for long trips to save putting miles on my car. :D

I've had it happen several times. I rent small cars because I like small cars. In my experience, Thrifty and Budget usually ask for $$, but if you refuse, they relent. They typically want to downgrade me to an SUV (which I refuse to drive on principle) or PT Cruiser (the ugliest car in history) even when they have the car I want just because nobody else wants those either. I tell them to give me what I want or give me a free car, and though I've never gotten the free car, I did get a free tank of gas for accepting the downgrade from an economy car to a full-size car.

I long for a class-action lawsuit against the rental car companies to stop this fraudulent behavior, but I know there's no way they'll ever be punished. So I've gotten in the habit of reserving from multiple companies - if one won't give me the car I reserved, I can go to another. I've even reserved multiple cars with a single company (one in my name, one in my wife's) to see if that works, but it seems to have little effect.

You've hit a goldmine and its name is Dollar rent a car at Newark airport. The counter help is trained to pad there pay check by telling you your car class, economy, is not available and will not be for 15-20 minutes. They will tell you if you want a car now, you'll have to pay more. Another trick is if you are a few minutes late from your reservation time to rent the car, they will tell you, you have to pay up for a more expensive car because your reservation is invalid. If you show that you will not be intimidated and demand you car now at the reservation price you will get your way. You want a made for TV moment. Send someone with a hidden camera to Dollar at Newark airport at 6:30ish PM on a Friday and arrive a few minutes late for your pickup. They'll try to pull this scam on you. Have not rented from them in over a year because of this.

As others have mentioned, I have arrived several times to hear the we don't have your car but for $XX a day, you can have this one. I usually just have to tell them No about six times and then they give me the bigger car.

Ditto

At least twice I was given a larger car at no extra charge because they were out of the one I reserved. In fact, the last time I was traveling with a firend who had reserved a compact. They offered him a mid-size for "only X dollars more" but he declined. Whe we went to pick up the car, there was a midsize waiting at no extra charge.

You've hit a goldmine and its name is Dollar rent a car at Newark airport. The counter help is trained to pad there pay check by telling you your car class, economy, is not available and will not be for 15-20 minutes. They will tell you if you want a car now, you'll have to pay more. Another trick is if you are a few minutes late from your reservation time to rent the car, they will tell you, you have to pay up for a more expensive car because your reservation is invalid. If you show that you will not be intimidated and demand you car now at the reservation price you will get your way. You want a made for TV moment. Send someone with a hidden camera to Dollar at Newark airport at 6:30ish PM on a Friday and arrive a few minutes late for your pickup. They'll try to pull this scam on you. Have not rented from them in over a year because of this.

That's a horrible story! It appears most of us are savvy enough to go to the big companies, where they don't normally try and pull any tricks.

A rental company normally won't force a customer to upgrade, what they will do is offer the upgrade. If you decline, you may get the upgrade for free if they don't have the car grouped you have booked available. No rental car company has ever forced to me to pay for an upgrade over my last 200 reservations.

As for arriving early. Hertz has never tried to pull any tricks with me. I have also arrived days late to pick up a car, even when my reservation has been cancelled, but they reinstated it without any problem.

I choose Hertz because I think it has proved to be one of the best. I have used Avis a lot in the past, but they seemed to be more problematic. They have built a reputation (in my family) for billing for damage that was not apparent when the car was returned.

I think the car companies billing customers for disputed damage is a far bigger problem than forced upgrades, since the excess is often $750 per rental.

While it's too late for your deadline, I'll add my experiences here in case anyone might profit from it. I always book rental cars at the absolute rock bottom rate in the smallest sub-sub-sub Playskool sized car available. I've been known to use priceline for this purpose. On each of the last four times I've picked up my car, I've been asked if I want to upgrade to a [fill in the blank] for [fill in the dollar amount] each day. Each time I've declined, and each time I end up getting the upgraded car anyway. I've always attributed this to agent not having the sub-sub-sub compact car available, so they're trying to talk me in to paying for the upgrade that they're going to give me anyway if I decline to pay, but by trying, they at least have a shot of getting some revenue. This has happened to be with Avis, Enterprise, and National.

What's wrong with this picture?

First, as the responses to the threads indicate, not everyone considers a more expensive rental or larger vehicle to always be an "upgrade."

Second, if the company does not have the class you rented, they should NOT try to upsell you in hopes that you will take the bait when, in fact, they would be giving you that car for the agreed upon price anyway. It's really a variation on bait-and-switch especially if the location never has a certain car class (I have seen that happen where, say, a particular location does not even stock "economy" cars. In that case, if you'd booked into that class, you would be receiving another vehicle anyway so to "upsell" is a bait and switch.)

One reason I like Hertz #1 Gold is the absence of "upsell" in most cases, such as the inflated tank of gas pricing which never works out to a customer's advantage.

I think the car companies billing customers for disputed damage is a far bigger problem than forced upgrades, since the excess is often $750 per rental.
That's what digital cameras are good for...

One reason I like Hertz #1 Gold is the absence of "upsell" in most cases, such as the inflated tank of gas pricing which never works out to a customer's advantage.
Hertz almost always tries to sell me the tank of gas, as well as CDW and all the generally unnecessary insurance add-on chargess. The surprising thing is that a lot of customers do opt for the insurance and the tank of gas. I'm not sure whether this is because their employers are paying the tab or they just don't get it that they are being ripped off. I wonder if anyone who purchased the tank of gas has attempted to drain the tank of every last drop of gasoline (maybe reselling the gasoline to someone); after all, since they bought the tank, they own every drop of that gasoline. :)

Hertz almost always tries to sell me the tank of gas, as well as CDW and all the generally unnecessary insurance add-on chargess. The surprising thing is that a lot of customers do opt for the insurance and the tank of gas. I'm not sure whether this is because their employers are paying the tab or they just don't get it that they are being ripped off. I wonder if anyone who purchased the tank of gas has attempted to drain the tank of every last drop of gasoline (maybe reselling the gasoline to someone); after all, since they bought the tank, they own every drop of that gasoline. :)

If you are #1 Club Gold, you should be able to just pick up your car, drive to the security gate, show your driver's license and drive off. In some smaller locations you may have to deal with folks at the counter.

If you are #1 Club Gold, you should be able to just pick up your car, drive to the security gate, show your driver's license and drive off. In some smaller locations you may have to deal with folks at the counter.
In theory, that's how it should work. However, about half the time, you find that your name is not on the list, and you have to stand in line at the counter. Now, some of the time, it's because my assistant or the travel agent failed to enter my #1 Club number in the reservation. But other times, they inexplicably don't have my car ready for me on time.

I wonder if anyone who purchased the tank of gas has attempted to drain the tank of every last drop of gasoline (maybe reselling the gasoline to someone); after all, since they bought the tank, they own every drop of that gasoline. :)

Did that once. At PDX I pulled into the Hertz garage at the airport and the car died (out of gas). Agent handling the return asked if I bought the gas. I said yes and he just laughed, and called for a gas can. The fuel light had been on all the way from downtown to the airport, and I just didn't feel like filling it up with enough to get me to the airport. Haven't done that in a while though

Renting cars for leisure enabled me to keep driving old cars until recent years. Saved alot of $$. I now own my 2nd new car I just bought recently. Will rent cars on weekends for long trips to save putting miles on my car. :D

I do exactly the same.

My own car is a 1998 model with close to 112,000 miles on it, but I'm going to keep it until at least the 200,000 mile mark or I run it into the ground, whichever comes sooner. :) I drive more than 25,000 miles a year but take good care of my Nissan, servicing it every 3,000 miles because I do such heavy driving (mostly back and forth to the airport, which is 100 miles each way from me). I'm moving to Los Angeles soon and will be driving the car out with me to use there.

I will never buy a new car until I have the cash to pay the entire price in full at the time of purchase. Car loans are foolish to me, as all vehicles depreciate so much that you're bound to owe more than the car is worth at any given time, even at 0% or a low interest rate. If the car I drive now dies before I am able to pay cash for a brand new one, I'll just buy a reliable used car.

If I don't want to put the wear and tear on my own car, I do rent cars frequently for some of my longer road trips. Most of the time, I only have to pay the taxes ($5-$20) on my leisure rentals as I accumulate free day awards at National very quickly from my business rentals. The '05 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cadillac DeVille from National are two of my favorites.

As for the original topic of this thread, a "forced upgrade" has never happened to me. If a counter agent were ever to pull this tactic on me, I'd just walk out the door and go to a more reputable rental agency.

Funny how my memory just got triggered - Hertz actually tried doing this to me once. I had a mid-size reserved at IAD. The guy at the counter (this was before my Gold days) couldn't get me a mid-size and tried to get me to upgrade to a full. After debating it, I said no, he called dispatch again, and then decided to just give me the Taurus. At the time I felt good - like I got a free upgrade. Now I feel annoyed. :)

As fate would have it, just yesterday...

Had a compact reserved with Dollar at SLC, a 3 week rental at about $125/week, the best rate I could find when I booked a few weeks ago.

Got to the counter, and no compacts. In on odd twist, the girl calls around to other agencies, then tries to sell me on an SUV from Advantage Rent-a-car for $185. A nice price, to be sure, but still $200 extra over the rental period. I decline.

She says there "may" be a compact getting returned in 20 minutes or so. There's a dozen keys hanging behind her, but she says they are all SUV's, and since my rental is so long, she can't upgrade me for free. Never mind that they're the ones who mismanaged the inventory. I'm just looking for basic transportation, four wheels and some brakes, at the price I reserved. They have vehicles, but I can't have one.

After a while, she asks me how much higher I could go for an upgrade, but oddly, never quotes me a price, other than the one from Advantage.

No supervisor on duty.

After about 25 minutes, she offers to give me a minivan for the night, but I have to return it the next day, on my own time, to exchange for a compact, or else "we will report it stolen". I actually accept this - I'm tired, hungry, and my dog hasn't peed since DFW. While she's writing up the new contract, by hand, a full-size becomes available, and she says I can keep that for the 3 weeks.

When I get to the car, in the garage area, I load up my bags and my dog, and notice some damage on the trunk. As I'm calling the agent over to note it, his walkie talkie beeps. Apparently, a compact has come in, and now I can't have the full size. Nevermind that I have a contract, the engine is running and my stuff is in it. Not that I care compact vs full-size, at this point, I just want to go. Ten minutes later, 45 minutes after arriving at the counter, I'm on my way.

Needless to say, Dollar is now on my **** list.

I always rent a compact, and almost always am given something larger for no cost (except the extra gas). Here's my one story with a twist:

I am scheduled to arrive (Boston if I remember right) about 10:15 pm, and my flight is a little over an hour late. I arrive at the National desk. I'm Emerald whatever, but I always go to desk since I rent a compact. The fellow types my name in the computer, and announces loudly, "This is your lucky day!" He tells me to go get a full-sized car, and check it
out from the booth as I drive out. When I turn the car in, the rate is almost triple what my reservation said. I looked at my contract, and it is timed midnight on the dot, so the "date" is the next day. My weekend rate was
automatically invalidated by the computer. Luckily, I had time to fuss about it, and get it straightened out.

Car loans are foolish to me, as all vehicles depreciate so much that you're bound to owe more than the car is worth at any given time, even at 0% or a low interest rate.

This makes no sense. If you get an interest rate that is lower than the return on a sure investment (eg a CD) then you are clearly better off by getting as much of the purchase price as you can from a 0% loan, and then investing that money. Whether the loan is at some future point more than the residual value of the car is irrelevant - you spend the money either way, the only question is 'is it better to hand over the money now or gradually over a few years?' Only if you don't want the loan showing up on your credit record for some reason unrelated to this particular loan can I see any sense in this - assuming that you have the discipline to invest the purchase money. I just did exactly this for a new Mazda 3, so my money is where my mouth is (ok, I invested the money in something riskier than a CD, but the principle is the same).

On the original question, for me, the smaller the car the better, so it always annoys me when my reserved economy or compact (whichever is cheaper) is not available and I'm forced to drive something bigger.I've never had a 'forced to pay more' type of "upgrade" (I think of it as a downgrade) though. I've never been able to get around the problem though, despite entering 'no upgrades' with my Hertz profile and sometimes even waiting around to see whether a smaller car than intermediate will show up. When you're renting alone, why do you need a larger car than a subcompact? ;)

I had Alamo at LAX pull the "Are you sure you don't want to pay for an upgrade? Okay, here's your free upgrade."

At San Jose, Hertz once "upgraded" my intermediate to a Lincoln Town Car land yacht. :rolleyes: TOO BIG! I was mostly in the congested downtown area. Ever try to parallel park a Town Car?

I went through this at Payless ATL the other day. What pissed me off more than the free "upgrade" was the piss poor customer service. Was given a minivan without being told that my compact was unavailable. Unfortunately, I don't like driving big vehicles if I don't have to, and more importantly, no way was I going to pay the gas bill on that thing. He looked at me and told me that it wasn't his problem that I didn't have what I guaranteed with a credit card. He offered me a 5% discount... less than $5! Yeah right. After arguing and asking for his supervisor, I mysteriously was offered a Nissan Sentra. 20 minutes later, "oh sir, it's still being cleaned." Thanks for nothing.

It's the oldest scam in the rental car industry (that and the "return your tank empty and we'll charge you less than the market price" story), although they are usually not as blatant about it as in the OP.

It has happened to me at every single car rental company.

I am asked if I want to pay for a higher class car, for a nominal fee. When I say no, I magically end up with that car anyway, at the original price.

They just try to make you pay for their overbookings.

I have rented almost exclusively from Hertz as a #1 Gold member for the past five years - 15 to 20 rentals per year. Their system usually works so well that I only deal with counter people once in a while. No one has ever asked me to pay for an upgrade - I would guess that I get a free upgrade about half the time. 90% of the time, my name is on the board and a decent car is waiting for me. The return process is almost always smooth - usually they are printing my receipt before I have gotten all my stuff out of the car.

P.S. Hertz is not paying me for this plug!

Alamo in Orlando (guess too many leisure travellers there who don't know better); reserved compact, offered upgrade to full size for $10 a day, declined, offered again, still declined, received full size for same rate. Obviously they didn't have my car to begin with.

I found that distasteful and now pay extra to rent from a bigger agency (usually Hertz).

Did that once. At PDX I pulled into the Hertz garage at the airport and the car died (out of gas). Agent handling the return asked if I bought the gas. I said yes and he just laughed, and called for a gas can. The fuel light had been on all the way from downtown to the airport, and I just didn't feel like filling it up with enough to get me to the airport. Haven't done that in a while though


I don't know if it's still the same but Oregon used to have laws where gas stations had to be full serve (except for rare exceptions). That made it difficult finding a gas station open early enough to fill up and make the 6-something AM flight to IAH.

Just chiming in...

Almost every time I go to Seattle from Anchorage I arrive late at night but as scheduled for my reservation. I rent a compact because I feel like the highways there are really skinny and it makes me nervous to have a large car. Also, as others mentioned, the gas prices are not cheap.

I have been forced to drive a Jeep Liberty and a Subaru Outback and once they tried to force me to take a minivan but I refused. That turned into a nightmare because I was franctically trying to find a vehicle. I had to tell them "If you want your vehicle to come back wrecked, give me the minivan!" Those aren't really "mini" vans if you ask me.

So, it happens to me almost every time I go to Seattle. Normally I arrive at like 5am but sometimes midnight and I believe the last time was more like 9pm.

Yes, it was a free "upgrade" but I feel that if I reserve and compact and arrive on time it should be there. After these bad experiences, they've got me playing the game of reserving multiple cars which just makes the problem worse.

I was at one company in Hartford -- I think it was Avis or Enterprise -- and they didn't have the car class I reserved, and said I had to pay for the upgrade or wait. I was about on time for my reservation. Oh, wait, they offered to give me a minivan for the same price, too (Umm, no thank you). I just held out until they gave me something in a smaller class for a reduced price.

That experience made me go for Hertz whenever I could.

I had a similar experience with Enterprise this past December in Orlando. When they told me that all of the cars in the class I reserved were gone, they suggested an upgrade and when I declined, they had me hang around for 45 minutes while they came up with a clunker that had 40,000 miles on the odometer but technically fell into the class I reserved. last time for Enterprise.

You know, I've noticed that the company matters in different locations. For instance, in Austin I've had such WONDERFUL experiences with Enterprise that I will no longer rent from anyone else there. I did try a couple others and had bad experiences so I stick with Enterprise there. Enterprise even gave me a Volvo S60 once for my compact car because the guy said that I was very patient. (He didn't realize that after 11 hours of domestic travel, you don't have much energy left to do anything but stand quietly) :)

In Seattle, there is NO WAY in HECK I will ever rent from Advantage again. In Chicago, I've had good experiences with National. In San Diego, I know that Alamo means a HUGE wait and not the greatest cars!!

So, anyway, I think there are some general pros/cons for all the companies but also for specific locations.

Lately with gas prices thru the roof I dont want that upgrade!! or at least anything larger than a mid-size, I usually put a ton of miles on the car and would prefer the 30 mile per gal car or at least the 25 per mile gal than those at the 14-16 range.

I usually rent compacts the problem with the sub-compacts is at 6'2" most I cant drive as my legs dont allow the free use of the steering wheel or its hard to hit the brake cause the wheel is in the way. Also my agencies I find now do have alot more subs as the leases are less so its a better chance of not getting that free up. My past 15 rentals every time I saw subs on the lot so I dont want that Hydani Accent or Geo Metro so for an extra $1 a day ill book the compact.

And yes Thrifty at FLL once offered me a Mini-Van when my compact wasnt available, I told them forget it drinks too much gas and they offered me the tank of gas free, I still declined and waited 15 mins for a mid-size.

I have rented almost exclusively from Hertz as a #1 Gold member for the past five years - 15 to 20 rentals per year. Their system usually works so well that I only deal with counter people once in a while. No one has ever asked me to pay for an upgrade - I would guess that I get a free upgrade about half the time. 90% of the time, my name is on the board and a decent car is waiting for me. The return process is almost always smooth - usually they are printing my receipt before I have gotten all my stuff out of the car.

I have to agree to this one... Hertz might be a bit more expensive, but their service in NCE where I typically rent (as in 30 times a year or so) is pretty darn good. In France the keys are all in the hut so you'll have to go inside to pick it up, but the contract is always prepared and if I agree to the proposed car I am out of there within minutes - always!

Their friends in Avis on the other hand... totally useless, even with an Preferred Express card the contract is never printed and the priority desk never manned, often with a queue time of 30 minutes.

With regards to upgrades; I have only had the upgrade-for-free "problem", both with Avis and Hertz. My reserved class C (is that economy in US terms?) is often out-of-stock, and I often end up in a H class mini-van kind of a thing. Very useful. :td: