Hertz - Another early return pricing question

I know there have been early return pricing questions posted before, but this one seems different to me.

I'm trying to price a car for basically Thurs and Fri use this week (tomorrow and Friday). Pricing varies widely based on both pick up *and* drop off times, even when the number of days remains two.

Examples: Pick up tonight and drop Friday night (still 2 days) $49 for midsize. (This is a supply thing, as there are no econs or compacts available.) Pick up tomorrow morning at 7am (too early for weekend as far as I know) and drop Friday night is $43. (Econ or compact both $37.) Pick up tomorrow at 7am and drop Saturday morning (still 2 days, I put in 7am as drop) and the midsize falls to just $33 and econ and compact to $23. (This is using the 706900 CDP, which I've tested to be the best option in these scenarios.)

What the heck? Why when it's still a 2-day rental should it cost more to drop on Friday night than Saturday morning? Is this just airline-type pricing here, must keep over Friday night to get better deal? It's odd. It's not a weekend rate either, or at least I can't use any of the weekend free day or $ off coupons with the rental starting on Thurs am.

So the question is, of course: Given that it's a 2-day rental regardless, if I return it on Friday night having set the return as Saturday morning, will they reprice it? Is it just a matter of "Oh, there's no way he's going to want to take that car back at 7am on Saturday?"

I think I'll just test it. But I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

The system does the pricing and it will not provide you with flexibility. If you can drop the car at an HLE location after hours you might succeed

Heh, most everyone steered clear of this, but what actually happened is that it worked! I returned the car between 7-8pm on Friday, and the express return printout gave me a receipt for $60.16, the same total estimated when I picked the car up.

BTW, I rented a compact, and they gave me a Corolla, and the agent said "Believe it or not, this is considered an upgrade." Hehe. And apparently many of the Corollas at PIT didn't have door lock transmitters, but she offered and then switched me to one that did.

So thus far with my experience, the answer is go ahead and put in a later return time if the price goes down. You might just get it.

Heh, most everyone steered clear of this, but what actually happened is that it worked! I returned the car between 7-8pm on Friday, and the express return printout gave me a receipt for $60.16, the same total estimated when I picked the car up.

BTW, I rented a compact, and they gave me a Corolla, and the agent said "Believe it or not, this is considered an upgrade." Hehe. And apparently many of the Corollas at PIT didn't have door lock transmitters, but she offered and then switched me to one that did.

So thus far with my experience, the answer is go ahead and put in a later return time if the price goes down. You might just get it.
You're a lucky guy. Who knew?

You're a lucky guy. Who knew?

Me? Lucky? Well, first time for everything....

If a similar situation comes up I'll test it some more. I'm thinking it works differently than the extra day and daily vs weekly situations.

BTW, I rented a compact, and they gave me a Corolla, and the agent said "Believe it or not, this is considered an upgrade." Hehe. And apparently many of the Corollas at PIT didn't have door lock transmitters, but she offered and then switched me to one that did.

Probably because a compact would be B, and AFAIK, the Corolla is a C.

Still not as bad as the blasphemy of putting the Cavalier in that class, but I wish Hertz would be more accurate on size/segment classifications (I'm guessing they keep the Corolla as a C since the average transaction price is higher for the Toyota, than for a Focus in B)...