Other Car Rental Programs (ie. Alamo, Enterprise) - Alamo early return policy can double your costs

Alamo has a clever way to double or triple the bill of unsuspecting customers.

Through Expedia, I arranged to rent a car from Alamo for 5 days and received a special weekly rate of $149. My return plans changed and I had to return the car on the fourth day. I fully expected to pay the entire $149 as I agreed and wasn't looking for a pro-rated charge - in fact the confirmation email states that early returns on special weekly rates are not entitled to a proportionate refund.

Fine. What I wasn't expecting was that for returning the car *early* my bill jumped from $149 to $288. When you return a car early Alamo considers the contract specifying the special weekly rate to be terminated and instead charges you its default daily rate. Although this clause apparently exists deep in the rental agreement, there was no mention of this in my confirmation email and the when I rented the car the rental agent only mentioned a $15 early return fee, nothing about doubling my bill.

When you rent a house at the beach for a week and decide to leave on Friday instead of Saturday, do you expect to pay double for leaving early?
I've tried to figure out any coherent rationale for a company treating its customers like this and can think of none.

As a footnote, after one angry exchange with a customer service rep who yelled at me that it is my "responsibility to read the contract" (maybe I need to bring my attorney next time) and a second follow up call, Alamo did agree to charge me only the original weekly rate.

See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18964550 for another story on the same topic.

pscent 613, welcome to FlyerTalk. As this is an issue specific to Alamo Rental Car, please follow as we move it to the Other Rental Car program forum for discussion. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Alamo does this all the time for both understays and overstays. I've had good luck telling them not to process the return outside via their mobile terminal thingy and then going in and explaining the circumstances for the early return.

As I was checking in at the Alamo kiosk in ATL this week, I overheard the agent explaining just this to another customer - that if they returned it early, their currently reserved rate would be disallowed.

So, thumbs-down to the policy, but at least some locations are proactive about ensuring the policy is not a total surprise at return time.

on elliott.org, the writer from the msn site's page, theres an idea presented to get around this: call for a tow (after reading the post below, from your auto club-not from the rental agency), and lock the keys in the glove box, and have the car towed back to alamo.
http://www.elliott.org/blog/heres-a-smart-way-around-the-early-return-rule/

Not only does this not sound completely "above board", I don't think it will work -- at least not in my experience. I had a similar situation ACTUALLY happen. My Alamo rental car died in the middle of a busy intersection on the way to the airport. After getting help pushing the car out of the intersection and off to the side of the road I called Alamo's road service. I explained to them what happened and they said they'd send a tow truck. I told them I was only a couple miles from the airport and needed to catch my plane so was going to get a cab. They said NO -- that if I left the car the tow truck driver would not pick it up unattended and they would treat it the same as if I had abandoned it somewhere else and they had to go retrieve it. I waited nearly two hours for the tow truck & missed my flight. They did at least refund the entire 5 day rental and gave me a $100 voucher towards a future rental. They were also going to reimburse me for cab fare but the tow truck driver felt so bad about it that he drove me to the airport instead.

Not only does this not sound completely "above board", I don't think it will work -- at least not in my experience. I had a similar situation ACTUALLY happen. My Alamo rental car died in the middle of a busy intersection on the way to the airport. After getting help pushing the car out of the intersection and off to the side of the road I called Alamo's road service. I explained to them what happened and they said they'd send a tow truck. I told them I was only a couple miles from the airport and needed to catch my plane so was going to get a cab. They said NO -- that if I left the car the tow truck driver would not pick it up unattended and they would treat it the same as if I had abandoned it somewhere else and they had to go retrieve it. I waited nearly two hours for the tow truck & missed my flight. They did at least refund the entire 5 day rental and gave me a $100 voucher towards a future rental. They were also going to reimburse me for cab fare but the tow truck driver felt so bad about it that he drove me to the airport instead.

that's crazy! i probably would've said screw you and took off anyways, and fought the charge with the CC company, but thats me. in any event, i added the link above

As I was checking in at the Alamo kiosk in ATL this week, I overheard the agent explaining just this to another customer - that if they returned it early, their currently reserved rate would be disallowed.

So, thumbs-down to the policy, but at least some locations are proactive about ensuring the policy is not a total surprise at return time.

Anyone know if they sting you if you return it a "few hours" early as well? Just wondering if I am going to have to stall before I return my car...;)

Anyone know if they sting you if you return it a "few hours" early as well? Just wondering if I am going to have to stall before I return my car...;)

To get zapped with the Early Return fee you have to return 24 hours early and cut your rental a day short OR if you have a one day rental and it was going to run Overnight and you return the same day before midnight the same day it sometimes will charge you the understay fee.
Read the T & C on the contract before you sign it. It's clearly printed on it, it's not "fly spec" size type.

Is this common with other large rental companies, or is this pretty much only Alamo at this time?
Also, is it more likely to happen if using a third party such as Expedia, or does it happen routinely with direct bookings also?

Is this common with other large rental companies, or is this pretty much only Alamo at this time?
Also, is it more likely to happen if using a third party such as Expedia, or does it happen routinely with direct bookings also?

In my only experience the early return fee applied where I returned the car on an earlier calendar day. It is retarded in a circumstance where say you book a car for 3 days at 8am and return it at 11pm on the 2nd day. You get charged for 3 days and $15 - makes no sense. I did get this removed explaining that it made no sense given they were charging me for 3 days. I have not experienced this with any other company. Returning a weekly rental after 4 days is a different scenario and I'd say a re-price is okay.

Is this common with other large rental companies, or is this pretty much only Alamo at this time?
Also, is it more likely to happen if using a third party such as Expedia, or does it happen routinely with direct bookings also?

Third party and direct booking, doesn't matter, it's going to happen.

Apparently Alamo isn't the only one doing this. I just had a customer come from Thrifty the other day and ask if understay policy was unique to them. I wasn't aware they were doing it too. Makes me wonder if Dollar is also doing it as they have the same Parent company.
National isn't doing it.
At our location in PHX, as rental agents we work some days Alamo and some days on the National side. The booking rates are traditionally slightly lower some days on Alamo but there are restrictions...THE FEES. If your trip time is questionable just book with a company that doesn't have all the restrictions and don't worry about all the crap.
Believe me it's stressful rental after rental to have to explain all the RULES that go along with the cheap rates. When you pay less than a pizza for your car per day there are bound to be alot of RULES.
Think about what you'd pay to rent a piece of yard equipment, you won't pay less than about $65 to $90 for a few HOURS of use for it.
Ten years ago when I started in the rental car biz the average price per day was $35 to $40 per day for a mid-size car. Now it's not uncommon to see $9, $12, $15, per day...and cars cost more for the companies to buy/lease. Cost to do biz is higher in the form of health car for employees, salaries etc. And still customers come to the counter with a $12 a day rate and want a cheaper rate. I know the taxes are sky high but the rental car company doesn't get any of that. YES I watch my pennies too but give your rental agent a break will ya? WE don't set the price or policy. We just work for a living like you do.
If your trip doesn't have a floating time period, book the rate by all means and don't worry about the early/late return fees because it probably won't affect you. But if you might have a problem check around.
I will tell you in PHX if you are under or over by a TINY bit we a tad flexible. Come in the return office in the return garage and ask us nicely, we can make adjustments for you. But if you are definitely Over or Under 24 hours...our hands are tied.

I will tell you in PHX if you are under or over by a TINY bit we a tad flexible. Come in the return office in the return garage and ask us nicely, we can make adjustments for you. But if you are definitely Over or Under 24 hours...our hands are tied.

I am just back from a trip to LAX and used Alamo, I was not informed about the charge for returning early, but read it myself in the "Conditions"..OK, its there if you read it, but please expalin to me the rationale attributed to charging for bringing a car back early...surely the rental company over time gets more rentals by cars being brought back early

OK, If I bring the car back late, they are fully entitled to charge me...but early???

If I personally applied the same rationale to my bookings, then when I reserve a 4 door car and find only a 2 door available, am I entitled to anything from Alamo for "Their" breach of contract....you can be sure I am not!!!!


And to finish...Why not start a boycott of Alamo for bringing in this "Screw the customer" policy

I am just back from a trip to LAX and used Alamo, I was not informed about the charge for returning early, but read it myself in the "Conditions"..OK, its there if you read it, but please expalin to me the rationale attributed to charging for bringing a car back early...surely the rental company over time gets more rentals by cars being brought back early

OK, If I bring the car back late, they are fully entitled to charge me...but early???


Here's where we understand it came from...
In a Small market...someone books a car for say 10 days but keeps it 3...they get charged for 3 and the flat $15 early return fee to make up for what they thought was "guaranteed revenue" for 10 days. Small markets can't make up those dollars like large markets. It's like an offset. However the software can't tell large from small market so it's standard across the board. Kinda like changing your plane ticket. You change your ticket it costs money even thought the seat is the same and they have seats available. Doesn't make sense but they do it.
It's considered loss of guaranteed revenue, offset. When you get those way low rates from Alamo there are penalties for changing the perameters. Early return fees are one of the penalties.

I rented from Alamo at SAT back in October of 2006. When I returned my car, the gas level was fine but the person checking it in said it wasn't. I fought with the person for a few moments but he wouldn't budge and I had a flight to catch.

So, I got back home and sent the BBB a compliant along with a very recent gas receipt copy and my rental receipt to prove the times were close enough that I wouldn't have burned that much gas in a few minutes.

Alamo returned about $35 to me about 2 weeks later and a letter explaining they were sorry. The BBB is always a possible solution if talking to customer care doesn't work - that's what they are partly there for.

Is this common with other large rental companies, or is this pretty much only Alamo at this time?
Also, is it more likely to happen if using a third party such as Expedia, or does it happen routinely with direct bookings also?

My personal experiences have been not exclusively to them, but much more likely to be charged early return at Alamo and with less wiggle room. I demoted Alamo from first choice to only if a really good deal on a predictable length of rental after the second time it happened.

Avis told me directly (when bringing back a day early) they did not charge early return on direct bookings, but by virtue of contract arrangements had to on third party bookings. (Of course, Avis is the home of base rate mistakes, so there is still something to watch).

At Hertz I am normally charged for the remaining day at the quoted price, which does not really bother me since I agreed to rent that long.

Other's experiences above seem to have varied.

Anyone know if they sting you if you return it a "few hours" early as well? Just wondering if I am going to have to stall before I return my car...;)

Twice I've taken my car back to thrifty early, Tampa both times. once was a day early. no problems. The other was two days early, original 3 days rental and kept it for one day. Only charged one day at quoted rate. Nice people.

Avis told me last year that the local supervisor could hang the contract on the wall and check it in whenever I needed.

Alamo seems to be the culprit here. The reason I hear for renting from them the most is unlimited mileage without state restrictions when not arriving by air.

I had a simular problem with budget recently. My flight was cancelled causing me to be delayed 5 hours. I called an hour before the reserved time and an agent said she must cancel my reservation if I can not pick it up within 3 hours of the stated time. She then booked me a new reservation at a higher price.

This is all getting very consumer unfriendly. The airlines say if it is is a mecanical problem (if it isn't they will find a mechanical problem if they need to) then they are not responsible. I have shown up and there not be any cars available and the car rental agency just says sorry. They overbook expecting no-shows but the expect the consumer to be held to a strict contract.

Same with hotels.

everyone expects the consumer to be exact in their timing but those setting the timing say we are not responsible.

The BBB is always a possible solution if talking to customer care doesn't work - that's what they are partly there for.

I'm sure the BBB has better things to do than go after companies that enforce the clearly-stated terms of a contract.

Here's where we understand it came from...
In a Small market...someone books a car for say 10 days but keeps it 3...they get charged for 3 and the flat $15 early return fee to make up for what they thought was "guaranteed revenue" for 10 days. Small markets can't make up those dollars like large markets. It's like an offset. However the software can't tell large from small market so it's standard across the board. Kinda like changing your plane ticket. You change your ticket it costs money even thought the seat is the same and they have seats available. Doesn't make sense but they do it.
It's considered loss of guaranteed revenue, offset. When you get those way low rates from Alamo there are penalties for changing the perameters. Early return fees are one of the penalties.

Paminaz, I appreciate your insights but I think you're a little off the mark here. As described by the OP, what Alamo did was NOT a matter of guaranteed revenue offset. The OP was not asking for a pro-rated bill to reflect a shorter rental period. The OP clearly states a willingness to pay the full price for the entire week. Thus, there is no loss of revenue to offset. Furthermore, if Alamo was able to immediately re-rent the car, they would effectively be earning revenue from two different people simultaneously.

That being said, while I sympathize with the OP, I fully support Alamo's right to do this. It appears that rental car agencies employ the same pricing techniques as airlines.

For instance, it is well known that it is sometimes cheaper to fly through a hub than to stop at a hub. Thus, people tried "hidden-city" ticketing; that is, booking a flight from ABQ-DFW-XXX and then stopping their journey at DFW. But airlines grew wise to this, and now hidden-city ticketing is strictly a no-no. But still people complain that it should cost less to fly ABQ-DFW since you aren't going as far. The reason why it costs more has nothing to do with distance; rather, it has to do with demand.

In the same way, car rental companies figure that there is one kind of demand for rentals of 4 days or less, and a different kind of demand for rentals of 5 days or longer. Thus, they charge a much higher rate for short-term rentals. Anyone can figure this out, and therefore decide to rent a car for 5 days but simply return it after 4, or 3. Even with a $15 early return penalty, it might still be cheaper to "reserve long and return short", if you will.

And like the hidden-city scheme, some car rental companies have caught onto this, and are charging people who return early the same rate as if they had simply rented how they were "supposed" to in the first place.

The problem is when folks like the OP have an honest-to-goodness change of plans, and pay the penalty. So :td: to inflexible agents, but ^ to the overall principle of allowing car rental companies to charge what the market will bear.

This is an extremely abusive business practice.

A company that behaves this way deserves to be severely punished by consumers.

The best way to punish this company would be if thousands of people reserved cars with Alamo and failed to show up to pick up their vehicles. How about if this happened every week for about a year. I imagine the loss of revenue would be many millions of dollars. Of course this would be within the terms of the reservation agreement which provides for no penalty for no-shows on reservations. And this company seems to be big on relying on contract language to excuse dishonest behaviour.

If thousands of people did this (perhaps anybody who has been ripped off by this company in the past) then perhaps the company would decide it is in its best interest to treat customers like human beings.

This is an extremely abusive business practice.

A company that behaves this way deserves to be severely punished by consumers.

The best way to punish this company would be if thousands of people reserved cars with Alamo and failed to show up to pick up their vehicles. How about if this happened every week for about a year. I imagine the loss of revenue would be many millions of dollars. Of course this would be within the terms of the reservation agreement which provides for no penalty for no-shows on reservations. And this company seems to be big on relying on contract language to excuse dishonest behaviour.

If thousands of people did this (perhaps anybody who has been ripped off by this company in the past) then perhaps the company would decide it is in its best interest to treat customers like human beings.


No, the logical outcome of this behavior is that the company would start requiring a credit card number to hold the reservation, just like most hotels do. Thus, if you did not show for a legitimate reason (late flight, etc), you would be charged anyway.

Fantastic idea. :rolleyes:

No, the logical outcome of this behavior is that the company would start requiring a credit card number to hold the reservation, just like most hotels do. Thus, if you did not show for a legitimate reason (late flight, etc), you would be charged anyway.

Fantastic idea. :rolleyes:

No they wouldn't, because other companies don't require a credit card number, and they are in a competitive business.

Fantastic insight.

No they wouldn't, because other companies don't require a credit card number, and they are in a competitive business.

Fantastic insight.

That must be why no airline has dared to be the first to charge for a second checked bag.

Anyway, good luck organizing your mass protest of Alamo. :cool:

good luck organizing your mass protest of Alamo. :cool:

I don't need to. I don't deal with Alamo because they are already widely known for this sort of business practice.

May I suggest you find another hobby besides antagonizing strangers on the internet?

Here's where we understand it came from...
In a Small market...someone books a car for say 10 days but keeps it 3...they get charged for 3 and the flat $15 early return fee to make up for what they thought was "guaranteed revenue" for 10 days. Small markets can't make up those dollars like large markets. It's like an offset. However the software can't tell large from small market so it's standard across the board. Kinda like changing your plane ticket. You change your ticket it costs money even thought the seat is the same and they have seats available. Doesn't make sense but they do it.
It's considered loss of guaranteed revenue, offset. When you get those way low rates from Alamo there are penalties for changing the perameters. Early return fees are one of the penalties.

Does National have the same policy for early return? I just reserved a car using National's "last minute special" rate on its website. I reserved the car to be picked up Friday at 9:30 a.m. and returned by 7:30 a.m. Sunday when I plan to fly back home on a 9:30 a.m. flight. However, it's possible that I will be ready to return home on Saturday. There was something on the website that said the car must be rented over a Saturday night. Am I going to be charged a penalty if I return the car on Saturday evening ~5 or 6 pm?

Again, I am fine with paying the full 2 day rate of course, and can't imagine why National would care if I return it a little early. If I returned it at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning does that fulfill the policy? :confused:

Apparently if you make a reservation on the alamo.com site right now and add 30 minutes to your reservation you can get very low rates. You don't have to use any codes either.

For example 3 day reservation for a prius is $314

but if you change your times to 3 days and 30 minutes it drops down to $61 !

Does any one know if this is legit?

my main concern is to get this rate I have to return my vehicle at 9am. If I put that on the reservation the rate is $314, but if I put 11:30 am on the reservation the rate is only $61. I am scared that if I turn it in at 9am instead of 11:30am they will try to charge me the regular rate.

any thoughts?

Apparently if you make a reservation on the alamo.com site right now and add 30 minutes to your reservation you can get very low rates. You don't have to use any codes either.

For example 3 day reservation for a prius is $314

but if you change your times to 3 days and 30 minutes it drops down to $61 !

Does any one know if this is legit?

my main concern is to get this rate I have to return my vehicle at 9am. If I put that on the reservation the rate is $314, but if I put 11:30 am on the reservation the rate is only $61. I am scared that if I turn it in at 9am instead of 11:30am they will try to charge me the regular rate.

any thoughts?

Tried a few different scenarios, didn't work for me. Same price if I returned car before and after.

I called alamo to ask about the return time
they said if I return it at 9am instead of 11:30 am it would remove the discount and my $15 a day rate would jump to $89 a day.

There is no way I can keep the car for more than 72 hours so I am going to have to cancel the reservation :(

Actually, there's a very easy way around this problem. Book a prepaid (i.e. through the opaque bidding service) rental on Priceline or Hotwire. Although it is prepaid and you won't receive any refunds for unused days if you return early, it's probably a very low rate, and your maximum liability is limited to what you've already paid Priceline/Hotwire. There are no early return fees, retroactive rate changes, etc. possible because the reservation is already paid.

If you want to confirm this, check here (http://www.hotwire.com/helpcenter/cars/after-booking/reservation-changes-cancellation/extend-or-return.jsp) for Hotwire. On Priceline, just go to Help -> Rental Cars -> Rental Car Policies -> Can I Return My Car Early, which presently states:

You can always return your car earlier than your scheduled drop-off time but priceline cannot issue any refunds for unused time. Our rental car partners choose whether to accept your offer based on the exact combination of pick-up date, drop-off date, car type and location you select while on our website. As a result, your accepted price reflects savings that may not have been offered to you with any other combination. We know our no refunds policy is strict, but it's the agreement that keeps this great service available and the reason the major car rental companies allow you to save so much money with priceline.

Although this sounds like a bunch of ominous language, if you read it carefully, all it says is no refund for unused time, not that anyone has the right to charge you anything additional.

The issue is sorta like the "Saturday night stay required" rule airlines have -- it's to separate out business travellers from leisure travellers and charge them more.

Business travellers are more likely to rent for just a few weekdays and thus the daily rate is higher than a weekly or weekend rate. If they let people return the cars early, everyone would rent a "week" whenever it was cheaper than the daily rate, so they don't allow it.

Here's where we understand it came from...
In a Small market...someone books a car for say 10 days but keeps it 3...they get charged for 3 and the flat $15 early return fee to make up for what they thought was "guaranteed revenue" for 10 days. Small markets can't make up those dollars like large markets. It's like an offset. However the software can't tell large from small market so it's standard across the board. Kinda like changing your plane ticket. You change your ticket it costs money even thought the seat is the same and they have seats available. Doesn't make sense but they do it.
It's considered loss of guaranteed revenue, offset. When you get those way low rates from Alamo there are penalties for changing the perameters. Early return fees are one of the penalties.

The OP had no objection to paying for the full week, he just didn't want to pay DOUBLE the agreed weekly rate for returning it a day early. Alamo is not losing a dime, but rather taking advantage of customers who don't read the contract and have the temerity to think that common sense can prevail. It's a scam, and typifies why I avoid Alamo, National, Thrifty and Enterprise like the plague.

I'm sure the BBB has better things to do than go after companies that enforce the clearly-stated terms of a contract.

Not true. Some contractual terms are unreasonable the firms are taking advantage of customers who assume reasonableness. Here there is no commercial reason to have this provision other than a pretext for scamming extra money out of unsuspecting consumers.

A similar issue is taking place with alarm companies that hid an auto renewal clause in their contracts. After your initial two years they renew you for another two years (with cancellation penalties) unless you specifically opt out. It's a scam and they know it, and the BBB and AGs in many states are onto them.

Not true. Some contractual terms are unreasonable the firms are taking advantage of customers who assume reasonableness. Here there is no commercial reason to have this provision other than a pretext for scamming extra money out of unsuspecting consumers.

A similar issue is taking place with alarm companies that hid an auto renewal clause in their contracts. After your initial two years they renew you for another two years (with cancellation penalties) unless you specifically opt out. It's a scam and they know it, and the BBB and AGs in many states are onto them.

I disagree. The company honoured the terms of the contract. The renter agreed to rent the car from X date and time to Y date and time, and was offered a rate based on those perameters, which the renter agreed to. The renter changed the terms of the contract by brining back either early or late.
Had the renter made the reservation based on the time he/she really wanted, the proper rate (in this case higher) would have popped up and the renter would have had the option of either booking it or finding another rental company. I dont see why Alamo (or any other rental compan for that matter) is made out to be the bad guy, when they honoured their commitment but the renter didnt.