Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - Alamo - what are the chances I will get an Economy car when I book one?

Hello
Question for you all --- CLT has a good deal on economy cars, and I have never seen a Aveo or other Economy car on the lot before.

If I book one, what are my chances of really getting an Economy car?

I'm guessing I will be "upgraded" to a compact or Intermediate --- thats ok too, as long as it is not a big SUV as I don't want to feed it!

thanks
Leggo.


p.s. I booked a economy with Dollar once upon a time, and the front desk sales person said that he would "upgrade" me for a mere 6$ a day to an Intermediate. I said I will take the Econ. as I wanted the good MPG. He tried on more time, I declined, and he just wrote up the slip and put me in an Intermediate for free. LOL.

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When there is a special on a car class, it usually implies an excess of inventory. Availability can vary by time and day of week.

As for your upgrade story, I always ask for the nicest car I can get for free. In your case, they were probably out of economy cars and just trying tp earn some sales commission for the upsell. Its just like UA offering e+ for a fee to nonstatus passengers when e- is already full. Incremental revenue for something the customer was going to get for free anyway.

I declined, and he just wrote up the slip and put me in an Intermediate for free.That's actually quite a common occurrence.

I'm not familiar with availability at CLT, but in the various cities I have rented I can't remember the last time I actually got an economy car at an airport location. Last weekend I got one at an HLE, but I just don't see them at airports. Friends have reported similar experiences. They do exist, but a rental counter agent even specifically told me that they have very few economy cars.

As big a downside as getting a gas guzzling SUV, IMO, is getting a PT Cruiser. Those are nearly as bad as SUVs on gas mileage. I hate it when the "upgrade" me from an economy to a PT Cruiser. Thankfully, many locations are replacing their PT Cruisers with Dodge Calibers, which get better mileage.

Hello
Question for you all --- CLT has a good deal on economy cars, and I have never seen a Aveo or other Economy car on the lot before.

If I book one, what are my chances of really getting an Economy car?

I'm guessing I will be "upgraded" to a compact or Intermediate --- thats ok too, as long as it is not a big SUV as I don't want to feed it!

thanks
Leggo.


p.s. I booked a economy with Dollar once upon a time, and the front desk sales person said that he would "upgrade" me for a mere 6$ a day to an Intermediate. I said I will take the Econ. as I wanted the good MPG. He tried on more time, I declined, and he just wrote up the slip and put me in an Intermediate for free. LOL.

With the current economic state and fuel prices from last year, most companies went to a higher percentage of compact cars (based on demand), so if you booked a Economy, you will most likely get one or at best a compact. Gone are the days (in most cases) of booking an ecomony and ending up with a Full size or premium for the same rate.

Thankfully, many locations are replacing their PT Cruisers with Dodge Calibers, which get better mileage.

The mileage part is true, although the Dodge Caliber is such a poorly designed and badly handling piece of junk that it has ignoble distinction of being the one rental car that almost makes me wish I were in a PT Cruiser...and my Avis Preferred file has a comment in it stating "Do not give customer a PT Cruiser EVER!" I've gotten Calibers numerous times from Dollar, Thrifty, and even Budget once, and avoid them like the plague where possible.

To answer the OP's question - the last 3 times I've booked Economy rentals from Alamo, I've received either an Economy or Compact car...generally a Chevy Cobalt or Kia Rio (no Dodge Calibers, although I have seen them on Alamo lots).

Just an FYI - I did get a Kia - there were 2 economy cars on the lot when I got there at 10:00 a.m. The guy a head of me got the cool blue one and i got the "Burnt Umbra" lol.
The Desk Clerk said that the economy cars are usually gone by 12:00 noon. and then they hand out the upgrades.
Kia had A/C but no power windows or door locks. I got good gas mileage - mid to high 30's so that was nice.

I actually prefer an economy or compact car so I find it incredibly annoying when I'm aggressively offered an upgrade. One time I was given a Chevy Colorado pick up because they were out of regular sized cars and it was presented to me like they were doing me this huge fever. Instead, I nearly had about 5 accidents because I didn't do well driving it at all.