IsraeliMom

I'm looking into a long-term rental with Dollar using a local agent. We're from Israel and we want a mini-van for four months, starting and ending in NY. To get lower rates, we'll take the car in Newark and return at JFK.

I have rented from Dollar a year and a half ago, taking the car and returning it at San Francisco airport. Back then, we did have to do separates contracts for 50-something days each (or around 50 days, I don't remember the exact number), but we could do handle the paperwork of closing one contract and starting the next while traveling (we happened to be north of Yellowstone NP, so no Dollar branch in sight, but the SF airport branch manager was very helpful and we worked it out on phone/emails).

I guess my question is have policies changed, or could it be that the Newark branch has different ones? I read someplace that there's a difference between corporate locations and franchised location, so could it be the Newark isn't corporate? How do I find out which branch is which?

Thanks in advance for your help! We were extremely happy with renting from Dollar in our last trip. We've had their vehicles for five and a half months, and they were top-notch cars. The service was excellent as well. They never tried up-selling and were very helpful over the phone, both in the general helplines and with the local branch. They even gave us back the money for oil changes we had to do on the way (which tells you something about our mileage) even though I couldn't find the receipt.

Auto Enthusiast

All NYC-area, and other large city, Dollar locations are corporate. They may or may not be willing to open a new contract over the phone.

Hertz and Budget are the only companies that will tell you online which locations are corporate and which are independent licensees. You can figure it out, though, with Dollar, by looking at geographical and mileage restrictions. Corporate stores will usually say, "Mileage is unlimited in the continental US and Canada." A franchise, like what you might find near Yellowstone and other rural areas, or in some small beach markets, would say something like, "Mileage is limited to SD, ND, UT, WY...and 200 free miles a day."

darben

Talk to the manager at Newark I bet they can work it so you renew contract somewhere on your journey. IE Chicago, Philadelphia etc I bet as long as it is a corporate location they will be wiling to do it.

IsraeliMom

Thank you for the information! So assuming Newark is corporate, I will try and find a direct email for the manager and arrange it with him/her. Fingers crossed that they're as nice as the SF airport manager!

IsraeliMom

I just called the Dollar reservations center and the lady there said that -
1. We can take the vehicle into Alaska (which our local agent said we couldn't)
2. We can indeed renew the contract at every corporate location.

I have to say, doing so every 30 days instead of 50-something sucks, but the rate they're giving us is really good ($40 a day for a minivan) and we had a very good rental experience with them last time, so I guess we'll take that. Either way, the next agency, Budget also requires contract renewal every 30 days.

So, I hesitate to ask, but do Salt Lake City, Anchorage and Minneapolis have corporate locations? These would be the big cities will be nearest to every 30 days. I don't know how they expect their customers to know really... but hopefully the good folks on this forum will

Auto Enthusiast

Here's how to tell:

Click on Important Local Policy Information.

Minneapolis (MSP)- corporate. I know because pricing a new reservation shows no limits to bordering states:

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS
Driving is restricted to the continental United States and Canada.

Anchorage (ANC)- franchise. I know because pricing a new reservation and clicking on Important Local Policy Information gives driving restrictions:

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS
Driving is restricted to the state of Alaska only. Vehicle may not be driven on poorly maintained or unpaved roads or highways.

Salt Lake City (SLC)- franchise. I can tell because pricing a new reservation there shows that driving is limited to nearby states:

Important Local Policy Information
Salt Lake City International Airport

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS
Driving restricted to Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado. Call location direct for mileage charges if traveling beyond these states. All customers with a Utah driver’s license must present proof of full coverage insurance.

IsraeliMom

ETA - almost forgot - thank you so much for checking this for me!

Hmmm, that's a problem then. I mean, we're allowed to take the vehicle into Alaska, but how are we expected to find a nearby corporate location exactly? The lady on the phone insisted there was no way to make the contract for longer than 30 days, making this an impossibility. What do you think will happen if I call from Alaska around that time and tell them the nearest corporate location is probably Denver or Seattle?

If we can't get this to work, our next option is renting with Alamo/National, but that would mean paying almost $70 a day instead of $40. Not really an option with our budget (it's 120 days of renting a car).

I wonder if there's anyone in Dollar I can talk to?

IsraeliMom

I just looked and Seattle isn't corporate... So Denver to Anchorage and back in a month??

Auto Enthusiast

Correct, Dollar is a franchise in Seattle, but their partner company, Thrifty, is corporate. Usually they're both corporate or both franchises in the same city. A split happens very rarely, but it does happen, in Seattle (SEA) and Portland OR (PDX).

Maybe Thrifty can access and renew your contract? I would also say maybe make the reservation through Thrifty instead of Dollar. Both Dollar and Thrifty have locations at JFK. But Thrifty does not have a location at EWR. Only Dollar does. Do you really need to do a one-way from EWR to JFK, because you're flying into EWR and out of JFK? Or can you do JFK roundtrip?

Also, I don't think you can take the car into Alaska:

DRIVING RESTRICTIONS
Driving is restricted to the continental United States and Canada.

IsraeliMom

I am booking through an agent - Travel Jigsaw, a British company with Hebrew-speaking agents. They got me a really good deal from Dollar. I don't think they work with Thrifty though? I will ask on Monday. We're actually flying into JFK, but the rates from JFK are about 30% higher than what they could get us at Newark. It's going to be much cheaper to take a cab from JFK to Newark, paying $100 to save thousands (on a 120 rental). Also, we decided to spend a few days in NYC, so we don't need a car there and will rent once we leave NYC.

I asked, and the Dollar representative in their reservation center checked and said the continental USA includes Alaska. I actually Wikipedia'ed the term, not being an American Turns out, continental includes Alaska. Contiguous USA is just the lower 48.

To be on the safe side, I just sent in a request via their form and asked to get that in writing as well. I think that should cover it?

Auto Enthusiast

Probably. It's always best to get things like that in writing. You wouldn't want to have a situation where either:

1) The car breaks down in Alaska. When you call Roadside Assistance, Dollar says you violated the rental agreement by taking the car there, they won't come help you, and will put you on the Do Not Rent List.

or

2) Crossing from the lower 48 into Canada to get to Alaska, the border guard checks your rental contract for authorization to drive the car into Canada and beyond. They think the car is not allowed into Alaska, and prevent you from continuing your trip.

IsraeliMom

Yes, the border crossings are a huge concern in that respect. If this works out, we'll have at least six of them, so I want all of the paperwork to be 100% clear. I also want to keep to the T&C to the letter, where it comes to contract renewals every 30 days etc. Last thing I need is for Dollar to report the car as stolen or something and then trying to cross the border with it...

Earthlings

What if you drop your van off at Dollar in Seattle and flying to Alaska, get a Dollar rent a car there, fly back to Seattle, rent from Dollar then, and finish your journey back in NY?

Or if Dollar won't allow you to take it to Alaska, why don't you pick up a new van at another company, travel up to BC and Alaska. Then return from that company, get a new van in Seattle from Dollar and see more of the US before finishing up in Nyc?

IsraeliMom

Drop off fees from Newark to Seattle and then again on the way back would be too high. To that we would need to add the higher price from a different company for the travel up to Alaska and back. The flight option is even more expensive! Flights would be ~$900 per person (four of us) and renting a minivan in Alaska would be ~$100 a day

IsraeliMom

Just to add, I just checked with Hertz and Alamo/National directly. With them, the contracts are 62 and 56 days long respectively, but unfortunately when you end a contract, you have to actually return the vehicle and start a brand new contract. Which means hefty drop-off fees since for us it would be way out in the west (can't be Alaska or Canada with a minivan - no one-ways there). Add that to the fact that their rates are already significantly higher and we have a no-go again

I am gradually coming to the conclusion that a road trip covering NYC > Alaska > NYC is going to be both very expensive and logistically challenging, as you have to renew or get a new contract in the lower 48 and are then on a limited timetable to return to the lower 48. A very limited timetable with Dollar, and a more flexible one, but more expensive, with other rental companies.