JunkDiver

Couple questions:

If I reserve an Economy car, and choose something from Executive Selection (all Midsize and up), I should get credit for 1-2-Free due to me getting a Midsize car correct? I have found that my bill is the same price as my Economy reservation.

If I reserve an Economy car, then go to the desk (no Emerald Aisle), and ask for a Midsize car, do I should still pay the Economy fare I reserved (due to Executive tier status), and get 1-2-Free credit?

In light of this situation, is there any reason for me to reserve a Midsize car other than to guarantee that they have one/I am paranoid they will run out?

dwbf11

I think you might be misunderstanding how the program works. You are not eligible to use the EA/ES without a midsize reservation. It does not matter what your status is. No midsize reservation, no access. At non-EA/ES locations, you will get what you reserve but pay for one class lower.

As an Executive level member, the midsize will always price out one class lower (in case of a midsize, compact). So it would look like this at an EA/ES location:

Reserve Midsize - Pay Compact - Take from Executive Selection or Midsize Reserve

At a non-EA/ES location, it would look like this:

Reserve Midsize - Pay Compact - Take from Midsize Reserve (although YMMV on possible upgrades due to status and/or limited supply).

For 1-2-Free days, again the reservation must be for a midsize. I suspect if you book midsize and take economy then the computer will auto-adjust the rate in a way which would remove 1-2-F eligibility. Perhaps someone else can chime in on this.

Just curious, why would you ever want to drive a car from the penalty box category of economy anyways? Even many full size cars in the fleet (Nissan Altima, Mazda6) get 40+ mpg highway, let alone plenty of cars in the compact category which are much better equipped and get comparable gas mileage, plus much better safety ratings.

JunkDiver

I was not aware of this. I believe I have reserved Economy and taken a car from the Emerald Aisle; did the booth adjust my reservation automatically then?

Yeah, but many times I have found that I could not find an fuel-friendly car when I arrive to the rental center late in the night.

dwbf11

Certainly possible they changed your rate, or you just got lucky. Either way, under the program rules you are not technically supposed to take from EA/ES without a midsize res. Of course, different stations enforce the rules more strictly than others so that's a big YMMV.


Fair enough; if that's a concern, you can do what many of us do and make 2 reservations in case nothing on the ES works for you. At a minimum, I'd make the backup reservation for a Compact because you'll pay the Economy rate but get a substantially better car if you take compact.

IsleOfMan

Or make a midsize reservation and have the booth agent adjust the rate down if you take something lower form a Economy/Compact Reserve. I do this often with PCAR/LCAR reservations and have them adjust to ICAR if I find something acceptable from ES (or the alarmingly growing trend of them pointing me to the one lonely Impala or Maxima already on the ES because all of the Reserve sections are being used for bulk car storage).

That said, with pretty much all ICARs, many FCARS, and some PCARs/LCARs getting 30mpg+ highway, I can't (personally) see myself downgrading below an ICAR or SCAR just for fuel economy. As more of the new Chrysler 200s roll out, I can't imagine getting anything below that even if I were on a fuel-sensitive rental.