rentalguy

I'll check for you today and let you know. I think its around 9 or 10th, but I'll give you guys the top ten later today.

drzoidberg

Speaking of additional driver fees, I assume only spouses can drive for free? What if my dad, who's also an EC/ES member, wants to drive- is there a per diem charge for him?

rentalguy

No word for one ways at this point. As you know, National uses a pooled fleet and Enterprise doesnt do one ways as their cars are owned by a group or region and as such have to "fetch" their cars if it leaves the group. The fleets are being intergrated starting August 1st, so there may be some changes to the one ways, however both computer systems are different and as such your rental info will not pass through the other brand, so I dont see one ways between cross brands at this point. With respect to reservations, what will happen is, if you try to select a National location and it is "sold out", the website will divert you to Enterprise site. If you want to rent a car in a location where there isnt a National location, it will also direct you to the Enterpirse site if there is a Ent location there.. At this point all marketing programs are completely seperate. No airline points, 1,2 free etc, however EC memeber will soon be able to earn rental credits for Enterpirse rentals.

bluedevils

sorry for the basic question...at what point should i cancel my 'backup' reservation? backup is thru alamo, about 20 bucks more than the national reservation i intend to go through with. i don't expect any problems with the national reservation, but got the alamo reservation just in case.

pickup is later tonight and i think both reservations have the same start time.

is it considered ok to not use a reservation and not notify the rental company / location at all, or not until after the start time? that doesn't seem real polite. but if you cancel #2 before picking up car #1, then i don't see the benefit of having the backup reservation.

Spac3d

Why do you have a backup car rental? Worried about car selection? Did you use a coupon/discounted rate that you aren't eligible for?

JLewisinSyr

My thoughts exactly.

drzoidberg

Nothing wrong with backup rentals; I sometimes cross book between hertz and national, then cancel one of them closer to pickup.

rentalguy

Not sure what city your are picking up in. Is the National and Alamo together? If they are, they'll see the double booking on their system. If they are run in seperate facilities, get the rep to cancel it when you pick up your car (whichever way you choose, National or Alamo) Bottom line, if you are concerned about fleet, if its going to be a problem with NAtional, it will be a problem with Alamo. It's a shared fleet. IF you want to keep both bookings cancel the second one when you pick up the rental. The Alamo/ National rep can cancel it for you.

eLSid

I'm an EE taking a family trip next month. I need a minivan at LAX. At times I've been down EA/ES and there have been nothing but minivans, other times none. The current midsize rate is $188/wk, the minivan rate is $580(for a 8 seater). I fly into LAX at night, pick up the family the next morning. Is it allowed to make two reservations one for the midsize, one for the van, and if there's a minivan in EA/ES, just take it, and if not, just pick up the minivan and tell the gate agent to cancel the other reservation?

If I had to, I could make one reservation for the night before, the other the night after. Any insight would be appreciated.

FlyerTalker93851

Not a highly desireable scenario...because if there is something going on to be utilizing the bulk of their fleet...you could be keeping someone out of a car. Think of it in reverse, what if it were you trying to get a car and You couldn't book as others had double booked? Just something to think about.

There is nothing that says you can't do it though.

We see more and more double and triple bookings these days since ppl can book their own reservations online. Many ppl book with multiple companies and go with whomever has the "shortest line" upon arrival.
When a city has some special event going on and cars are in short supply or everyone is sold out, it breaks my heart to have to tell some family on vacation or someone who had to travel last minute due to a family medical emergency that wasn't saavy to what was going on in town that they can't get a car or they have to spend a huge amount of their budget just to get a vehicle.

I know bookings are done for convenience but please try to think of the flip side of the coin.

JLewisinSyr

I disagree...I think it's a horrible practice, although it is allowed because it messes with fleet utilizations and affects people's rates that book after you.

I know the whole, it's not my problem, I'm working the system, if they didn't want it they could change their policy, excuses but I think it's a horrible practice all the same.

Book what you want at a price that is reasonable to you. If you find a better rate at another company, please consider cancelling your first reservation after booking your new one.

bluedevils

I didn't think I'd have a problem with my National reservation, but I was starting to get somewhat paranoid and had heard lots of 'backup reservation' talk on FT so it seemed like a reasonable idea.

Had no problems with the reservation from National. Was unable to cancel the Alamo reservation ahead of time, and I feel bad about that and do not plan to do this sort of thing in the future unless it is some sort of 'extreme' circumstance.

FYI, picked up minivan at LAX late Friday night. I saw only 1 van in the Minivan aisle. We had reserved a 7-seater minivan. Got a Toyota Sienna 8 seater (3 person 2nd row seat) with 6 miles on it. We didn't need the 8 passenger. The 8 pass rate seems to be quite a bit higher than the 7 pass.

drzoidberg

I agree. I should clarify that I usually double book several months in advance, then cancel one of the reservations a few weeks from the actual travel date. While still not perfect, I try not to wait until the last minute to cancel.

miamizo305

Has anyone had a problem using code "57" in FLL or MIA? I am EC Exec and it gives such a good rate but i dont want to have any problems.

drzoidberg

I'm pretty sure they discontinued the 57 code. Also, you probably want to ask this question in the coupons and contract IDs thread; this is primarily for asking questions of actual National employees.

And welcome to the National Forum.