Alamo - Book an extra half an hour and save!
Apr 21, 2011, 10:11 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,159
Alamo - Book an extra half an hour and save!
Definitely one for the "strange" books, but...
I was pricing a rental car for this weekend on a few different sites. Alamo was the cheapest, but when I went back to book the price had jumped by about 20%.
After trying a few times (and almost being to the point of booking elsewhere) it suddenly gave me the price I'd seen earlier by changing the pickup time to be 30 mins early.
After a bit of testing there was a clear pattern. Book for an exact number of hours (eg, 10am pickup, 5pm drop-off 2 days alter) and I'd get one price. Book an extra half an hour (10:30am pickup OR 5:30pm drop-off, but not both) and I'd get the lower price.
It's not based on the number of hours, as for the same drop-off time I get the higher price for a pickup at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, but the lower price at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm. In each case, the actual per-day rate is lower for the extra 1/2 hour rental.
I tested at another location and it didn't happen, but it's completely repeatable for at least one on-airport location!
I was pricing a rental car for this weekend on a few different sites. Alamo was the cheapest, but when I went back to book the price had jumped by about 20%.
After trying a few times (and almost being to the point of booking elsewhere) it suddenly gave me the price I'd seen earlier by changing the pickup time to be 30 mins early.
After a bit of testing there was a clear pattern. Book for an exact number of hours (eg, 10am pickup, 5pm drop-off 2 days alter) and I'd get one price. Book an extra half an hour (10:30am pickup OR 5:30pm drop-off, but not both) and I'd get the lower price.
It's not based on the number of hours, as for the same drop-off time I get the higher price for a pickup at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, but the lower price at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm. In each case, the actual per-day rate is lower for the extra 1/2 hour rental.
I tested at another location and it didn't happen, but it's completely repeatable for at least one on-airport location!
