shuly

Just when I thought I've seen everything... I understand that flying return is cheaper than one way, and that renting for a week is the same price as five days. I can understand this.

But I can't understand how renting for 8 days would be one third the rate of a weekly rental. Both Thrifty and Dollar have this: rent a full week (in Washington DC, in September), pay $391. Return your car a few hours later, so it counts as 8 days, and the rate drops to $113.

What will they do if I book for 8 days and return the car two days earlier, force me to drive it for two more days?

Shuly

MrHalliday

I can't duplicate this so far.
Example dates, location (DCA?), car size, any promo code used?
It maybe a useful glitch, or maybe not.

shuly

Both DCA and IAD. Try September 4th though 11, then through 12.

Shuly

jwhite4

No, they'll just charge you based on the rates for the time you used.

MrHalliday

OK, I see it now !
....and the price drops for some of the higher end vehicles.
Ford Escape 8 days $169.99 ai.
And it works for 9 days, two weeks, three weeks, etc.

Unfortunately this doesn't answer your question
about early return, but nice find !

jackal

This.

It's not intentional--it's a function of the way their computer systems do rate analysis of the competition in conjunction with forecasted fleet availability. Note that Thrifty's primary competition, Enterprise (which Thrifty competes most strongly with and sets their rates in accordance with), has a similar rate for both sets of dates.

Once you book a particular rate plan, though, you are locked into that rate plan regardless of the length of rental UNLESS you do something that invalidates the rate plan (such as pick up too early or return too late for a weekend rate, etc.).

That said, I can't guarantee this will be the case 100%. You can often see some more detailed rate information in travel agency GDS systems. A good way to get access to this is to do a test booking on Travelocity and then click the "Rules & Information" tab, which shows the full T&C as published in the GDS. In your case, the rate rules for your 8-day September rental come up as this:

For comparison, here are the rules of the higher 7-day rate:

Now, I believe those are just the rate rules that Thrifty's reservation engine uses to figure out which rate it should apply to your reservation. I don't believe they are "attached" to your reservation once your reservation is confirmed.

At Thrifty franchises (which I have the most experience with), the computer systems are too dumb to factor any specific rate rules in. The Thrifty reservation system simply transmits the reservation to the franchise's computer system with a daily rate and a weekly rate attached. Any changes to the pick-up and drop-off dates can't change the rate, because only one rate (with no particular rules) is associated with that reservation.

However, Thrifty corporate locations (which IAD and DCA are) use a more sophisticated computer system that very well could consider specific rate rules such as those noted above. There is a chance--a small chance, but a chance nonetheless--that upon returning the car early, your rate may jump up to the higher rate. I do not think the chance is that big, though, and would feel comfortable booking the later return date and counting on that price to stick.

Worst comes to worst, ask for a manager at return and ask how your rate triples when you're doing them the favor and letting them re-rent the car to someone else for an extra day or two. On an early return, I would (begrudgingly) accept having to pay the same price as I would have had I kept the car longer, but certainly not any more than that. I think the local manager would likely see the logic and agree. Even if you're charged the full $113 for the 8-day rental despite returning it after 7 days, you'll be money ahead. In fact, even if you have to keep the car, go park it offsite, and then call them on the 8th day to have the car picked up by them and they charge you a $25 (or even higher) fee to do so, you'll still be money ahead.

shuly

Excellent explanation, and this last paragraph was exactly my thoughts. Thank you.

Shuly

jwhite4

By the same logic, would you ask an airline why you just can't get off at 'B' on an A-B-C itinerary when A-B-C is cheaper than A-B? By the same measure, why should the airline punish you for a higher A-B flight, when they can sell B-C for additional money?

Often, travel pricing just doesn't make sense.

Jeff

jackal

There is some logic to your argument, but the rental car industry's pricing models are not nearly as sophisticated as the airlines. Having been on the inside, I can assure you that the issue raised in this thread is purely unintentional, and if it were brought to the attention of the rate management department, they'd probably fix it (I'll even go so far as to state that most pricing in the rental industry is unintentional and haphazardly instituted--having worked extensively with rate management folks, it's all a big guessing game and rates are just thrown out there with little understanding of the actual mechanics of how they're applied).

Rental car agencies do want to get the highest rate possible out of you, yes, but they don't want to encourage you to keep the car longer than you need by actually charging less for long rentals (less per day but still more overall, yes, but not less overall), as they would view that as lost potential revenue from additional rentals.

am1108

Could the OP give us the dates or a screenshot of the rate?

MrHalliday

He did, in post #3.

am1108

Oh Sorry..

MrHalliday

still working !

shuly

Indeed. Just replace 'C' by 'A'. In other words, I think the situation here is very similar to one in which flying return from A to B is cheaper than a one-way. You buy a return ticket and only fly the first leg. There's very little the airline can do.

Having said that, in the airline industry such a situation, while frequent, is only half the truth, since the rules that govern the one-way fare are typically much more lax than the rules of the return fare. Whereas with the car rental situation, there's no difference whatsoever between the one week deal and the 8 day one.

I agree that this must be an error.

Shuly

milhouse7

Funny I managed to do similar thing in LAX for Mar 2 -10 at $118 for full size vs Mar 2 - 9 at $319.