This week I rented for 2 days in Pensacola and used the FL state AWD (A113400) because it was 30% cheaper than anything else. I have used this code before with no problems, and since I am a FL resident and have a FL drivers license, I always felt like I'd never have any problems. But this time the very observant agent looked at my reservation and noticed that my Pres. Club profile listed my company as "US Government" but my AWD was for "FL state employees". She asked if I was a state employee or federal employee, so I told her the truth (federal). Then I just played dumb as she "fixed it".

Of course when I got the contract the rate had reverted back to the US Gov rate which was 50% higher than what I had. Since I was in a hurry I said nothing and just decided to argue it on the return.

Upon returning unfortunately it was the same agent, so I again played dumb and said "hey, my charges are 50% higher than what they should be". She then looked at my reservation again and explained how I can't use the FL state AWD, etc... So all I said was that I had a reservation at a certain rate, and it was not acceptable for her to have raised the rate without saying anything to me at the time (which she had not). And also, that I had not signed anything okaying the new rate (which I had not). So at that point she did adjust the rate down to about just 10% higher than the original rate, and I accepted it.

And then she asked me a final question, which was how I had gotten a President's Club membership since I was obviously not the president of my company (US Gov). I explained the whole deal with the Continental Airlines Mastercard and she thanked me for explaining it saying that she just couldn't figure it out.

So in the end, the big lesson learned for me: I removed my employer from my profile since this really caused the entire issue.