Originally Posted by
SinglePapa2
Problem is when they don't put them on isle. First weekend of January, I didn't see a single minivan on isle (Incl Executive) at MCO. Walked over to Alamo, and they offered Traverse for free - but not a minivan. Paid $29.99 upgrade, and she let me chose out of dozen! minivans on minivan isle. Took one with 500mi on it. When returning next day at JFK, told them that paid $29.99 but rear defogger didn't work, which proved a real drag on 1100 mile run. They refunded
There is no requirement for any station to put anything but mid size cars on the Emerald Aisle, and full size cars on the Executive Selection. As a practical matter, most places offer a wide selection of different types of vehicles but all of that is dependent on demand. If you get something else on your midsize reservation taking from either section, it's a bonus.
Originally Posted by
SinglePapa2
P.S. as I recall, those dozen minivans had keys. What if I never schlepped to Alamo booth, and just drove one to gate attendant? Can anyone explain
Sure. The agent would probably have asked if you if you had a minivan reservation, you would have said no, and you would have been asked to back up, if you were lucky and got a nice agent. Alternatively, the agent could just have changed your rate from ICAR to MVAR without telling you, as you selected a vehicle from the Minivan selection, so the agent would assume you wanted to pay for the class taken, not the class reserved. You can't just take any car from anywhere on the lot, regardless of whether there are keys in them. For further reading see
this thread, which explains it pretty well.