Originally Posted by
Bonehead
You're advocating a scam.
Meh, hardly. And I say that as a former rental manager.
Budget's official hold policy is fairly generous, but as others mentioned above, I would still recommend calling
the local office number (not the reservation center, which would rebook your reservation and change your rate) to advise you'll be late. Official policy and actual practice don't always line up perfectly...
Originally Posted by
ExManager
I worked at Hertz for many years and I would imagine all the companies work pretty much the same.
In order to get the weekend (discounted) rate, you have to pick up by a certain time (I think for us it was 3 PM). Otherwise, all the business travelers that fly in Sunday night for a Monday meeting would want it.
The same is true on Thursdays when the weekend rates start. Our started at noon, and if you picked up at 11:59 AM, you would be charged the regular weekday rate. We always had a line up of people who intentionally booked at noon to get a cheaper deal, but showed up at 8 AM or 10 AM but had to wait. Part of the issue on Thursdays was fleet availability, as cars didn't start returning until late morning.
This is true, and not meeting the terms of the rate plan's rules can result in the rate plan changing. It depends how the counter system is set up, though. Enforcement can vary depending on rental company and also whether the location is corporate or franchised (franchise computer systems are often not as well linked to the reservation system and so aren't as automatically aware of rate plan rules).
I'd say the OP has a 50/50 shot at this working. But given the huge potential savings, might as well try.