Price Match?
 

Simple question.

Does Avis price match? I found a really good rate at Alamo for a weekend. I'd rather rent at Avis, but their rate is nearly $30 higher. If I call would they price match me?

I doubt they'd change the price on a call. However, you could show up to the location with an Alamo printout of a ressie and ask them to match it. If they have cars available, they might. If they don't, then you just walk to the Alamo counter and get your car.

I seem to recall Hertz recently advertising something like this. It's only available on walk-ups (so only available if they have extra cars), but you show them your confirmed reservation at another company and they'll match the price.

Odd, though, that Hertz, National, or Avis would consider this, since they intentionally mark their prices up and provide "premium" service. The value brands are cheaper because they don't offer those services (elite benefits, free upgrades, etc.). If they'd be willing to rent cars more cheaply, why wouldn't they just price themselves lower in the first place?

As you said - it is on walk-ups only. How many of the benefits of Hertz are available to the person walking up with a Budget reservation confirmation? Plus, Hertz knows they have the capacity available, so this is viewed more at only needing to cover variable costs (depreciation & such on the car plus the labor needed to handle the transaction aspects) without needing to worry as much about fixed costs.

Good point.

Actually, I wouldn't even factor in depreciation (or leasing costs, in the case of manufacturer lease program cars) on the car, since the car continues to depreciate even if it's sitting on the lot. I suppose you could argue that its value decreases faster as more miles are put on it, though, so I'll factor that in.

My back-of-the-napkin math for variable costs shows this:

Detailing
Standard 3.3 cars cleaned per hour = 0.3 hours x (($10/hour x 125% approximate tax/insurance) + $2/hour benefits) = $4.35 in detailer labor per car cleaned
$0.50 in chemicals and equipment maintenance per car cleaned
Total: $4.85 per car

Rental counter
Standard six-minute transaction = 0.1 hours x (($10/hour x 125% approximate tax/insurance) + $2/hour benefits) = $1.45 in rental sales agent representative labor per car rented

Depreciation attributable directly to mileage
Average 75 miles per day x average three-day rental x mileage depreciation rate of four cents per mile (cite) = $9 per transaction.

Preventative maintenance
3 cars per hour = 33% x (($15/hour x 125% approximate tax/insurance) + $2/hour benefits) = $6.85 in labor per PM
4.5 quarts x $1.15 per quart = $5.18 in materials per PM
Total cost per PM: $12.03
Average 225 miles per transaction / 6,000-mile maintenance interval = 3.75% of maintenance cost x parts and labor cost of preventative maintenance (LOFR): $0.45

Total variable cost per average three-day, 225-mile rental transaction: $15.75

So, assuming the car would otherwise be sitting on the lot and that staffing could be reduced without these rentals:
If Hertz can make at least $15.75 on the transaction, they're even. For a three-day rental, that's an average of $5.25 per day.

Kind of a random post, but I was curious what it would come out to. It's a good figure to have handy...

The ironic thing is that Budget has the same price as Alamo. In PWM the fleet is the same, and as is the staff.
The benefit to renting at Avis is the upgrade (and the fact I only need one more rental to get a free day).

Cool, thanks for detailing that! A few things that *I* would have done differently, but am not criticizing you for:
1. Avis used 7k intervals for PM on corporate cars/locations.
2. I really doubt it takes 20 mins (3/hr) for cleaning. I'd bet it's much closer to 6/hr judging by the cars I see/get.
3. The time/money for counter staff shouldn't really be counted. They are already present when someone with a walk-up ressie comes along. It's possible that lots of walk-ups could change the staffing pattern, but I'd consider this cost fixed and not variable.

I think you mean *AVIS* where you say *ALAMO*.

sorry should've clarified better.
In pwm (probably like a lot of other places) Avis and Budget share their fleet (or most of it anyway).

The weekend I'm looking for Budget and Alamo have the virtually the same price, its about $5 difference. So the biggest thing I'd be missing would be the upgrade from Avis, and the rental to get close to the free rental.

It was kinda fun! It's VERY rough, though, and based on a lot of guessing.

Sure, but if each rental is 3% of the total PM cost, it's really a statistically insignificant difference.

You're right. A good agent can turn a car in 10 minutes. A great agent can turn one in five. One brand's corporate standard (for hiring purposes) is three per hour, so I used that as a measure of cost.

Excellent point. However, the same can probably be said about the detailing. So, that takes the staffing costs out of it completely, leaving us with pretty much leaves us with just the chemicals used in the wash ($0.50), parts/materials on the LOFR (~$0.25), and the mileage-based depreciation.

That last one is by far the largest component. The rental company actually comes out behind on a $15 walkup who rents for four days but drives a thousand miles.

Of course, these numbers don't figure in incremental sales. A location holding at least an average $6 or so daily dollar average in optional extras could actually give the cars away for free and still come out ahead on the average rental (as long as their sales agents are able to convince customers paying $0 for their cars that they should buy extra stuff :p).

Ahh, re-reading your original post, I misread a bit. When I read

I thought you were saying the Budget/Alamo fleet is the same. It's the weekend!

I think you might have misread again. Budget and AVIS are the same company (Avis Budget Group, Inc.), and Alamo and National are their own same company (Enterprise Holdings, which also owns Enterprise Rent-a-car). What he was saying was that Budget and Alamo had similar PRICES, not fleets.

Yes, I clarified that a few posts up. The weekend was blamed for the miscommunication.

Do any of the major car rental companies match competitors prices? Also, any codes/suggestions on how to get an upgrade over a chevy aveo?

Hertz did for a while. Otherwise your best bet is to call the rental facility to ask for a price match.

As for the Aveo. The Cobalt has lately been priced at the same. (not sure if you'd call it an upgrade. I called it purgatory myself.) There's a chance that the location would be out of that class of car and would put you into a Cruz/Focus. I've rented a Cobalt and been upgrade all the way upto a CTS.

For a fairly strong guarantee you could get the Chase Continental Presidental Plus Mastercard, its not cheap but includes lounge access and a few other things. There are minimum car sizes though. http://www.avis.com/car-rental/html/.../co/index.html