sdsearch

I had a 6-day Preferred compact rental at MCO over Christmas week, booked months ago. Back then they told me the all-in was estimated at just over $450 (with a standard AA AWD and bonus miles coupon), base rate was $378, or $63/day). "Test booking" a number of times afterwards showed about the same, and showed one-day bookings all coming out at the same rate (I had been considering shortening the booking many times because of the high cost).

But as the time grew very close, I decided it might be convenient to have the car the whole time, so decided to bite the bullet, despite it straining my budget this month.

So imagine my surprise when the Avis check-in attendant gives me my receipt and it shows just over $190! I look up at the detail, and they only charged me $25/day for 6 days (and thus base rate was $150)!!!

Now, I'm happy how it all worked out and all, but I had almost cancelled this reservation because I though it was going to cost more than twice that much! Was this a mistaken original rate, a mistaken final rate, a discount they couldn't have told me about ahead of time, or what? I realize booking-time total estimates are "only estimates", but it'd be nice to know whether they're in the right order of magnitude, no?

(FWIW, any time I looked up my reservation on the Avis website in recent months, it wasn't able to give me my estimated total at all. I was only able to tell that from the confirmation email they sent me when I originally booked.)

Anyone else had something like this happen?

MileageAddict

$25/day is appropriate at MCO regardless of the time of year. I can't imagine spending $63/day there.... for a compact car no less! When you originally booked your car, did you shop around?

Seriously, you need to use something like Travelocity and their rental car matrix when looking for a car rental.

sdsearch

I did!!!

Not only when I originally booked the car, but many times in the months thereafter, I looked it up on the Orbitz rental car matrix, and either all car companies, or virtually all* were showing way way way more than $25/day for Christmas week rentals as far back as mid-August and as recently as mid-December. (*Toward the end, some "no names" were the exception, but even then only showing somewhat lower, not down to $25/day or anything like that.) So yes, I did "shop around", and nothing indicated that I would or could get anything close to $25/day (with any of the "majors", even counting Enterprise among them).

And, in fact, because I was using AA's AWD which gives "25% off" (plus qualified for 750 bonus airline miles with a coupon), the rate I got from Avis (even at that $450ish all-in) was still less than either Avis or any of the "majors" showed at Orbitz any of the times I looked.

I've rented from Avis at MCO at other times of year. I know $25/day or so is normal other times. But the off-terminal rental company that I used at Christmas last year was offering no better rates (according to the Orbitz matrix) than Avis this year, so I figured it was "Christmastime charge what you can get" and selected Avis for the in-terminal (and Preferred) convenience.

MileageAddict

Pure craziness! I'm glad you were given a fair deal in the end. Be sure to ask for help on FT if you ever face another situation like that again...

VL83

Here's another oddity in Avis pricing: indeed a rather offensive oddity. First, I have been what has been called a "Preferred" Avis customer for perhaps two decades. And I have, accordingly, been upgraded on many occasions. But just yesterday, I had a set of jolting experiences in using Avis's Web site for making a reservation with pick-up at SEA. Initially, I checked on the rate for SEA, allowing for possible alternative site pick-up on the basis that the taxes and fees at SEA were close to the highest (or possibly the very highest) in the U.S. The rate total for a weekend rental at SEA was $107.32. After checking with pick-up out of Bellevue, I decided to proceed with SEA pick-up and went online the next day to make the resrvation. This time the total came to $206.28 - yes, almost double in one day.

Because of an experience I had had several months earlier, I decided to use the Web system again without entering my Preferred number or its associated discount number. On that previous occasion, my "discounted" rate, which I had accepted, was identical to the rate I was given when I used the same Web-site without entering my discount number. I called and spoke with an Avis representative who allowed a $20 discount to the reservation I had accepted.

Returning to the reservation process yesterday, I decided to try the system again as though I was not a Preferred number and had no discount allowance. Now the following will be hard (perhaps impossible) to believe. The full cost for the peasant off the street (no Preferred, no discount) was $80.92. Astounding. It motivated another call to Avis. This time, the representative said that my discount was based on my professional association and that he would change my profile to have my employer's corporate diiscount number to achieve a better discount. Back to my online venture once again where I observed that a different discount number was entered as promised This time the total cost came to $226.83. Here are the "dicounted" figures I was quoted over the two days: $107.32, $206.28, and $226.83; and here's the non-dicounted rate that I accepted: $80.92. All for an identical car, location, and interval. Is this an appropriate time to shift entirely to Hertz or National, where I am, too, in "elite" categories?

sdsearch

Not quite my experience in previous years either. I looked up what I got at Christmas 2006, and it was an economy car (even less than compact!) with Thrifty (chosen because it came up as signifcantly lower than Avis that year in the Orbitz matrix) for a base rate of $37.49 a day (for 5 days).

However, for that lower price I had endure endless waits for the shuttle to their rather remote lot and for getting and dropping off the car, despite registering for "Blue Chip" which Thrifty made sound like sort of "Preferred".