Workaround to Secure One-Way Rental?
Sep 13, 2018, 11:20 am
#1
Original Poster
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Location: San Francisco, CA (SFO)
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Workaround to Secure One-Way Rental?
I am booking a ski vacation where I need to rent a car. The pickup will be at JAC and the return will be at BZN. (2-Feb to 10-Feb)
Booking through Avis.com. there are no SUV options with the one-way rental, however all of the SUV's are available if I return to JAC. I understand why this is, however I'm wondering if there is another way to secure a one-way rental? Besides hauling all of my gear, I'd prefer not to drive through the Tetons in an Impala, in February. (I know it can be done, I'd just prefer to have an SUV for the week.)
Booking through Avis.com. there are no SUV options with the one-way rental, however all of the SUV's are available if I return to JAC. I understand why this is, however I'm wondering if there is another way to secure a one-way rental? Besides hauling all of my gear, I'd prefer not to drive through the Tetons in an Impala, in February. (I know it can be done, I'd just prefer to have an SUV for the week.)
Sep 13, 2018, 10:29 pm
#2
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,033
You're free to reserve an SUV JAC->JAC. Then once you're off the lot, you can call to change the return to BZN. However, you're at their mercy as to the rate they charge you. They could, rightfully:
1. Jack up the daily rate
2. Throw on a per-mileage fee (often >$0.25/mile)
3. Throw on a one-way fee
4. Tell you that you must return to their location, as you agreed when you picked it up
5. Charge you to take the car back to JAC from BZN
Another option: Do you have AAA Premier? You get a 200 mile tow with them. Might be most prudent just to reserve JAC->JAC. Then go to BZN and have AAA tow it to JAC. It's 208 miles per Google Maps, so you would just owe AAA for the extra 8 miles.
1. Jack up the daily rate
2. Throw on a per-mileage fee (often >$0.25/mile)
3. Throw on a one-way fee
4. Tell you that you must return to their location, as you agreed when you picked it up
5. Charge you to take the car back to JAC from BZN
Another option: Do you have AAA Premier? You get a 200 mile tow with them. Might be most prudent just to reserve JAC->JAC. Then go to BZN and have AAA tow it to JAC. It's 208 miles per Google Maps, so you would just owe AAA for the extra 8 miles.
Sep 14, 2018, 10:16 am
#3
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If the OP is eligible to use a corporate rate for personal use he might avoid those problems. There are some that have no drop fees (but may limit free miles to 100 per day).
Sep 18, 2018, 11:19 am
#4
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Location: home = LAX
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I am booking a ski vacation where I need to rent a car. The pickup will be at JAC and the return will be at BZN. (2-Feb to 10-Feb)
Booking through Avis.com. there are no SUV options with the one-way rental, however all of the SUV's are available if I return to JAC. I understand why this is, however I'm wondering if there is another way to secure a one-way rental? Besides hauling all of my gear, I'd prefer not to drive through the Tetons in an Impala, in February. (I know it can be done, I'd just prefer to have an SUV for the week.)
Booking through Avis.com. there are no SUV options with the one-way rental, however all of the SUV's are available if I return to JAC. I understand why this is, however I'm wondering if there is another way to secure a one-way rental? Besides hauling all of my gear, I'd prefer not to drive through the Tetons in an Impala, in February. (I know it can be done, I'd just prefer to have an SUV for the week.)
In fact, Avis has a thing you can click on to "Show Unavailable Vehicles", and the only type of vehicle it shows as unavailable for this one-way is Convertible, and I doubt you'd want that in February anyway.
So either something changed in the 5 days since you searched, or perhaps the AWD you specified doesn't support one-way SUVs, or something like that. So play around with the search and see why it shows this without logging in now while it didn't show it for you last week.
Sep 18, 2018, 11:29 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Programs: UA 1K, UA .53 MM, Marriott Gold, Nexus, GE, TSA Pre, Hertz PC
Posts: 581
Try your search again. I just tried it (with default times of noon, because all you specified was dates), without logging in, and it returned five types of SUVs: for the one-way: Intermediate SUV ($911.99), Standard SUV, Standard Elite SUV, Full-Size SUV, and Premium SUV ($1723.19).
In fact, Avis has a thing you can click on to "Show Unavailable Vehicles", and the only type of vehicle it shows as unavailable for this one-way is Convertible, and I doubt you'd want that in February anyway.
So either something changed in the 5 days since you searched, or perhaps the AWD you specified doesn't support one-way SUVs, or something like that. So play around with the search and see why it shows this without logging in now while it didn't show it for you last week.
In fact, Avis has a thing you can click on to "Show Unavailable Vehicles", and the only type of vehicle it shows as unavailable for this one-way is Convertible, and I doubt you'd want that in February anyway.
So either something changed in the 5 days since you searched, or perhaps the AWD you specified doesn't support one-way SUVs, or something like that. So play around with the search and see why it shows this without logging in now while it didn't show it for you last week.
Suffice to say, Alamo's price of $589 incl tax for a Premium SUV (Suburban) over the same dates + one-way is more attractive.
Thanks all!
Sep 20, 2018, 1:05 pm
#6
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You're kidding, right?
Sep 20, 2018, 1:17 pm
#7
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Northeast USA
Programs: AA Kryptonite
Posts: 93
That is dastardly! Brilliant, but dastardly!