EWR - reserved class not ready, pay for upgrade?
 

Hi,

I had a reservation at Budget this week at Newark, coming in all
exhausted from my transatlantic flight.

The lady at the counter told me that there is no Economy car available. I insisted to wait, and she spent the time, trying to get me to upgrade to other classes for $20 extra a day, then $10 extra day, and finally she offered me a compact for $5 more. Is this normal?

The last few times I rented at Enterprise, if they did not have Economy,
they upgrade me for free to compact, and once even to full size.

I have never paid for an upgrade if my car class was not available. Typically they give you the next larger size for the rate you reserved.

Avis and Budget at EWR are infamous for up sell you upgrades. Maybe you can try to talk to the manager to see if you can get the issue resolved. Or simply walk to another rental agency there, there are plenty.

Total BS. You had a reservation, they need to give you an acceptable car at that price. They were trying to upsell you.

I travel very frequently and almost always us Budget. When the size class is not available I get a larger car automatically. Often the upgrade is more than one class. My profile calls for a mid-size, and more than once I have drawn a Town Car.

Your experience was total BS.

They can ask if you would like to pay for an upgrade. If you want to pay more for a bigger car, go ahead. If you don't agree, have them give you whatever is available at the price you agreed.