nomiiiii

I rent from Seattle downtown HLE and its been great - low rental prices ($15/day vs the typical $30-60 per day), no crowds obviously, and the one agent there is nice. Hopefully they don't shut down over the next few weeks.

Bjam99

Yeah the HLE's seem to be decent value - in LA it's $12 a day or so. LAX seems to still be (relatively) expensive.

At $358 for an entire month for a (C) reservation ($321 for a B) - it's cheaper than my own lease! But a shame that there's just nowhere to go

Stripe

DEN airport rates are sky high for early May. It's like business as usual, or worse.

Jamtex

I rented a whole 4 times last year and I still got my PC status renewed for another year in Feb.

I am in the UK and there is a lockdown, trying to work out how to return my car next week as I can't return it to the location I rented it from (as it's deemed essential travel) and there aren't any location open near where I am. I am hoping they will come and pick it up...

Presguy

I rented at AGS (Augusta, GA) a few days ago. Obviously a small location - not sure if it's corporate or a franchise.

Lot was full - nearly every space, and it looked like they were using airport (passenger) parking for overflow. A lot of the cars looked dusty (not the usual yellow pollen), so I suspect there wasn't a lot of turnover happening.

Considering that the Masters would have been getting underway - which normally turns AGS into a zoo - it was weird to see.

I had a reservation for an F, and am just a 5*. Gently inquired if any "interesting cars" were available. Nicest thing on the lot was a low-mile Charger, mid-options, and leather. Tagged as F6. Offered for $15/day more and I accepted - normally I'd pass on that offer, but just a personal perference.

btonkid12345

Hard to believe you paid an upgrade fee for a 20 something thousand dollar car, when their lots are packed to the brim...

I just got a Charger RT with Hemi (the $40K model) and the manager not only didn’t charge me, but was thanking me for by business in these otherwise empty times

Auto Enthusiast

Hertz's website shows AGS is corporate. I returned a car there last June late at night, with a free day, fullsize one-way from CAE. There were a lot of SUVs with Midwestern plates. A very few number of large sedans with FL plates. 1 or 2 from the Northeast corridor (ex PA, MD). A handful from SC and NC. With that kind of one-way mix, it's a safe bet to assume corporate even without looking at the website.

Not to say a location like AGS with limited nonstops to nearby hubs won't have periodic challenges. Thunderstorms that night meant that the usual short hop flights were cancelled, and everyone except me was either rushing to rent a car one-way, or find a hotel. The counter clerk even acknowledged they were sold out, and I kind of helped them a little bit, but it's still a problem that they don't have the cars. Once other people whose flights were cancelled one-way in, the situation should resolve itself by the next day or so.

Presguy

Yeah, I agree. Not something that I'd have done ordinarily, and I'd probably, like you, be a little cynical of the offer. It would an unappealing and poor-value offer during "normal" times, now it was totally illogical. It was just a nostalgia thing for me - I used to live in the area, and a similar Charger was my work car.

Presguy

".... that kind of one-way mix, it's a safe bet to assume corporate even without looking at the website..."

Thanks for the information - that's well outside of my industry, so I appreciate the chance to learn a bit.

spanishflea

I had to return a car to San Diego airport yesterday and start a new rental. The rental car center was very spooky as it was packed full of cars but there was literally nobody around. When I parked the car in the return aisle there was nobody there at all, so I just left it (my return email came through about three hours later). Literally the only person I saw was the one guy manning just one exit booth.

Almost all of the Hertz aisles were packed full of cars (literally, blocking the aisles so you couldn't access any of the cars in them) meaning the only accessible aisles were PC and 5* and a very small number of reserved bays towards the exit. The PC selection was very poor, mainly Altimas and Maximas, but also several compacts like a Mazda 3 which I've never seen in the PC section before. There was one European car which was a Mercedes GLC, however when I tried to exit it turned out the registration had expired. Clearly nobody is actively managing the inventory at the moment! I had to return it and took the next best thing which was a new model Ford Explorer. Sadly at only 5,000 miles it stinks of weed and the gearbox sounds awful, so I think I will be bringing it back soon. However I can't image the PC selection is going to change much anytime soon!

btonkid12345

PC selection varies based on the cars that are just returned combined with the Gold Manager on Duty.

I went to a location last night that, besides a few A220s and QX60s on PC, otherwise had what you referred to. Same location this morning had a 5 series sport, brand new 4 series, X3s, SS convertible, SLC300 convertible...and this morning’s manager was walking the aisle and radioing down. Much more active Manager this morning, and also most of the nice cars on PC had out of state plates...

Having said that - if there was a GLC on PC and it wasn’t rentable due to no fault of yours - they should have gotten you another GLC without expired registration. You should have politely but firmly insisted.

I grabbed a Velar out of PC once, and the booth agent claimed it was a ‘turn around’ which she explained meant it was marked for return to the dealership, and she couldn’t rent that car. She asked me to go back to PC to pick another.

I said no thank you - I wanted to drive a Velar and there isn’t another on PC - please call the Manager - and by ‘holding up’ the booth, I had another, newer Velar pulled up behind me within 5 minutes, with an apology and a credit on the contract from the Manager (I didn’t talk to the Manager; I didn’t ask for any credit and didn’t even realize it until return; but an example of excellent service, when lazy booth agents are held accountable)

doglynx

Thats a nice story, but based on my experiences in almost all large airports on both east and west coasts,t kind of experience is always too good to be true

btonkid12345

What is this post supposed to mean? That my story is a fable?

That I got really lucky with a great Manager?

or that you treat the employees quite differently/poorly, so your experience is completely different?

wahooflyer

Looks like 2 of the 3 HLEs in my area (Richmond, VA) are temporarily closed. Oddly, the one Richmond HLE that is still open is the one on Midlothian Turnpike, which is farthest from "core" Richmond - the two on West Broad Street that are more centrally located and accessible via public transit are closed. The HLE closest to my house has a few dozen cars parked in the lot behind it, which is obviously due to COVID-19. Monthly rentals are still pricing in the $650 range here.

spanishflea

In normal times I would agree with you, however I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible! Also not sure how much discretion exists today with so many staff having been furloughed.