jclong

Will be taking my new Exec status for its first spin shortly.

I have seen conflicting info as to what I should book.

I know with EA it was midsize to pick from the Aisle.

Confused if I need to book mid or full to get ES choices? Have seen posts suggesting both.

From another thread: "One of the benefits of Executive is that you will only pay the midsize price when you book a full size anyways."

So what's accurate ... Mid or Full? ...and at what point would I see the rate revert from full to mid if I book full? Online? At checkout?

Along another line... what's the protocol when there is only counter service?

I know with EA, it was pretty brutal... always seemed to get whatever I booked (unless I paid a bit for the at-the-desk upgrade).

Thanks in advance for any assistance/advice you can offer.

KevinMD

Reserve the full size and you will only be charged the mid size price.

As far as counter locations, it really depends on the person and location. I have Exec Elite and picked a car up at TUL (Emerald booth location) and was given a choice from their full size or premium.

plagwate

You might want to spend a little time reading post #1 of this thread.

pinniped

I've noticed that when I'm booking a rental, I can click on either midsize or fullsize and I'll see "Executive Selection" as my rental method. (I assume the site automatically prices it either way at the midsize price.) When I try to use upgrade coupons, it does not work. The end screen will look *almost* the same, with Midsize car shown just like it does for an ES rental, but the rental method will switch to "Emerald Counter" or whatever.

I learned through a discussion with the DAL National people that when you hit ES, one side effect is that the normal upgrade coupons we always see sort of become off-limits. The difference between Compact and Midsize rates on most of my rentals is usually about $1-2/day, and ES is frequently a very *nice* upgrade, so I really can't complain about it...

dcchi

As an Exec, when you are booking online and click on the screen to see the various classes of cars you can book, it will show you differing prices (typically) for mid and full. However, you will typically want to pick the full size car choice (even though it shows a higher rate on that page), and you will see on the next to last screen (the one where you can formally complete the reservation) that your rate will be the same as the mid-size rate.

noah

The real benefit I've experienced is that I can book a Premium and it charges me the same fate as Full which under my corporate rate is almost identical to midsize. So I book essentially the same price as Midsize but can choose either Premium off the reserve row or a car off the ES.

jclong

Greatly helpful, all. Thanks. Looks like my first stop is non-EC... just my luck.

Much appreciated!

Ambon21

I booked a fullsize here in sna took a taurus from the isle and noticed price change on the receipt when i returned the car. It turned out that i was actually charged for a fullsize but everything got sorted out with a quick email to customer service though

elCheapoDeluxe

This happens VERY rarely, but it does happen. I once took a Prius off the EA (not even the ES) at STL and noticed on the receipt when I returned that the class had been changed. This seems more likely to happen when the EA / ES cars are missing their little mirror hung tags. Whoever checks you out may change the rate thinking you decided to upgrade to a different class if they're new / dense.

As for the question above about counter locations - definitely depends on the location. Some, such as BNA and DSM, don't seem to upgrade you at all so make sure you take the Full. Others, such as PIT, seem to give every person (EA, ES, EE) that walks up their choice of pretty much any car or suv on the lot.

TRRed

I've had several problems with EA billing in the last year, at least one at MCO and one at AUS. In one case, it was reserved EA and the other was for a specific model. In both cases, I was directed to EA and told by an attendent to "take any car from these" followed by a hand wave. And in both cases my charges were higher than the reserved rate. In one case the charges were adjusted back down to the res rate and in the other the pre-pay gas charge was adjusted down close to what I had been told. I'm not sure how to know when these will pop-up. Maybe I need to get the exit gate guard to review against my res to confirm no changes?

Joshua

I always request a copy of the contract from the exit guard; not only do I prefer to have some piece of paper if I get pulled over by law enforcement, but it gives me a chance to make sure bizarre things haven't happened to my coupon codes and class charged.

TRRed

I'm not disagreeing, but in one situation it was too dark at the exit booth, even with inside car light, to read the paper and the other was on turning in the car, that one of the add-on charges was different than what the original paper said. Both were eventually fixed, at least to some degree, but they were what should have been avoidable hassles.