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-   -   Return one way rental and check out the same vehicle? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/national-emerald-club/1356486-return-one-way-rental-check-out-same-vehicle.html)

dannieboiz Jun 13, 2012 9:47 pm

Return one way rental and check out the same vehicle?
 
Can I book a one way rental, return it at location b and check out the same car or do I have to pick up a different vehicle?

Reason for this is my 1 way rental rate double and I only need it for a day. By doing this I'll save a few hundred.

nightracerx Jun 13, 2012 10:37 pm


Originally Posted by dannieboiz (Post 18753208)
Can I book a one way rental, return it at location b and check out the same car or do I have to pick up a different vehicle?

Reason for this is my 1 way rental rate double and I only need it for a day. By doing this I'll save a few hundred.

Yes you can. When you check in at location B immediately go to the counter and tell them you just returned a car and you have another car to check out and you want the car you just checked in, they will run the car through car wash and vacuum it for you. I have done it before and it works, because the car I got was a decent upgrade :p haha.

Coastercameron Jun 13, 2012 10:53 pm

I would actually say to this "YMMV" there are a number of situations that have been documented here where you may be asked to swap vehicles. If your rental is from a franchise to corporate or vise versa, and having an upgraded vehicle needed for paid reservations are two reasons that may apply.

nightracerx Jun 13, 2012 11:30 pm


Originally Posted by Coastercameron (Post 18753443)
I would actually say to this "YMMV" there are a number of situations that have been documented here where you may be asked to swap vehicles. If your rental is from a franchise to corporate or vise versa, and having an upgraded vehicle needed for paid reservations are two reasons that may apply.

That's true, you should consider that. Mine was from corporate airport locations.

dwbf11 Jun 14, 2012 8:48 am

I just did this between LGA and JFK. I did not ask them to wash or clean it though, I find that the more effort you ask the staff to put in, the less likely you are to get what you want. If you simply explain that you're returning but have another rental to check out, tell them you want to keep your car if at all possible. Obviously you can't do this if you've got a Premium or Luxury and your new reservation is for an Economy, but in my experience most locations don't care, and in fact prefer, to let you keep the car. It's one less car for them to deal with and if you arrive at a particularly busy time, you're keeping the clean cars available for other renters. Also helps them if they are short on cars because you're not taking from the limited stock on hand.

NDDomer86 Jun 15, 2012 1:49 am


Originally Posted by dwbf11 (Post 18755493)
Obviously you can't do this if you've got a Premium or Luxury and your new reservation is for an Economy, but in my experience most locations don't care, and in fact prefer, to let you keep the car.

Again, this is a YMMV. I visit my family in NC pretty infrequently and thus do not maintain a car there, plus travel pretty extensively, even within the US, and hate to put tons of miles on my personal vehicles. That said, I recently rented a Premium from CLT (received a Chrysler 300 Limited) on a one way one day rental to DAB. I was then to pick up a full size from DAB on a 21 day one way back to CLT under the Florida Drive-Out promotion (same price for all classes economy to full). When I got to DAB, I joked about how the 300 had NC plates and it would be nice if I could keep the same car on the new contract to send it back home (to which the agent quickly stated they were both corporate locations and it didn't matter where a car went), but ended up with the agent assigning the same car back out. Then I ended up being rear-ended in Atlanta during rush hour and had to exchange out at ATL fully expecting to be "downgraded" to a full-size like I had booked. Instead, they rushed another 300 Limited through cleanup and signed it back out to me ^.

dannieboiz Jun 15, 2012 8:34 am

I wouldn't try to pull anything funny on this one. I'm not gonna rent premium then swap out for compact.

However, since I get to pick in the Executive isle, I pay intermediate anyways and my next reservation is going to be for the same exact thing. Is that what you guys are saying why it could be YMMV?

3Cforme Jun 15, 2012 11:41 am


Originally Posted by dannieboiz (Post 18761401)
However, since I get to pick in the Executive isle, I pay intermediate anyways and my next reservation is going to be for the same exact thing. Is that what you guys are saying why it could be YMMV?

The biggest YMMV variable is car class. The ES guarantee is a selection of full size cars at the midsize rate. If you get lucky with your one-way and pull a luxury or specialty SUV off the ES, you're not really is a position to demand keeping that vehicle from the new station. They can point to the current ES selection (likely full of Altimas, Impalas and Chargers) and direct you to take from those vehicles.

The advice to make is easy for them - don't let it enter the wash/gas channel upon return as some stations process cars very quickly! - is useful.

dannieboiz Jun 15, 2012 12:03 pm


Originally Posted by 3Cforme (Post 18762463)
The biggest YMMV variable is car class. The ES guarantee is a selection of full size cars at the midsize rate. If you get lucky with your one-way and pull a luxury or specialty SUV off the ES, you're not really is a position to demand keeping that vehicle from the new station. They can point to the current ES selection (likely full of Altimas, Impalas and Chargers) and direct you to take from those vehicles.

The advice to make is easy for them - don't let it enter the wash/gas channel upon return as some stations process cars very quickly! - is useful.

I'll try to tell them when I go in the return line that I'd like to check the same vehicle out again. If they say no then oh well. To save a few hundred bucks it's worth downgrading from a premium to a standard full size.

ElmhurstNick Jun 17, 2012 9:04 am

I've had it happen both ways, as a lot of time I'll do a one-day rental with a free day and then drop off and pick up again. BHM was an absolute NO with a base Impala (but I was only EA at the time and not ES), but at Washington Union Station the station manager happened to be there and was more than happy to upgrade me back into the Jeep Grand Cherokee that I had picked up at BWI a couple of days earlier.

The last one was fortuitous as later that week was one of the big DC snowstorms, and I spent 5 hours in that Grand Cherokee on the Dulles Access Road local lanes behind a bus jackknife.


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