MNSnowta

I was informed by the assistant manager of this station that MSP is a "pilot" location for a new program. I am an Exec Elite using freedays, renting a car for holiday, and requested a luxury vehicle (I can never get these rented at MSP.) There are several Infinitis, which I would prefer, however I was told that these were unavailble for free days. Infinitis' are not luxury vehicles, but some "elite etc etc." I was offered a Ford Taurus and told if I wanted the Infiniti, it would be an "extra $25/day."
Never having this problem at any other station before; I asked for documentation on this "pilot program." The manager did not have any. He gave me this hang tag and a drawn out arguement as to why I could not take the "exotic g37,35" because of a "corporate mandate" from National HQ. I do have photos of the hang tag, but cant get them inserted into this post. The guy wore me out arguing, which is a tough thing to do, I think they must have been hiding the Crown Jewels in the back of the Infiniti.
I ended up taking a stripped down 20,000k S80, which was typed as a "UXAR." Not a bad car, but nothing I would choose outright. I think it's safe to assume what all these new car/elite classes are designed for. Looks like the Emerald Club is ripe for "enhancement" into the Zirconia Club. Get ready for some paid upgrades. There were also $50/day $75/day and $100/day signs. I have included some pics for reference. I am not happy at all about this gaming of the program. Seems silly to disenfranchise 9k of spend over $100 of "pilot fees" but thats how the ball fell.

bocastephen

I'm not sure if an Infiniti G is considered a luxury vehicle (having driven one a couple times from National, I sure hope not, because it's definitely not one) - but a Taurus is NOT a luxury vehicle, period.

You talked to the assistant manager - I would have escalated to the station manager, and if still no resolution, I would have called the Emerald Club customer service number (which should connect you with a US agent) right in front of them and complained I was being denied my reserved car class and asked them to intervene. One potential hiccup, though - if this is a franchise station, they can play games a corporate station cannot - but this does not include passing off a Taurus as a luxury car.

A luxury vehicle would be a Cadillac, Lincoln, or perhaps a fully loaded 300.

MNSnowta

Took that route. The full manager was absent for the night. National Customer Service misstated that EE was only allowable up to a full size. When I pointed this out in the T and C she "didn't understand". It seems this is just the new business model for MSP, many different arbitrary car types, upgrade tags, in my opinion it's basically a dilution of any elite benefits. It seems to me that out of all station MSP, SLC, an occasionally LIT are pains in the side, the resto of the locations are usually great.

plagwate

Did he happen to be what can best be described as "a cantankerous old guy"? If so, we've heard stories about him making up his own rules and locking down the fortress before.

Paging Coastercameron...

3Cforme

The problem is well covered in the program T&Cs. National has, for some years (not a new 'pilot program') had some non-reservable specialty vehicle classes. Many are mentioned in the car classification thread in this forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/natio...fications.html

Example:

SCAR = standard

SXAR = specialty standard

8. Emerald Club Executive and Emerald Club Executive Elite Members will be charged the rate for the next lower car class when renting a full-size through luxury vehicle (excluding specialty vehicles) from National in the US and Canada. emphasis mine

Bottom line: the OP was asking for a car type to which he wasn't entitled on a free rental, even with EE status.

MNSnowta

Nah, this was clearly explained as a "pilot program" specific to to MSP with the name of "Premier Selection.". While there is no literature published regarding this, it is something specific to MSP. My humble apologies for shaking my entitlement down the aisle.

No I did not find the angry old man either, he mustn't work evenings.

Bottom line: Companies need to be consistent in assigning their reward benefits for loyalty. Splintering vehicle types into many different types of vehicles as speciality cars is vague, confusing, and opens an entire new arena for "car creep". If anything, at this location, they may expect an additional co-pay for anything deemed a speciality vehicle. For as many vehicles as I've seen classified as special; I view this as a dilution of loyalty benefits.

drzoidberg

I see this as National potentially going the way of Hertz and nickel/diming for upgrades.

Enjoy your remaining rentals of seeing Infiniti G37s on the ES!

bocastephen

Even if the Infinity is not part of the general luxury category, the OP was not offered a legitimate luxury car and has a legitimate beef with this location.

They should have been offered a Cadillac, Lincoln, loaded 300 or similar....not a Taurus.

pinniped

Well, to be fair that part of the T&C relates to how renters are charged for paid rentals - not award rentals. I suspect you're right though...somewhere in the "free rental day" T&C is probably similar language.

I don't think this is new though. I've redeemed a lot of Free Days for luxury cars in the past year, and I assume that when I do this I'm entitled to pick from the Luxury aisle or the Execution Selection aisle, not necessarily "any car on the lot". I sometimes see a Camaro or Infiniti SUV sitting right by the rental office...I don't assume I can just wander over there and take it.

(That said, there are some good stations out there. In Austin, I was standing there looking at a lone Volvo wagon in the Luxury aisle when the manager came up and led me to a Mercedes he had stashed in another part of the lot. ^)

I don't rent often at MSP...seems like there's some funky sh.. going on up there. I'll be sad if the occasional luxury car disappears from the ES, but in 2012 it seems like the overall quality of the more "normal" cars on the ES has actually gone up a bit. (Seeing a lot of Avalons, for example.) I'm not ready to say the sky is falling just yet...

Coastercameron

This seems like it could be bad news. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a car at MSP that was worth a $50/day upgrade. My question is, will people really pay that kind of money for an upgrade?

Thanks for thinking of me and my problems with the crotchety greeter, but this sounds like a much bigger problem.

I may have to go down there and check things out!

Coastercameron

The OP emailed me the pictures he took and I uploaded them for him. Here they are:





If you look closely the tag says "corporate rate always prevails". I wonder what they mean by that?

My other question for the OP is: how were these upgrade vehicles placed on the lot? Were they intermixed in the regular rows, or was it a separate section?

plagwate

Since we really don't get active participation from official National reps here at FT, perhaps one of you could take those pics, post them and inquire over on National Car Rental's Facebook page. I'd do it myself but I was banned from posting months ago after asking about having more XM-equipped cars available. That being said, inquire real nicely. They're a sensitive little bunch.

MNSnowta

I sailed out of there on my broom rather quick so I can't say if they are spaced through the lot. A few of them appeared right out the door to the cars. There was a beautiful escalade with the same tag except at +75 per day, a few infinities at 25+ day. After arguing I ended up with a Volvo s80 which is a premium elite. The infinities are full size elite so it's beyond my logic as to why I couldn't take one. The Taurus initially offered to me I guess is also a premium elite. They have taking any glimmer of excitement from EA/ ES and placing it in the premium selection tagged row. ES was land of the Impalas and looked like a few Altimas in the EA. It is aggravating that you cannot book a luxury at MSP, the best you can do per national CSR is a premium with a luxury request comment. However there are clearly luxury vehicles at the station.

Coastercameron

The Taurus is a Premium SPECIAL (PXAR) which is not equivalent to the elite classes.

Hopefully National will come to their senses on this program..

Coastercameron

Aha! This sounds like the key to the problem you had! Did you have an actual luxury reservation, or rather a premium reservation with a luxury request?

If all you had was a premium reservation, you aren't really entitled to a GXAR upgrade, and the Taurus would have been an appropriate option for this reservation.

It is annoying that you can't reserve luxury online at MSP, but when I inquired with the greeter about getting a G37x one day, he stated that they use them for luxury reservations, so there must be some way to reserve luxury here.