moze

Hey all. I know that I'm able to reserve any vehicle with EE free days (at least up to Luxury), though the problem I'm running into is that my local airport location doesn't have anything about premium available to reserve online.

Speaking with the branch manager, he explained that it is because they don't typically have many luxury options around -- usually 1 or maybe 2. He said I can e-mail him directly with any reservations and also what I'd prefer to drive. At the time that I called a couple months ago, he had 1 Cadillac SUV available.

My question is this -- when reserving a 'placeholder' vehicle online to attempt to get a luxury or higher vehicle at the branch, should I pick the most expensive vehicle? Or should I pick the vehicle closest to what I'm wanting?

For an example, premium may be only $80 but a minivan or pickup may be $150. Would I have more 'weight' picking the more expensive vehicle? Of course, the last thing I want is to get stuck with a minivan doing this... But it is the more expensive option. Any thoughts?

IsleOfMan

That's a very good question... I have no baseline to offer assistance, so I'm curious to hear what others have to say. I'd also pose the question to the branch manager you've spoken with already.

SpeedRicer

I concur that you may want to check with the branch manager on this one, as it may be at the discretion of the location.

I had something similar happen when I used free days at SJC to rent a convertible. When I arrived into town, it was raining (and it was forecasted to continue for the entire duration of my rental), so the ES agent let me take a K900 or E-Class instead (and she charged me the difference in the "quoted" rate so I only paid the $2-3/day difference for the specialty class rate over the convertible rate).

That said, a coworker booked luxury on free days at DFW and wanted to try the K900 and both the ES agent and the manager quoted him the $25/day upgrade rate on the tag (the manager insisted that it was the same charge whether he booked at the midsize, luxury or any other rate).

KevinMD

I ran into this at TUL the other day. Wanted s SRX from the PS selection and they wanted to charge me the fee. They usually have at least one Mustang or other comparable car, and usually one nicer car. Their top reservable cars are Premium, Premium Crossover, and Tahoe. I actually emailed customer service and will post their response.

bworrell

I've had a lot of trouble finding luxury cars online to use my free rental days to use as well. I've had pretty good luck getting them on-site. If the agent doesn't understand that these should be allowed for the free rental day for EE members then (in the one case it happened to me) I accepted the up-charge and then customer service took it off later.

elCheapoDeluxe

I used to be able to book luxury at SJC but have not seen it listed lately. Had the same problems at CLT, MSP, and ORD - and you cannot tell me they don't have stock of luxury class vehicles at ORD. I suspect they are restricting their availability online just to prevent exec elite members from booking these with free days.

KevinMD

Here is the message I sent to customer service regarding the issue and their response.

"I have the hardest time using my EE free days at this location. Because it is a small location, they have few reservable car types. If I want to use my EE free days on anything that is not reservable, they try and charge me an upgrade fee. Yesterday they tried to charge me an additional $50 to take a SUV. It was only after several minutes and much discussion that they let me take it with no additional charges"

"Thank you for contacting National in regards to the lack of vehicle available at your desired branch. I wanted to first truly thank you for maintaining your loyalty and membership to National. You are the backbone behind our business, supporting us and helping us thrive. Please let me begin by apologizing for the type of service you experienced. National is committed to providing the best products and services in the car rental industry. Please be assured that the service you received is not indicative of our usual high standards of excellence. Therefore, I have documented your comments and they will be brought to the attention of the General Manager of our Tulsa location for immediate review and follow-up with their staff. I have addressed to them the shortage of vehicle availability especially to our loyalty members."

factory81

I just redeemed a free night from the promo going on now, and the free night automatically put me in the midsize it seems. So I get to just do the normal aisle thing...

Anyways, I have a DEN-ASE one way, one day rental, which was going to retail for $92+ including taxes. I managed to get it for $4.23 or something like that. I am going to do another one way, one day rental on the way back.

I know this isn't a strategy to....rake in more (I used a free night earlier this year and only got $29 of value out of it). I am just admiring my savings. Anytime you have to spend $92 on a one way rental is no fun. When I book the return home, I will let you know if it automatically forces me into the midsize, but maybe it will let me modify it and select a PCAR or SUV, wouldn't that be nice?

Auto Enthusiast

1-2 Free days can be used to reserve up to fullsize. If you're a regular Emerald Club member, that means you can pick from fullsize reserve. If you're Executive, you can choose an upgrade from ES.

$92/day + tax for a one-way isn't that bad by National's standards. The best use of free days is their typical retail rate of $243/day plus tax for a fullsize.

factory81

In theory though, as an exec elite with a mid-size free day. I have a "243/day rate", right?

Auto Enthusiast

If it's a midsize free day, then perhaps this is a regular free day, not a 1-2 Free day. As Executive Elite, you can use a regular free day on anything up to luxury, SUVs, etc.

aww3583

Trying to use some Emerald Club Free Days in ATL.

It appears I can't specifically reserve a "Luxury" vehicle with free days.

I made my reservation for a "Premium SUV" which was listed at $125.99/day and applied some of my free days.

I then signed out and built a dummy reservation (same dates/times) and the system showed "Luxury" class vehicles available for $79.99/day.

Is there any way to better my chances for a luxury vehicle? I'm sure if I walk up with my reservation and ask to "upgrade" to a luxury class car, they'll charge me the difference at that time. However, at the time of booking, the difference was negative!

dtremit

Make the paid reservation for the luxury car, then call and have them apply the free days to that reservation.

(You may not need to sign out -- I am able to book a paid reservation for a LCAR at ATL when not using free days, but can't do it when applying them.)

newfbc

Make a booking with your free day, confirm it.. then go change the car class after right after. This works sometimes.

Ron.

aww3583

Thanks. Worked perfectly. Entire call took less than 90 seconds.