Free day rental have car class limitation?
May 9, 2015, 2:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SJC,SFO, SEA, PDX, SAN, SNA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, National Executive, Alaska MVP
Posts: 560
Free day rental have car class limitation?
Looking to book an SUV for the upcoming holiday weekend. If I select to use my free days, the SUV disappear and only leaves me with the option to up to a full size.
May 9, 2015, 4:59 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Executive Elite
Posts: 34
7. Redemption of Free Days: Free Day(s) may be redeemed electronically when
submitting a reservation request for a vehicle on www.nationalcar.com or Member may
call 1-800-CARRENT (1-800-227-7368) (depending on your country of residence, this
call may be an international call, and may be subject to the relevant charges depending
on your operator). No paper certificates will be issued for Free Day(s). Free Day(s) can
only be used on reservation requests at participating National Car brand rental locations
in the U.S., Canada and participating locations in the Latin American Caribbean. Free
Days are combinable up to seven (7) consecutive days maximum on one rental.
Members may redeem Free Days for periods of no longer than seven (7) Free Days per
10
rental transaction. These Free Days do not include charges that are not included in the
base rates of the particular applicable jurisdiction, such as (i) taxes, assessments, use
fees or other governmentally imposed, authorized or permitted surcharges or passthroughs,
(ii) license recoupment fees, airport fees and concession recoupment fees, (iii)
service charges and fees, (iv) vehicle license recovery fees, (v) damage waiver, the cost
of optional insurance products, fuel charges, optional upgrades, underage driver's fees,
infant seats or other optional items, (vi) charges or drop-off charges for one way rentals,
or (vii) tolls or parking violations. Members entitled to a Free Day for a given class of
vehicle may use the Free Day as partial payment for a more expensive vehicle class.
Free Days are redeemable for passenger vehicles only
submitting a reservation request for a vehicle on www.nationalcar.com or Member may
call 1-800-CARRENT (1-800-227-7368) (depending on your country of residence, this
call may be an international call, and may be subject to the relevant charges depending
on your operator). No paper certificates will be issued for Free Day(s). Free Day(s) can
only be used on reservation requests at participating National Car brand rental locations
in the U.S., Canada and participating locations in the Latin American Caribbean. Free
Days are combinable up to seven (7) consecutive days maximum on one rental.
Members may redeem Free Days for periods of no longer than seven (7) Free Days per
10
rental transaction. These Free Days do not include charges that are not included in the
base rates of the particular applicable jurisdiction, such as (i) taxes, assessments, use
fees or other governmentally imposed, authorized or permitted surcharges or passthroughs,
(ii) license recoupment fees, airport fees and concession recoupment fees, (iii)
service charges and fees, (iv) vehicle license recovery fees, (v) damage waiver, the cost
of optional insurance products, fuel charges, optional upgrades, underage driver's fees,
infant seats or other optional items, (vi) charges or drop-off charges for one way rentals,
or (vii) tolls or parking violations. Members entitled to a Free Day for a given class of
vehicle may use the Free Day as partial payment for a more expensive vehicle class.
Free Days are redeemable for passenger vehicles only
May 9, 2015, 5:22 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: PHL
Programs: AA ExP, Marriott Amb, National EAE, Hilton Diamond, SPG Plat (RIP), US CP (RIP)
Posts: 2,379
Free day rental have car class limitation?
1-2-Free days have more limitations than regular free days. I've found sometimes I couldn't get SUV with the 1-2-Free coupons.
May 9, 2015, 5:43 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Paradise
Posts: 1,617
That sounds like a 1-2 Free day, which is limited to full size or below. A regular free day you should see all/most of the car classes; unless the lot was completely sold out, which I doubt if your able to see SUV's in a paid booking.
May 9, 2015, 1:34 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Orlando
Programs: AA Exec Plat, HH Lifetime Diamond, Hyatt Diamond, Marrriott Silver, SPG, National Exec Elite
Posts: 187
I've always just reserved the full size for a reward and then selected whatever I could get at the Executive aisle, with no restriction then on choice or upgrade charge.
May 9, 2015, 1:59 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,663
Problem is when they don't put them on isle. First weekend of January, I didn't see a single minivan on isle (Incl Executive) at MCO. Walked over to Alamo, and they offered Traverse for free - but not a minivan. Paid $29.99 upgrade, and she let me chose out of dozen! minivans on minivan isle. Took one with 500mi on it. When returning next day at JFK, told them that paid $29.99 but rear defogger didn't work, which proved a real drag on 1100 mile run. They refunded; so I was kinda satisfied after all
P.S. as I recall, those dozen minivans had keys. What if I never schlepped to Alamo booth, and just drove one to gate attendant? Can anyone explain
P.S. as I recall, those dozen minivans had keys. What if I never schlepped to Alamo booth, and just drove one to gate attendant? Can anyone explain
Last edited by SinglePapa2; May 9, 2015 at 2:19 pm
May 9, 2015, 2:17 pm
#8
Moderator: National Car
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SE MI
Programs: Delta PM, National EE, Hertz PC, Hilton DM
Posts: 2,168
Problem is when they don't put them on isle. First weekend of January, I didn't see a single minivan on isle (Incl Executive) at MCO. Walked over to Alamo, and they offered Traverse for free - but not a minivan. Paid $29.99 upgrade, and she let me chose out of dozen! minivans on minivan isle. Took one with 500mi on it. When returning next day at JFK, told them that paid $29.99 but rear defogger didn't work, which proved a real drag on 1100 mile run. They refunded
Jun 30, 2016, 8:07 am
#9
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: YYZ
Posts: 595
This is a change that came with the new terrible website.
Old website used to let you book any car class for a free day, charging whatever the difference was between the selected class and the midsize rate. New website won't apply the free day "coupon" to anything bigger than a midsize, period.
Edit: didn't realize I was bumping a year old post. sorry!
Old website used to let you book any car class for a free day, charging whatever the difference was between the selected class and the midsize rate. New website won't apply the free day "coupon" to anything bigger than a midsize, period.
Edit: didn't realize I was bumping a year old post. sorry!
Jun 30, 2016, 8:59 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Toronto
Programs: National EE
Posts: 174
This is a change that came with the new terrible website.
Old website used to let you book any car class for a free day, charging whatever the difference was between the selected class and the midsize rate. New website won't apply the free day "coupon" to anything bigger than a midsize, period.
Edit: didn't realize I was bumping a year old post. sorry!
Old website used to let you book any car class for a free day, charging whatever the difference was between the selected class and the midsize rate. New website won't apply the free day "coupon" to anything bigger than a midsize, period.
Edit: didn't realize I was bumping a year old post. sorry!
Jun 30, 2016, 11:25 am
#12
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Toronto
Programs: National EE
Posts: 174
Jun 30, 2016, 1:45 pm
#13
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,636
This is a change that came with the new terrible website.
Old website used to let you book any car class for a free day, charging whatever the difference was between the selected class and the midsize rate. New website won't apply the free day "coupon" to anything bigger than a midsize, period.
Edit: didn't realize I was bumping a year old post. sorry!
Old website used to let you book any car class for a free day, charging whatever the difference was between the selected class and the midsize rate. New website won't apply the free day "coupon" to anything bigger than a midsize, period.
Edit: didn't realize I was bumping a year old post. sorry!
Jul 6, 2016, 7:52 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2014
Programs: Kimpton IC, Voila Platinum, Club Carlson Gold Elite,National EE, Hertz PC, Avis First, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 103
Under a regular paid reservation on the website, they show up as available. Using a free day on the website, the options for those classifications are no longer available. Using the IOS app, some become available. ...?
Jul 7, 2016, 12:46 pm
#15
formerly ThePinkUnicornShirtGuy
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Franklin, TN
Programs: Delta Diamond
Posts: 418
The trick is to pick whatever is available - then you pick the class you want and ask them to get it. As long as you are an EE - you'll be able to select what you want. I did this on a 3 day rental recently, booked the most expensive/hardest to find car that was showing on the options. You can then tell them you have a special reservation and you'd rather get the other option. The classes won't change the price even if you get a 18-passenger van. Just don't go over the amount of days as you'll get tacked on with the large daily fee.