picking up a car earlier than res time
 

I have a 1 week rental coming up. My reservation is for 6 days. I would like to pick the car up 6 hours earlier, which would make for a 7 day rental. However, rates on the weekly rental have gone up $200 since I made the reservation. Is there any way to change the reservation pick-up time without totally changing the reservation and incurring the current charge?

When you pick it up six hours early you may very well be changing the terms of the contract. A lot will depend on your contract and the "agents"

I have had it work both ways..... In my favor and against me!

Have you tried changing it online without confirming? National will show you your current booking and revised booking side-by-side, and show the new price before you confirm. I've found if you leave the rate code field as it is then it should keep you on the same rate plan. It's worth a try if you haven't done that yet, compared to just looking up prices for a new booking online.

The only problem I've had is trying to make a minor change and my requested car class isn't available anymore. I don't see why you have to go through the selection page when doing something like adding a flight number. Can't the system be a bit more intuitive in the 21st century? ;)

Aren't you charged a weekly rate anyways for a 6-day rental? If so then I'd leave the reservation alone (except perhaps pickup as late as possible), I would think that you'd be charged the rate quoted (weekly) anyways.

Oops - Tunerman was posting the same time I was - I do wish that the system would allow for "minor" changes more easily (2 wks ago I had an 8PM reservation at PSP (before I confirmed my flights) - on the day before I tried to revise the reservation to reflect the flight arrival time (9:30PM) and/or add the flight info - the system wouldn't let me do it saying that cars were sold out at the location - CS couldn't change / add the info either - it worked out fine but I thought it was really stupid.

Yes, I used the modify reservation option and it changed the rate big time.

Yes, the 6 day rental is a weekly rate. I am afraid that if I just show up 6 hours early, they could refuse to give me a car.

They could just not have any vehicles available too...

Depending on where you are renting and what is going on in the city you are renting, what their fleet size is, the size of car you have, their overall fleet utilization, THE TIMES YOU PLOP IN THE COMPUTER ARE DETERMINING YOUR RATE.

When you stray outside the lines of those parameters to increase or decreased the amount of days...even if it seems you are within a normal "weekly rate", all bets are off. I've seen minimum keep requirements at 5 days/max keep 5 days...even on a weekly rate...meaning things can't stray from the booked times at all or rates change.
So NO Assuming Allowed.

If you do need to make a change to your booking, don't pickup off the aisle, pick up at the counter or stop by the counter and go over the changes with an agent to see if the changes make a difference. Sometimes when you just want to add your flyer miles on line it will change your rate beyond just the Flyer Mile charge. Weird I know but it's accessing the rate engine again. Add them at the end of the rental or at the time of rental.

But overall the times entered are always going to pull Best Rate at that moment in time. When those times are changed for any reason either before arrival or at arrival, the rate is subject to change...and lately it Does.

One helpful hint...don't enter your FLIGHT times as your arrival or return time...especially your Return time. That can turn an 8 day rental into a 7 day rental real quick. That's a rate that can turn Ugly real fast. (Just last week, guy had an 8 day rental by virtue of 2 hours cos he entered his flight time but since he would be returning the car earlier so he could catch his flight on time he became a 7 day...rate change was $400 higher!!!!! It was like changing it to a last minute booking on a sold out day...as we were sold out!) Same thing happens on a 3 day...Three day becomes a 2 day...omgosh...another ugly one.

Oh...and if you have a Thursday pickup scheduled for Noon, and you arrive earlier than Noon...plan on that rate changing too. Weekend rates kick in at NOON on Thursday. Pick it up prior to Noon and the midweek rate is in force. Usually no exceptions. So have some lunch, make some phone calls and hit the counter at Noon-o-one.

Happens all the time when folks get to catch an earlier flight. Unfortunately for EC members they don't see this til they return their cars...so that's why I'm telling YOU all now...so you don't get burned.

How about arriving 3 hours early for a 36-hour rental (making it 39 hours- less than 2 days)? I booked online so would the rate I book remain unchanged?

I'd be arriving Saturday at 2pm rather than 5pm, and am Emerald Club.

Certainly not trying to cheat National out of revenue, but just don't want to show up early if I'd be billed $20 per hour for those 3 hours or the like.

Thanks.

I bet you there will be no rate change to this weekly rate provided that:
- 6 hours earlier still falls on the same date as your original reservation;and
- the location has the correct car size available at the new pick-up time.

You can most likely even call the toll-free reservation and get this change done without a rate change (provided that the first condition above is met).

Weekly Rental
 

I have a weekly rental reserved, which is only 5 days long (Thursday morning until Monday evening)...the issue is I want to pick up late wednesday. Right now, I have the pickup time as midnight, Thursday morning and returning Monday night at 10pm. If I change to pick up the car 2 hours earlier, the price more than doubles for the week. What happens if i leave it at midnight, but show up at 10pm or 10:30pm (like my flight got in early). With that minimal amount of time difference, will they make me pay the higher rate?

Yes they will make you pay the difference.

You can always ask the GA to mark the reservation as though you picked up later than you did, but that's a big YMMV situation. I've had that go both ways, and more often than not, in my experience it's been "no" simply because they realize many people would try to take advantage of that loophole.

The reason it is higher is because weekend rates start on Thursrday...WEDNESDAY is not the weekend. Yes people book like this all the time and try to beg for the cheaper rate or plead stupid...doesn't work. You have to pay the higher rate if you arrive early. Sorry.
As the previous post described...ppl try to take advantadge of the loop hole all the time. It's not our first rodeo gang, nor is it yours. We know it sounds silly, but that's the way weekend rates were designed long ago and all rental car compaies rates are pretty much designed the same way.
Very sorry to pour sour milk in your cherios :-{