Premium Rental Cars: Do I need a Reservation?
 

Hi,

I have never actually rented a car on my own on a pleasure trip. I've had my company rent them and I've had them provided to me after a car crash, but I have a question concerning premium car rentals. When I travel on company business, it's always a race to spend the absolute minimum.

I will be going to Vancouver Island for a family wedding and have four nights in Victoria. Can I just walk up to a car rental place and rent either a convertible (most local reservation sites list a Ford Mustang as an option) or a fancy (ie BMW or Lincoln) sedan without a prior reservation? The area is prone to rain, so I don't want to reserve a convertible and drive around with the top up. That kind of would defeat the point of having a convertible.

What I was thinking was to rent a car and see a bit of the island as I am showing up three nights early and would like to get out there and have some fun. I have always wanted to drive around the island in a fancy car. At home I drive a Hyundai (an older model), and it would be fun to zip around in a car I can't afford to buy.

What I'm specifically wondering is, do I need a reservation to get a premium rental? I'm open to renting at the airport or downtown. I assume the airport would have better selection. Should I phone the rental lot from the airport once I know the weather report?

Renting a Grand Cherokee has no appeal to me. I used to own one, so an SUV (except maybe a Lincoln) doesn't seem too exciting.

Chuck

You can just walk up, but your car choice might not be available, and the price you get could be a lot higher than reserving with discount codes.

In the US, it's possible to make a reservation without a deposit or payment, so you could reserve one of each and decide when you get there, assuming Canada has the same setup. I suppose it's a minor pain for the company, but that's the way they allow things to be done, so it's within the rules. You might make the reservations for slightly different times, say half an hour apart, so there's less chance the company thinks one Res is a mistake.

It's a pretty place to drive around. Enjoy yourself.

It's always good to have a reservation in place as car places can and do sell out.

As mentioned previously, generally there are no penalties attached to these, but always check the language before agreeing.

And one can always try to upgrade, assuming there is inventory. But again YMMV for the deal you may have.

<mod hat on>

As this is specific to rental cars, we'll move this to the rental car forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk