SIXT SEA - Change of reservation, show up or forget it ?
 

Hi there

just need your advice: 6 months ago I made a reservation with SIXT in SEA for 12 days in August - and got a really good deal. (500 USD).

Now the problem is following: we were planned to arrive on Thursday noon and had an activity on Friday. However the airline changed our plans so we would arrive only around 18:00 (connecting flight); which was too late for the transport for our Friday activity - so we had to shift our flight 1 day back - which means we are now arriving Wednesday at 18:00.

Now I right now have a reservation for 12 days / 500 USD (roughly 41 USD pr. day) - however I need to extend this reservation with another 18 hours (as we are arriving Wed at 18:00 instead of thursday 12:00). However I just spend time with a nice agent trying to handle this situation - and it basically turns our that if I change the pick-up time 18 hours the total charge ends up being close to 800 USD.

My problem is the following: this is a PFAR reservation (which are giving sample cars as X1, XC60 and XC90) which I generally think is nice cars. Now I do have another car reservation for the full period with another agency - which ends up at 600 USD for a Ford Explorer. I do believe the cars of Sixt are nicer - but I do not want to pay 300 USD more for 18 hours.

What would you suggest
a) Forget - the rates are the rates - there is nothing to do; so just either go with the 800 and Sixt or the other agency and 600 USD
b) Show up @sixt at wednesday and just talk with them to see if I can get the car earlier
c) Any other cause of action ?

Right now it looks like this will just be Sixt's loss - and I will just go to Avis - however I am puzzled by the business logic that means that Sixt seems to prefer to have me go somewhere else with my business rather than changing my original reservation.

Forgot to mention this: As my first reservation was from 12:00 and 11 days later returning at 18:00 I actually pays for 1 week + 5 days as SIXT count's in full days.

Now the change I want to make is to pick-up the car at 18:00 the day before - which means that rather than having the day for 11 days and 6 hours I would have the car for 12 days - which is exactly what I am paying for; so the odd thing that the period I would pay for would not change.

We have this type of discussion periodically here. Rates are quoted based on the forecast of future supply and demand conditions at the time of reservation. Changing the reservation at a later time usually means those original utilization conditions have changed, thereby resulting in a higher rate.

Rental agencies do not want customers to lock in a low rate far in advance and then add more days for the same price at the last minute. If they did, everyone could theoretically book the car way in advance at a low price for every day in the peak season, and then just change and cancel at the last minute what they don't need. This would create a lot of uncertainty in terms of how many cars the rental agency will actually rent, and thus how many they need. Worst of all is the opportunity cost: The car could have gone to another customer who made the reservation on shorter notice and is willing to pay much more.

You are right in that trying to get more money from you specifically will backfire if you go to a competitor. However, as explained above, the car will likely go to more profitable, last minute customer(s). Several of them on shorter rentals, but at a higher price per day, will probably be more lucrative than giving the car to you for 12 days, even accounting for more staffing and cleaning costs with a higher transaction volume.

Here's a clever idea. Can you use the Sixt reservation, but use another company for the first day? Maybe you can find a decent deal on Hotwire or Priceline? The downside is returning to the airport to switch reservations. But this could be the cheapest way.

Hi There,

Please accept my sincere apologies for the late response regarding you query. If you can provide me with your Sixt reservation number I would be more than happy to look into this further for you and try to resolve the matter.

Best Regards

Pete - Customer Services Team