swag

So last night at midnight, I again found myself standing around an empty rental car lot, with a confirmed reservation but no car available. This isn't the first time, and if you travel much, it's happened to you too.

An even more common but less severe problem comes when the car tyoe you've reserved is unavailable, and you get the "free upgrade" to a full size, an SUV, or a minivan. Fine sometimes, but there are times when you want or need the reserved vehicle, for better gas mileage, for easier parking, for better handling on snow.

What do you seasoned travelers do to minimize this risk?

I understand why it happens. With no deposit and no penalty for no-shows, it's hard for the car companies to manage their fleets. But since these policies are pretty much universal, at least in the US, knowing why still leaves me standing around the empty lot.

It's often not convenient to try other companies, not once you've already been shuttled to the lot, and if you've booked a god rate, you're likely to pay a lot more with someone else as a walk up.

Last night was with Alamo, but before you tell me it's my own fault for using a cheapo company, I'll note that the lot is shared with National, and there were plenty of Emerald Aisle folks also standing around car-less. I've had the no-car problem with Avis (Preferred service) as well; I don't think it's happened to me with Hertz Gold, but I have gotten to my Hertz numbered space to find the unwanted upgrade.

So is there a solution? How do you avoid this, and how do you handle it when it does happen?

OverThereTooMuch

For this same reason, why wouldn't you have a "backup" reservation with another company?

Another option: Start a thread here to see how common it is for a specific rental company location at a specific airport to have this problem. It'll be a small data set, but it might help you avoid the sites that are most likely to experience this problem.

Tchiowa

It's never happened to me, but I've come close (got the last car on the lot while there were still others behind me). What usually happens is that people who were supposed to return their car extended the rental. Nothing much the rental company can do about that.

In my case it helped that I was Hertz #1 Gold and got priority.

84fiero

I've not had it happen to me yet (knock on wood), but have been "upgraded" to a non-desirable (for my given needs anyway) model. I wouldn't call Alamo a "cheapo" company in any case - they're one of the major national brands. Fox Rental Car and such are the real cheapo ones I'd stay away from, not just for this reason.

Not a bad idea to collect some data sets.

dchristiva

Also knocking on wood that this has not happened to me. I recall a day in MKE when the on-site lot was empty but that the rental agency was shuttling cars over from an off-site holding pen as fast as it could. I wasn't happy, but also knew I would eventually get a car.

I suppose that a savvy traveler might make 2 rental car reservations with two different agencies, but only if you know that the counters are more or less adjacent to one another. I guess if this experience becomes more the norm for me, I'll have to start thinking about risk mitigation strategies.

thelostshark

This is an interesting topic. I've never been without a car, but I would say more often than not I'm "upgraded" to a bigger car, one that I would prefer not to have (both for gas mileage and because I just like driving smaller vehicles). But I've always just taken what I get. And occassionally I'll like what I'm given (once after I booked a sub-compact they gave me an Escalade; I'm not much of a car guy, but that was kinda cool).

I'm not sure if there's a great answer for this. Booking a 2nd reservation seems like a bit of a hassle, altho maybe it'd be worth it in some circumstances. But if everyone did this, imagine how much worse the situation would be.

The only other "solution" I can think of is to call the rental company before you get on a shuttle to see if they have cars. That would save you a couple of shuttle rides (admittedly, not much). tls

tentseller

It has not happened to me at any airport with any rental agency. yet (touching tree).

But it has happened more than a few times at the local Thrifty/Discount/Enterprise that I am using zipcar exclusively when I need a extra car.

gobluetwo

If I know I'm getting in late, I always call ahead to ensure 1) they are still hanging around, especially if it's a small airport and their posted closing time is around or before my arrival and 2) that they will save a car for me, or transfer the reservation to another rental agency.

I've had success with them transferring the reservation the one time I needed it, although they charged me out the wazoo for the car. I've done the former multiple times and, fortunately, they've always stuck around and had a car available for me.

mkt

I've gotten "upgraded" to minivans and SUV's... and have subsequently stood my ground until either something better arrived, or enough of a discount was given to offset for the additional fuel spending.

I've ended up with a Caddy ATS, Subaru Outback, and a Kia Soul this way.

heraclitus

So what happens when you're at the rental counter at midnight with no cars available? Do the companies do anything to make it up to you? Perhaps make arrangements with another rental company (like when hotels walk you to another property) or is it just too bad, so sad?

Personally I've never been shut out but I have seen some locations late at night without much inventory. In some cases I have received upgrades because my Sonata or whatever wasn't available. But never totally shut out.

thelark

Ten posts and we don't have this yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2GmGSNvaM&

pinniped

It's happened to me twice: once the agency offered my choice of waiting or a cab to my hotel and, supposedly, a car from a nearby HLE the next morning. I was the only President's Circle member in the crowd, so I opted to wait...making it clear that I'd take the next car up of any kind/size. It arrived 15 minutes later (a Taurus or something), they knocked a few bucks off my rental, and off I went.

The other time, it was Alamo and they weren't going to do anything. I had a midsize booked and the lot was empty with people everywhere barking at the agents and milling about the lot. They brought up an SUV and parked it in the SUV aisle. Some guy with an SUV booking walked over there and started arguing with the agent saying he booked a ski rack, could they install a ski rack, etc. Amid all of the arguing about ski racks, I could tell the guy was going to stand his ground on that point...so before anyone could change their minds I jumped in and drove to the exit gate. The exit guard just processed it as a midsize rental and sent me on my way.

There have been a few other times where it's *looked* like it might be an issue...empty lot, people waiting, etc...but cars were coming up fast and it ended up not being a long wait.

I've had other problems, such as a Hertz location (Seattle) that was perpetually not prepping Gold rentals on time due to their own incompetence, not a shortage of cars. That's the only place I've habitually double-booked (Emerald Aisle was a 2-minute walk ahead from Hertz).

I honestly wouldn't object to something like a $10 no-show fee, as long as the agencies had good mobile apps to make it easy to inform them of a legitimate delay.

RRDD

Sometimes it can't be helped, but I try not to book the last flight; thus lessening the risk of cancelled flights, no rental cars and no hotel rooms.

MADPhil

My best upgrade to a large vehicle was at SFO and when I quibbled the agent pointed out that I was on a AAA free tank of gas rate. Since we were only driving locally we didn't use it all and the extra seats came in useful.

I once got a van upgrade at STX when Avis had a lot full of compacts that had been recalled and a lot of other customers who didn't get cars. I didn't complain, you can't drive that far there anyway!

I also got an upgrade in York, UK, during the December floods a couple of years back and many of the Hertz cars had been lost in the floods. They did ask if I could handle an automatic and I assured them that I could. They also made me promise not to drive into any floods.

I guess I have been lucky because the only unavailable car problems I have had just required a modest wait for them to find a car.

JetAirways77W

Sort of unrelated but a funny experience regarding rental cars. Knock on wood that this hasn't happened to me.

In 2011, I went to FLL for vacation (I was 12 at this time). I remember saying that there were peanuts in the back seat so my dad complained. The guy who took us to our car (Ford Fusion) said that this is a mistake, this is not the midsize we reserved, and took us to a blue Town Car and didn't even make us pay the difference. LOL