SUV Rental at Charlotte

[Nostromo]

Ideally, I want to rent a 'small' SUV at Charlotte Douglas airport when I arrive there on 30th May 2005. From the info that I have gathered so far (thanks to other members' help), ideal vehicles seem to be Chevy Tracker, Jeep Liberty, Ford Escape or Suzuki Vitara. The problem is, none of the mainline Car Hire companies seem to allow on-line reservations of 'Compact SUVs' as they seem to be called, even though many (Dollar, Avis, Budget etc) seem to list them on their databases. I realise that companies cannot specify a make or model, but I'll be happy as long as it IS a Compact or Intermediate SUV of any make and not a big Jeep Cherookee or Ford Explorer or Chevy Blazer.

Any suggestions on how to handle this problem would be welcome. I have already considered 2 possibilities.

1. Book an SUV per se with a hire company that I know has compact ones too (eg Dollar) and take the chance of one being availble on arrival at Charlotte.

2. Try to contact & book (if possible) with an Independent Car Hire firm near Charlotte Airport. That way, I can comminicate with them before travel and request them to have a compact SUV availble if possible. But I am not sure of the insurance implications.

Any advice or suggestion would be very gratefully followed-up.

[blott]

Nostromo, I don't see you getting issued with something huge, particularly if it is, as sounds likely, in a different price bracket.

So, I'd go for option 1 if it were me. :)

[amy]

I would go with option 1 as they always try to upgrade you any way.

[Nostromo]

Thanks people. I will stick with option 1 then. In fact, I noticed a later posting elsewhere by Steve Harrison where he says that Dollar have Jeep Libertys at MCO. The Liberty seems to be getting popular these days and perhaps Dollar might have them at Charlotte too. I just will have to chance it.