View Full Version : Car Hire Upgrades
Whenever I've booked a fly drive I've always upgraded the car at the pick up point. The agents normally show you a picture of a tiny 2 door car and say thats what's included in the fly drive, and offer you the next size car for a reasonable cost.
Whenever I go to collect my upgraded car the tiny 2 doors cars are no where to be seen, so my question is do these cars actually exist?
Do the rental companies just try to get you to upgrade knowing full well that they don't have the really small cars available anyway?
jillizzy
28-03-2006, 19:14
I can't give you a definitive answer Paul but have always suspected this may be the case.
I booked a 2 door sub compact car in January through Dollar as I was there by myself for most of the time and refused an upgrade at pick up.
The car I was allocated was actually a 4 door intermediate. I looked around at all the parks for something smaller and never did see anything.
I suppose you could always just book the smallest, refuse the upgrade and see what it is and always go back to upgrade if you need to, but I wasn't bothered how small the car was.
Jill
Hi Paul, why don’t you book the flights and car hire separately then you will get the car you really want straight away without any hassle? Also if you use the link above for car hire it’s always a great price.:)
I have seen some small ones in the Alomo car pak at Tampa. However, I have never seen one driven away.
Paul,
i reckon they only ever have 1. We sometimes book a 2 dr economy, and always get a 4 door of some description. Depends on when we arrive and if it's peak as to wether it's a 4 door economy or an intermediate. We always decline the 'upgrade'. Even if we got a 2 door, it's still plenty big enough.
We've booked a 2 door compact and been upgraded to people carrier. We've also booked 2 door compact and been given one!!! I was gutted. This time, booked the car I wanted and received an upgrade to luxury.
We always do flight and car hire separately, always book the smallest car on the list (Hyundai Accent) and only once in many visits have we ever been allocated one.
As far as we are concerned it is a well used 'trick' of ours. Admittedly we are just a couple so size doesn't matter too much!!
The other trick is to take a short taxi ride to an off-airport car rental depot of the company of your choice where they will have less of a selection so you are almost certain of getting an upgrade as there will be less choice and you won't be paying the airport surcharge (plus tax) either.
Clare
http://www.orlandovillas.com/villas/1367.aspx
Cruella DeVilla
29-03-2006, 13:46
It's the oldest trick in the book!
Generally if they don't have the type of car you booked they have to give you the next size up at no cost, also if they manage to get you to take another size anyway and you pay there will probably be something in it for them.
jackie greaves
29-03-2006, 14:20
When I went on my own last year I only needed a 2 door economy, and thats just what I got. I think as I was on my own they didn't bother trying to sell me an up-grade. Mind you after I'd been to Home Depot I wished I had got a bigger one.[msnsmile2]
pieman790
29-03-2006, 14:34
When we went to look at our villa for the first time, there was just the two of us and we only had 2 days in Orlando so we booked the smallest car possible. Not sure if we got an upgrade as the car was two door and seemed small compared to the other cars we have had. It wasnt as small as a Mini/Corsa type of car but was on par with an Astra. We were offered a larger car at a special rate but we declined there offer as they wanted almost $25 per day for the next size up.
markandpam
29-03-2006, 17:49
I was away on business in Minneapolis last year and had booked a 4 door saloon type car. I was thrilled when the guy on the desk said that he liked my English accent so much that he was going to upgrade me. I was even more delighted that I ended up with Jaguar! It didn't cost me a penny more and I drove around in luxury for two weeks :)
Pam.
pieman790
29-03-2006, 18:03
The English accent thing may not work in Orlando airport as they are very common asthey must get through many thousand English accents every day.
Im sure you were delighted driving a Jag for two weeks at no extra cost.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by markandpam
I was away on business in Minneapolis last year and had booked a 4 door saloon type car. I was thrilled when the guy on the desk said that he liked my English accent so much that he was going to upgrade me. I was even more delighted that I ended up with Jaguar! It didn't cost me a penny more and I drove around in luxury for two weeks :)
Pam.
[/quote]
ujpest doza
29-03-2006, 21:11
The smallest car we've ever had was a Mitsubishi Eclipse and that was supposed to be an Economy car.
I never upgrade and have usually booked flights and car seperately, although on a couple of occassions have taken the car with the Flydrive package having already pre-paid for the type i wanted beforehand (Usually a 4 door intermediate which is what i have booked as part of a Virgin flydrive for Christmas).
Last year we were supposed to have a 4 door Intermediate but all that was left in the car park by the time we'd waited for our pram and car seat were Dodge Grand Caravan Poeple Carriers (2 adults and 1 infant travelling!).
I've seen the 2 of us have a huge 6 seater Oldsmobile and a 6 seater Lincoln when all we have booked is either an Economy or a Compact.
My dad once got given a Metro by Alamo and had to return and upgrade to something a bit bigger, but its the only time i've ever known anyone not get a decent sized car without paying to upgrade.
Cruella DeVilla
30-03-2006, 07:56
I ordered an IC Intermediate and they still tried to upgrade me to luxury at only onen price raise..no thank you! Got a nice Pontiac6 GT or something similar sounding nice but a bit gutless as usual!
I think the day you pick up makes a difference too. When I came home to the UK last time, I ordered a hire car, over two separate weeks, as I was going to Ireland, and then back again, so had two separate pick ups. Both times I was picking up on a Saturday morning, and most pick ups were Friday, so there were no mid size cars left, and I was given people movers instead, at no extra cost, which was fun!
Maybe the answer is to be at the end of the queue!
Usually we're all figuring out ways to get to the front of the line, or avoid it altogether, but by the time they've sorted out a jumbo full of people, it's much more likely that all the compacts etc will have gone.
I'll try it this summer - instead of rushing, maybe we'll sit down with a coffee for a while and watch the queue dwindle before joining it. Might be more a more relaxing way to start the holiday in any case.
Madabouttigger
30-03-2006, 21:39
Peter I must admit that I am now thinking along the same lines as you - better for the blood pressure too!
Diane.
chrizzy100
30-03-2006, 22:24
We always book a tiny 2 door...never upgrade but still get keys to a four door upgrade...this is going 5 times a year for 2 years...we looked for the 2 doors a few times and never saw any....
We booked from uscarhire.co.uk - just the two of us. Nice little 2 door compact would do us for the 10 days or so.
Guy @ dollor tried insisting that we upgraded - he could do us "a new Dodge Durago for only $5 a day extra". I stuck by my guns and didn't as I didn't need to.
Got out in the lot only to find I ended up with the Durago anyway. A huge 5.7 litre V8 jeep that seats 7 cost me an extra $20 in petrol for the holiday! People did seem to get out of the way of it on the road so it was worth it!
My assumptin was that they had no 2 door compacts and were desperate to try and recoup some of the lost income by me having to hire out a bigger car. Interestingly it was registered in PA not Florida so I'm guessing someone hired it on a 1-way trip too!
No complaints about the service though :)
orlandobabe
12-04-2006, 03:29
I've only ever booked with Dollar and on the few occasions that we have gone for a 2 door economy-we've always been given a chrysler neon-which I quite like and is a decent size or bigger-like a stratus.
I'm wondering if other companies carry smaller cars.
Virtually every time we go they always try and do this. If it was free then it would be great, but normally there is something extra to pay.
Budget Car Hire do a Chevrolet Aveo, a small car with no gizmos, our American friends think it is the funniest thing on the road but it suited me when I was there on my own for a few weeks.
Clare
http://www.orlandovillas.com/villas/1367.aspx
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by paul357
Whenever I've booked a fly drive I've always upgraded the car at the pick up point. The agents normally show you a picture of a tiny 2 door car and say thats what's included in the fly drive, and offer you the next size car for a reasonable cost.
Whenever I go to collect my upgraded car the tiny 2 doors cars are no where to be seen, so my question is do these cars actually exist?
Do the rental companies just try to get you to upgrade knowing full well that they don't have the really small cars available anyway?
[/quote]Hopefully you didn't pay for it...
The car rental is obligated to you to give you the car you paid for...
If they can't, they HAVE TO give you a FREE upgrade... ensist on that... You've got all the right!
It happens very often to us when renting from Alamo...
We always order an Economy... knowing that these are almost never available, and we always get a free upgrade...
Hope this helps...
Thanks!
just had an email from Dollar - newsletter stuff etc.
It says produce your Dollar Express card for a free upgrade.
Reading this forum I applied for one after last years computer breakdown at the Dollar desk and an hour wait.
we are off to FLA next week (car booked, as always, through this site) so I will see what happens!:)
Can you email us at info@uscarhire.co.uk with your Express ID Number (quoting your order number) as we need to add this to your voucher to ensure youcan use your Express Card. Strictly speaking if this is not listed on your voucher they should not allow you to use your Express Lane. I have known of a few customer that have been refused because of this.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Ian Dee
just had an email from Dollar - newsletter stuff etc.
It says produce your Dollar Express card for a free upgrade.
Reading this forum I applied for one after last years computer breakdown at the Dollar desk and an hour wait.
we are off to FLA next week (car booked, as always, through this site) so I will see what happens!:)
[/quote]
Roger,
I have just booked, and put it in the notes section. Do I need to email aswell?
[quote]Originally posted by roger
Can you email us at info@uscarhire.co.uk with your Express ID Number (quoting your order number) as we need to add this to your voucher to ensure youcan use your Express Card. Strictly speaking if this is not listed on your voucher they should not allow you to use your Express Lane. I have known of a few customer that have been refused because of this.
[quote][[easter2]will do, I had forgotten about that, thanks Roger
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Ian Dee
Originally posted by roger
Can you email us at info@uscarhire.co.uk with your Express ID Number (quoting your order number) as we need to add this to your voucher to ensure youcan use your Express Card. Strictly speaking if this is not listed on your voucher they should not allow you to use your Express Lane. I have known of a few customer that have been refused because of this.
[quote][[easter2]will do, I had forgotten about that, thanks Roger
Speedy response thanks Roger.
For future reference, the Dollar Express Number is on the bottom of the USCARHire voucher. I'll report back if the Dollar Express makes any difference!
Grimley9
15-04-2006, 21:36
Interesting reading. We tavel three times a year and have always booked a 7 people carrier and got what we wanted. We found it cheaper to book from the UK as we get the gold star insurance included and pay for no further upgrades.
Norma nd Peter
We have always gone for the budget option (or possibly one step up) and they always try to upgrade us and we never take it.
The car we end up with is always much bigger than they show in the pictures. There is only 2 of us, but we usually get 4 doors, air-conditioning and a decent boot.
We got a Geo Prism, 3 times in a row, not sure why, but that's how it seems to work. Occasionally we have been given a free upgrade to the next step with the Fly-Drive package (through Trailfinders I think).
Basically I wouild say, don't get sucked in, it always works out quite a bit more when you add it up.
[/quote]
Speedy response thanks Roger.
For future reference, the Dollar Express Number is on the bottom of the USCARHire voucher. I'll report back if the Dollar Express makes any difference!
[/quote]
Arrived in MCO last Saturday - St Georges Day minus 1. Hold up at Immigration Desk, some guy with a problem with his passport. FOund they have eliminated the security check.
Dollar desk very busy when we got down there. My Dollar Express card worked! Walked straight past the queues, up to desk. Thyey did ask to see the card. NO need to show UK driving licence as details logged in on card. Crossed road with paper work, found that we had been upgraded from a 4 door intermediate to a Daimler Pacifica 4x4 (10 minutes to find out how to adjust the drivers seat - silly me, I should have knoiwn that the seat adjustment button is on the door below the window!)[msnwink]. VERY NICE, :Dbut as gas/petrol is now $3 per gallon may be a mixed blessing - but its only for a couple of weeks so why not!
Moral of the story is a) book your car through this site, get a Dollar Express card, make sure you use the card number when you book - hey presto:):)
It's great when the system works, and avoiding the queue is something I always enjoy.
However, if some of the looks you get could kill you would be in serious trouble.