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View Full Version : BUDGET PREMIUM SUV / USA CAR HIRE



gpullan
12-11-2008, 15:28
Just a quick report regarding our car hire for the last fortnight now that we are back in cold England!

Arrived at MCO on Sunday 26th Oct and proceeded direct to the Budget kiosk in the car park as i had pre registered. No booking for me found! After 15 minutes of searching the lady found me and explained that the rates had been entered wrong on the system and my booking was not on the system for collection that day. As i feared, NO CAR AVAILABLE (I had booked the 8 seater Luxury SUV Ford Expedition). She tried to get me to take both a smaller car or 2 smaller cars for the 8 of us. I refused as i was the only driver and i thought if i took one smaller car then i would have to mess about the day after getting an 8 seater when we should be on our way to Magic Kingdom. I stood my ground and told them i needed an 8 seater that night. (We also had our 5 month old with us with no formula milk made up so it was getting desperate now).

Decided to make the call to the emergency number on the voucher and left a message on there.

A guy called Jason rang me back around 20 minutes after leaving the message, i told him at that point that they were apparantly sorting me out but did not explain how. He said he would intervene and call them to shake things up. 15 minutes later a burgundy Toyota Sienna pulled up and we were on our way! A big thanks and well done to Affordable Car hire for this as i was beginning to worry!

I called Jason and left a message the next day but did not get a call back to explain how i could get the car i ordered. Eventually got through to him and he apologised for not returning my calls or keeping me updated. He said he would look into it and text me any info so as not to ring me whilst in Disney and so as not to put me to any further phone expense. I did not hear anything from him but received a call from Budget at 8pm to say they had my car and would deliver it to the villa that night! I gave them directions and at 10:45pm the door bell rang and a lady from Budget was there with my paperwork and a fantastic looking FORD EXPEDITION EL.

A bad start to the holiday but it was very well rectified by both Budget and Affordable Car hire. I was very impressed.

When i was looking into booking my car i searched high and low for information on the Expedition and all things Budget. If anyone is in the same position then i know all there is to know (i think) so ask away.

buster_uk
13-11-2008, 20:07
hi we have one of these booked for jan 09 for 23 days. What are they like to drive do they have any extras in them (dvd player's or the like) what was the fuel econemy(sp) like?

thanks in advance.

gpullan
13-11-2008, 20:45
Hi.

You should love this car, i did! They are great to drive and feel a lot smaller on the road than the actual size of it. It is a big bus but easy to handle. It has a good stereo with a built in CD player. Ours had a line in socket for direct i-pod connection.

The 4rd row of seats fold down at the press of a button. Middle seats fold very quickly for access to back row. Rear tailgate splits so you can open the full boot or just glass only.

Fuel economy wasn't great, especially if you like to drive briskly. Fuel is that cheap though that you tend not to care about fuel economy.

Overall a great car and well worth getting. DM me your e-mail address if you want to see some photos.

Tonish
14-11-2008, 01:36
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:When i was looking into booking my car i searched high and low for information on the Expedition and all things Budget. If anyone is in the same position then i know all there is to know (i think) so ask away[/quote]

Thanks, I will. I have booked this particular deal on at least 4 occasions, (with this site and others) yet only got the Expedition once. Big argument every other time, constantly offered the much smaller 7 seater Durango instead or a people carrier, and always told it's the same class car (which it isn't). During a three week stay, I tried to exchange my car for the Expedition I had been promised on 6 occasions, with 5 different Budget offices and none of them had an Expedition available.

Can you explain why?

roger
14-11-2008, 02:41
Part of the problem is that Budget have drastically scaled down the number of 8 seater SUVs in their fleet. It is no longer possible to book this particular car, as they now only offer the 7 seater SUV.

Some agents are still offering the 8 seater SUV but upon arrival you will most likely be allocated the 7 seater SUV so we no longer give the option of Budget's 8 seater.

Budget have assured us that any existing 8 seater SUV orders will be honoured. In the event you arrive and are allocated a 7 seater then you should call the emergency number on your voucher. Budget shoud reallocate you a car from Avis (who are all part of the same company).