Alamo Fast track

[Nadim]

Hi

I have just registered with the save time feature - one question: it says fuel cost $66.91 + airport access fee $6.69 + sales tax $4.78 total = $78.38

I can understand the fuel as I have booked the silver option but thought the rental included all taxes?

Can anyone clarify please.

Thanks
Nadim

[roger]

The only taxes you pay are on local charges (such as the fuel in your case). Other items that you would pay tax on are things like child seats, GPS if you rent one on arrival etc.

[mexico]

Thanks Roger that will save a bit of time!!

[Nadim]

Hi Roger

Thanks for the clarification - Nadim

[mexico]

That's no problem. If you are going back to the airport to change the car then you should be able to just drop off the existing car then go to the little hut in the Alamo car park where there is an attendant who can deal with your new rental. This will save you from going back to the terminal.

Well we went back to change the car yesterday a nd we were told we would need to go into the rental desk to do paperwork ! Save time kiosk did not work again! No queue this time so straight to counter and I asked again why the kiosk wouldn't work? Same story because I have an international driving license , so I said to him that I thought their system had been updated and this problem was supposed to be fixed and he just blanked me, then insisted that all drivers be there to sign when this was not the case last week as my husband and our friend were told they could go on ahead and pick a car!! I think the guy was peeved because we wouldn't take the upgrade hekept trying to pushing!!! There were five cars to chose from , three of them only had Seven seats , one was quite damaged on the outside and the last one, one of the rear seat belts did not work! Another car was brought in s we thought we would take that! But now we have a problem! When we turn a corner the alarm is saying that the boot is not closed properly? Can you tell me what to do about this roger? Thanks
Pauline

[roger]

Sounds like they are still struggling to sort some teething problems on the kiosks. We heard on Friday that most kiosks were out of action for everyone 'for a short duration' as they are performing some system upgrades. I'm not sure if that was your issue though. Who was it that told you that you had to go back to the terminal? Was that someone in the car park booth, or a staff member where you dropped the car off? Just that a staff member would tell you that but if you go to the booth then they are under instructions to accept and process paperwork there. Regarding the boot alarm, call Alamo on the number on the paperwork and they will advise the best course of action. As it's not a safety concern (I dont think) then they will most likely ask you to go to any local depot (such as 192, or by entrance to Magic Kingdom) and arrange to swap the car.

[mexico]

Hi Roger , it was actually the girl that stands in front of the booth that told me to go inside! She said they do not have the facility to process the paperwork in the booths! Regards to the boot I will phone them today and see what they say! Thanks
Pauline

[JulieW]

Hi

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm just back from Orlando and used the Alamo save time feature. I was on the silver option. The kiosk worked fine but I had fuel cost included at $78.38 so I cancelled out of the kiosk and I went to the desk to ask them to remove this option from my rental agreement before I finalised the agreement. They told me that it was mandatory charge on the agreement and had to take it and could then return the car empty. I said I thought I could return it full by filling up myself and they said no. I was too exhausted to dispute it and just wanted to get to our accomodation. Turns out, it only cost us $35 to fill our mid-sized SUV so feel like we were totally ripped-off.

Admittedly, I could have done something wrong during the save time registration, but I was pretty sure that I never selected fuel at any point and when it did appear on the screen I was sure that this fuel charge was an "option" and we could still fill the car up ourselves before returning it.

Just beware people! The same thing happened to my Dad when he arrived to join us 4 days later.

On another note with Alamo - my Dad's car was damaged when he picked it up (he only have 2 to choose from). Fortunately we told the lady at the check-out kiosk and she took a note on the system. When we returned the car, they wanted to charge against my Dad's insurance for the damage. Turns out, the car should never have been let out of the rental garage in the state it was in so they assumed my Dad had damaged it. We had to do a bit of negotiating with the Manager and she saw the note of the system so all was ok in the end.

On a positive note, our car was great - Ford Edge Limited. Highly recommended. I would still use Alamo in the future, I will just be more aware of some of the pitfalls.

Julie

Update - after posting this and reading up on more info, I'm getting the impression that you need to pre-pay the tank of fuel with Alamo on the Silver option!! I've definately been hunting for petrol stations on the way back to the airport on previous rentals to fill the car up so this is what has confused me

[roger]

Yes, I confirm you have to pay for the tank of fuel on the Silver option. There is no way to avoid that unless you go for the Gold option.

The insurances with our Silver and Gold package would have covered any damage to the car, even if the fault was your Fathers (which I realise it wasn't) so you wouldn't have been out of pocket.

Hi

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm just back from Orlando and used the Alamo save time feature. I was on the silver option. The kiosk worked fine but I had fuel cost included at $78.38 so I cancelled out of the kiosk and I went to the desk to ask them to remove this option from my rental agreement before I finalised the agreement. They told me that it was mandatory charge on the agreement and had to take it and could then return the car empty. I said I thought I could return it full by filling up myself and they said no. I was too exhausted to dispute it and just wanted to get to our accomodation. Turns out, it only cost us $35 to fill our mid-sized SUV so feel like we were totally ripped-off.

Admittedly, I could have done something wrong during the save time registration, but I was pretty sure that I never selected fuel at any point and when it did appear on the screen I was sure that this fuel charge was an "option" and we could still fill the car up ourselves before returning it.

Just beware people! The same thing happened to my Dad when he arrived to join us 4 days later.

On another note with Alamo - my Dad's car was damaged when he picked it up (he only have 2 to choose from). Fortunately we told the lady at the check-out kiosk and she took a note on the system. When we returned the car, they wanted to charge against my Dad's insurance for the damage. Turns out, the car should never have been let out of the rental garage in the state it was in so they assumed my Dad had damaged it. We had to do a bit of negotiating with the Manager and she saw the note of the system so all was ok in the end.

On a positive note, our car was great - Ford Edge Limited. Highly recommended. I would still use Alamo in the future, I will just be more aware of some of the pitfalls.

Julie

Update - after posting this and reading up on more info, I'm getting the impression that you need to pre-pay the tank of fuel with Alamo on the Silver option!! I've definately been hunting for petrol stations on the way back to the airport on previous rentals to fill the car up so this is what has confused me

[Laurel Oak]

Tried to use the Alamo Kiosks today but without success. I had completed the Save Time and when I went to the kiosk it asked me to swipe my credit card which I did and it said to see a rental agent. I tried again putting in my Confirmation Number and again it said to see a rental agent. Fortunately there was no que at the desk so no problem but it seems that these kiosks are a bit "hit and miss"