Car rental - dropping off early

[beccab]

Does anyone know of a problem dropping off a rental a day early? Rentals are cheaper for 7dys than 6dys which is the length of our stay. Thanks

 

[Tara]

For a few hours early, it might not make a difference. For an entire day early, they will very likely charge you a different rate than the one you initially agreed to because you are changing the terms of the agreement. The weekly rates are like a bulk discount, and if there was no penalty for returning the car early, there would be no point in offering the discount in the first place, right?

 

[Mich Mouse]

I think you may have a problem dropping off early....they will not want to honor your rate as your are not "completing" the contract you made with them. Silly, really as the rental company benefits from receiving inventory earlier. Call and inquire.

 

[brenda1966]

I returned a car a day early and instead of charging me for 2 days, they just charged me for one. It was totally unexpected! So, unless you call and ask, I think you'll really have no idea what will happen. I did call and ask if I'd be penalized and they told me no. But I never expected to pay less.

 

[andymattmom]

Why wouldn't they charge you more? Think of it...you have an agreement to rent for 7 days. It is cheaper by the week. They agree to rent you the car for $XXX for 7 days. You don't need it 7 days but in searching see it is much cheaper than renting for 6 days. You change the terms of the agreement to 6 days and don't think you will be charged. Who says the car could even be rented if you returned it early. They believe that you will have the car for 7 days and don't plan on having the car that one day and how many people walk up for a one day rental (assume they will re-rent your car on the day you return it). If you don't abide by the terms of the agreement they can and probably will penalize you for returning it early. That amount could be much different than what you are even seeing for a 6 day rental online now...it would possibly be the walk-up rate with no discount and there is nothing you could do about it. Yes, you could get lucky and not be charged or just have to pay a small difference BUT you should call and find out. If you get an answer you like I would get the CSR name and information so if there is a problem when you return you have documentation on what was said to you and when!

 

[tinka-belle]

Some lower rates require a Sat. night rental on the car, others require a full 7 days going by a 24 clock. If you return even a few hours early the rate is void.

Check out the terms and rules of the rate you have.

 

[beccab]

I don't have a rate yet. Just asking the questions so far. Thanks for the advice.

 

[wdwrich]

Whenever I've reserved a rental car for 5 or more days, I've gotten the weekly rate. Try reserving for the 6-day period and see what you get- this may be a non-issue.

 

[cruisingkat]

Whenever I've reserved a rental car for 5 or more days, I've gotten the weekly rate. Try reserving for the 6-day period and see what you get- this may be a non-issue.

We found the same (weekly rate for a 5 or 6 day rental) when we rent with Alamo.

 

[Tam1067]

Enterprise's weekly rate is the same for 5-7 days.

 

[Lewisc]

Alamo has a rate that looks like a weekly rate but requires keeping the car over a Saturday night. Rent the car Sunday morning and return the car the following Saturday afternoon and you don't qualify for the rate. Most companies give you the weekly rate if you rent for 5 days. At one point at least one agency gave you the weekly rate if you renting the car for 4 days and 2 hours. The two hours counted as an extra day.

Check the actual days you need the car. Checking for 7 days, when you'll only be keeping the car for 6 days, is a waste of time. A different code, maybe a different agency, is likely to give you a better rate.

 

[beccab]

I did check six days and seven days. I found in some cases the seven days was cheaper. We are not going until Nov 30 so have a lot of time to look for deals. More discounts for this time frame should be coming out in another month or so.

As an aside, I had a great rate, $149/wk for a convertible (more interested in the rate than the type of car) thru Enterprise however had to reduce vacation by one day. I called Enterprise and they said if the car was picked up w/in 24hrs of the original date and time, the rate would stay the same. The 24 hours would be up at 2:30 and our plane is landing at 2:20 so we just missed it. The rate for 6 days or seven days is $679/wk for the same car. That's a $530 difference.

 

[smdigh]

I have found that Dollar sometimes has a lower rate for 7 days vs. 6 days.


According to their website, there is a $15 change fee to drop off early:
http://www.dollar.com/AboutUs/GeneralPolicies.aspx

 

[SilverMickey]

We rented a car for 7 days. We returned it a little more than a day early and we were not charged anything different... They did tell us not to expect a refund for that one day.

On another note. We are members of Alamo insiders. When my flight changed (weather related) my rental was sitting for almost 16 hours in the lot. I called Alamo to find out what to do and they said They would hold it for me for 24 hours because I was an "insider". If I had gone online to change it the $105.00 rental would have bumped up over $500.00. Might be worth becoming a member???

 

[jedijohn]

I used to work for Hertz and rented from Hertz and never heard of any problems returning cars a day early. It is your loss if you don't want the last day of a weekly rental. The only issue might be if the lot was at capacity, but that would be a rare issue at a large airport location; it might be more of a problem if you were renting from a HLE (off-airport location).

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I have paid the daily rate vs the weekly when I returned early with both Hertz and National