Help! Need rental 6 hrs earlier!

[seashell724]

I am kicking myself.
I NEVER book through a 3rd party but this time I booked through Expedia. I got a great deal on a car we wanted.
Well, our airline changed our flights to an arrival time of 1 pm instead of 8 pm.
I have called the rental agency directly and I have called Expedia.
The rental place says they can't do anything unless I go through expedia but they are not helping!
If we want our car rental any earlier we have to cancel our reservation and re-book. AND it will be $150 more because rates have gone up.
The most frustrating part is that we actually return the car at 1 pm on the day we leave. So technically, if we move our pick up time earlier it will not be outside of the 24 period that they charge by.

There is no way that I am going to do this. Do you think it is worth risking getting to the airport and praying that they just give us our rental earlier? Or will we be sitting in MCO until our actual pick up time?

Please advise?

 

[WDW Traveler]

Have you tried Modifying your reservation through Expedia? I know you can do it through the rental car sites and I actually just did it and saved quite a bit by not canceling and rebooking (had $182 for full size for one week, needed to add 1 day, only added about $30 to the reservation, new reservation would have been almost $100 more). Sometimes you even get the car rental company confirmation # that you can look for on their site. You might be able to modify it there. Worth a try, if the modified price is crazy, just cancel out of the page. When is your trip? Keep trying for a better price at the new time. The prices fluctuate so much.

I don't believe they will let you get the car 6 hours early, 1 hour early maybe, but I think 6 is way too early.

 

[Allison]

I wouldn't risk that. I highly doubt you would be given a car six hours early without a change in the fee.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

They will give you your rental car early if one is available. It will almost certainly change your rental rate.

 

[FCDub]

Call the airline and ask to be moved to a different flight. Your time change is drastic enough that they should (SHOULD) do this without a change fee. Perhaps there's another flight (perhaps with a different connection) that gets you in closer to the time of your rental pickup.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

People here can give you all kinds of information. Did you talk to a supervisor at Expedia to see if they could help?

That's the problem with third party bookings of any kind. You might save money but in circumstances like this it's not worth it!

 

[seashell724]

Thanks everyone.
Our flight cannot be moved. With the connection we have to make there is nothing else available.

We did talk to someone at Expedia but not a supervisor. Perhaps I will call back and try to talk to one.

I did call the car rental company directly b/c I had a conf # with them as well but they would not help me.

I am SO frustrated.

 

[Capt_BJ]

I'd create a new account under another name and try a new booking to see what comes up .... or use another 'discount site' and try ...

then if you find something that works cancel the original (assuming it IS cancelable)

IME, I'd go to the counter with a nice smile and pleasant attitude and work with the desk person ..... a rental place at Orlando Airport is seldom 'out of cars'

Once the agent actually writes the contract, Ex' is out of the equation and if you stay inside the 24hr window you CAN be OK ..... according to the computer. I've even had a friendly desk person waive extra hours (even tho I booked thru "a site") since I brought the car back with more gas than it went out with .... again a smile and a friendly attitude seemed to go a long way.

BUT this IS a risk of using services like EXPEDIA ......

 

[JimboCh]

What car rental agency at MCO?

 

[seashell724]

What car rental agency at MCO?

It was Dollar Car Rental

 

[keishashadow]

Expedia is a travel agency, they basically 'own' the reservation. Along the line if you book a cruise, the provider typically won't do anything for you...all communication goes thru the TA

Did you link your airline reservation information to the original reservation? Typically, car rental agency won't penalize you if earlier or late arrival due to no fault of your own. I've had National & Almao accommodate us thusly in the past, I did call them to let them know what was going on the day of travel.

I'd point this fact out to Dollar and see where it gets you via an email, not via phone call. I've had much better luck via email. Alamo, has permitted me to change times/dates thusly, as recently this summer to keep my rate, as the time span still fell within a 'weekly' rental.

However, since it appears your Expedia reservation is fully cancellable, you may be out of luck. Dollar very well may tell you to cancel & rebook.

When is your trip? If the above doesn't pan out, Suggest you keep looking up to the date you would be required to cancel the one thru Expedia.

There is always Hotwire. Bid the daily rate that winds up near your original rental rate if you are happy with it (factoring in the taxes) and hope for the best.