Alamo how strict are they

[marcus.ka]

Does anybody know how strict Alamo is if you return your car too late? I know that they could charge you the rate for a full day if you are only one minute late. The staff in our travel center told us that this depends on the return station. So has anyone returned their Alamo car some minutes or hours to late in Orlando and what have you been charged?

 

[notaprincess]

Yes, I did last October. Sort of got lost and was about 1 hour late...Talked verrrrrrrry nice to a Russian girl from the return kiosk and voila, no charge

btw, I remember you from the german board MSE, right?

 

[marcus.ka]

Thank you. But this means that they usually are very strict.

And yes I am also a member of the MSE.

 

[wayneg]

If you think you will be late returning then prepay an extra day now, it will cost you £20-30 more depending which size car you have.
If you return it late they have the right to charge you a day extra but at the local rate which is 2-3 times the pre-pay rate.

 

[steve_rob]

All car hire companies used to have a grace period where if you were up to half an hour late you didn't get charged, but from the travel blogs I read, it seems that most of them have been scrapped in the last few years and they are really cracking down if you don't return it dead on time - especially in the US; with rentals within the EU, there's still some leeway. If you're lucky (like notaprincess), you might be able to talk your way out of it, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

Reading the small print of the documents I got last time I rented with Alamo in the US (late 2010, doubt it's changed that much), they charged you an extra hour if you were more than a minute late, but this hourly rate was one third of the daily rate! If you were more than three hours late, you got charged for a full day. Some companies are more leinient than this, others even stricter.

 

[notaprincess]

I'm with Wayne on that one (btw- great report, thanks, reading along at Mathews too ). Plan to return it late, pay upfront and enjoy your time in Orlando instead!
The charge for me would have been over $80 Not worth the hassle on vacation.