Alamo - Pick-up time

[TheMick424]

For those who have rented from Alamo recently, how early can you pick up your car without a change in rate? I'm having a debate on which time to select for pick-up given anticipated flight arrival time. Originally I was going to select 15 minutes after arrival, but wondering if 45 minutes is a better option (which would save us some money based on our expected return time the following week). If we pick up the car a few minutes early (10 or 15 minutes) will that be an issue? I know they 'hold' your reservation in the case of delayed flights, but I wasn't sure about flexibility on pick-up time.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

For those who have rented from Alamo recently, how early can you pick up your car without a change in rate? I'm having a debate on which time to select for pick-up given anticipated flight arrival time. Originally I was going to select 15 minutes after arrival, but wondering if 45 minutes is a better option (which would save us some money based on our expected return time the following week). If we pick up the car a few minutes early (10 or 15 minutes) will that be an issue? I know they 'hold' your reservation in the case of delayed flights, but I wasn't sure about flexibility on pick-up time.

I have picked up an Alamo rental as much as 30 minutes early without a change in rate. Just make certain you will not kick into another 24-hour period on your return day, since the actual pickup time will determine the end of the 24-hour billing days during your rental. The grace period upon return is 30 minutes or less before you get charged for an extra hour. Worse, if you go into that extra time charge you also incur the daily fee charges for another day.

A pickup 45 minutes after scheduled flight arrival would probably be fine if you will be retrieving luggage prior to heading to the car. It takes us at least 15 minutes just to deplane and walk through the airport, catch the shuttle to the main terminal, and walk to luggage claim, so even without bags a pickup time 45 minutes after scheduled flight arrival will likely get you to the car rental no earlier than 30 minutes prior to your reservation time.

 

[TheMick424]

I have picked up an Alamo rental as much as 30 minutes early without a change in rate. Just make certain you will not kick into another 24-hour period on your return day, since the actual pickup time will determine the end of the 24-hour billing days during your rental. The grace period upon return is 30 minutes or less before you get charged for an extra hour. Worse, if you go into that extra time charge you also incur the daily fee charges for another day.

A pickup 45 minutes after scheduled flight arrival would probably be fine if you will be retrieving luggage prior to heading to the car. It takes us at least 15 minutes just to deplane and walk through the airport, catch the shuttle to the main terminal, and walk to luggage claim, so even without bags a pickup time 45 minutes after scheduled flight arrival will likely get you to the car rental no earlier than 30 minutes prior to your reservation time.

We will definitely have bags to retrieve, so I guess I should build that into the equation. The more I think about this, I should probably adjust the times, perhaps on both sides. Our arrival is scheduled for 9:45am but our departure is at 12:30 pm the following week. I have a reservation booked with a 10am pickup and 10:30am drop-off, but I'm thinking the pick-up could be moved out by 30 minutes (and save us paying for an extra hour). I typically do online check-in too, so we can go right to the car after we get our bags.

 

[spiders]

We will definitely have bags to retrieve, so I guess I should build that into the equation. The more I think about this, I should probably adjust the times, perhaps on both sides. Our arrival is scheduled for 9:45am but our departure is at 12:30 pm the following week. I have a reservation booked with a 10am pickup and 10:30am drop-off, but I'm thinking the pick-up could be moved out by 30 minutes (and save us paying for an extra hour). I typically do online check-in too, so we can go right to the car after we get our bags.

You can change your reservation time all you want. It doesn't really matter, only the time you actually rent.

I will add this about picking up early since you've already realized that it's a 24 hour rental period per day. If you keep your 10:30am drop-off but then end up renting at 9:30am on your arrival day, then your summary of charges will already include an extra day charge that will drop off automatically if you return by the appropriate time.

If you want to avoid that from even getting charged at the beginning then ask the agent to change your return time to 9:30 as well.