Car hire costs. Dollar charge less for higher grade so it seems

[jna]

Just for my own amusement I used the Dollar website to compare the cost of Full Size and Premium to see how much extra per week I might have to pay for an upgrade if necessary and came up with a surprising result.

I priced for three weeks commencing on October 14 and this was the result for just the basic cost with no extras like collision damage waiver etc.:

Full Size: $290.02 per week
Premium: $220.81 per week.

I expected the Premium to be higher, not lower. If you use Virgin for an upgrade you would pay more.

This is all to do with some concerns about boot space and after seeing Johnny Sharpe's Chrysler Pacifica photos.

I don't understand. Anybody got any ideas?

 

[gavvy]

This happens from time to time on Alamos website too- I think if they have a lot of 1 type of car they need to shift they reduce the cost of it, to stop people booking the smaller cars then upgrading them for free at the airport- least thats what I think !

 

[jna]

I booked through Virgin so a reduction on a upgrade at this late stage is pie in the sky, but I think I will check the Dollar website on the evening we travel up to the hotel at Gatwick and if the same deal is showing, I will print off the two prices and do my best to get the higher grade car with the better luggage space without a charge.

My way of thinking is that if I relinquish a lower grade car which is selling at a higher price per week, Dollar can gain by having that vehicle freed up for a chargeable upgrade. Sounds too simple doesn't it.

 

[wayneg]

This happen time to time on Airnet who use Dollar, I always use them for booking my cars in Florida.
They have free upgrades and special offers so better grade cars work out cheaper, or another offer they sometimes do is free platinum package upgrade on some grades but not others.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Just for my own amusement I used the Dollar website to compare the cost of Full Size and Premium to see how much extra per week I might have to pay for an upgrade if necessary and came up with a surprising result.

I priced for three weeks commencing on October 14 and this was the result for just the basic cost with no extras like collision damage waiver etc.:

Full Size: $290.02 per week
Premium: $220.81 per week.

I expected the Premium to be higher, not lower. If you use Virgin for an upgrade you would pay more.

This is all to do with some concerns about boot space and after seeing Johnny Sharpe's Chrysler Pacifica photos.

I don't understand. Anybody got any ideas?

Dollar probably have a glut of Premium cars to move at that time. Better to have them on the raod making some money than parked up.
Simple really.

 

[jna]

Dollar probably have a glut of Premium cars to move at that time. Better to have them on the raod making some money than parked up.
Simple really.

The Pacifica was not shown as being available through Dollar when I booked through Virgin in July 2005. The investigations I undertook were to ascertain what was best for our family and I discovered that the cars in the Premium range at the time I booked had a mere 1.2 cu. ft. of additional boot space, so it was not worth the extra cost. That wouldn't take an extra case. Over the last thirteen months or so the fleet changes have made the Pacifica in the Premium range another option.

 

[alisonbestford]

We booked a 7 seater 'mini van', through Alamo, at Easter for much less than the smaller cars were being offered

I tend to agree that, occasionally, the larger cars seem more difficult to rent out (probably not helped by rising fuel prices ) so they go on offer

The mini van (about the equivalent of our Vauxhall Zafira MPV) was great for us - 2 adults and 1 child - and we had space for our 5 cases (travelling with Virgin )
Had there been more of us we would have struggled with the luggage space

 

[jna]

The mini van (about the equivalent of our Vauxhall Zafira MPV) was great for us - 2 adults and 1 child - and we had space for our 5 cases (travelling with Virgin )
Had there been more of us we would have struggled with the luggage space

Alison, were you able to drop down one of the seats next to your son/daughter or did all the luggage fit in the rear of the vehicle? I'm curious to find out if this type of vehicle is better still than the Premium. If it all went in the back then perhaps that van is for us as well.

Thanks

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

The Pacifica was not shown as being available through Dollar when I booked through Virgin in July 2005. The investigations I undertook were to ascertain what was best for our family and I discovered that the cars in the Premium range at the time I booked had a mere 1.2 cu. ft. of additional boot space, so it was not worth the extra cost. That wouldn't take an extra case. Over the last thirteen months or so the fleet changes have made the Pacifica in the Premium range another option.

No car hire company can gaurentee (unless you pay Hertz for one of their special Jag/Land-Rover etc cars) a particular model of vehicle, just a range of cars within a size. Even a company such as Hertz when owned by Ford had a range of non Ford models.
Again, how many times would you have all those cases in the vehicle? possibly twice in 14 days???
maybe you need to hire a mini van or 4X4 next time for two journeys, or lodge the extra case in the back?

 

[alisonbestford]

Alison, were you able to drop down one of the seats next to your son/daughter or did all the luggage fit in the rear of the vehicle? I'm curious to find out if this type of vehicle is better still than the Premium. If it all went in the back then perhaps that van is for us as well.

Thanks

Hi

To be honest, it wasn't until we needed to pull down 'the extra seats' to accommodate friends, that I realised that we'd actually 'lost it' and chosen a, more expensive, 5 seater out of the Alamo row (you choose your own vehicle!) rather than a 7 seater!


We have a 7 seater at home and I'd suggest that you need to, at least, leave the two back seats down.
How many of you are there?
There are only 3 of us but loads of stuff

When we go away, on holiday in the UK, we tend to leave one of the middle seats down too as we take so much rubbish with us

What the rental companies seem to suggest (and I'd agree) is that, if there are only 3 or 4 of you, you need to consider a more expensive 4 wheel drive type vehicle with more boot space than one which will seat lots of passengers

 

[jna]

No car hire company can gaurentee (unless you pay Hertz for one of their special Jag/Land-Rover etc cars) a particular model of vehicle, just a range of cars within a size. Even a company such as Hertz when owned by Ford had a range of non Ford models.
Again, how many times would you have all those cases in the vehicle? possibly twice in 14 days???
maybe you need to hire a mini van or 4X4 next time for two journeys, or lodge the extra case in the back?

No. It will be four times including two trips in excess of one hundred miles and here I think you will agree with me that it would be unsafe to have heavy suitcases that cannot be properly secured in the passenger compartment.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have rented Minivan's many times and as you will have seen by my recent pictures last month we had a Pacifica.

It would have cost us over $200 to upgrade to a minivan, (Chrysler Voyager or Dodge Caravan).

Hence we found the Pacifica ideal, we had 3 large Delsey suitcases plus other stuff too.
We would have had to put the back seats down whichever type of vehicle we used, there are only 3 of us anyway so we did not need them.
I would say inside the vehicle itself a minivan is probably bigger, you also have some space at the side of the second row of seats, so in theory you could put a case there (unless the design of the vehicle has changed).

However, as far as the rear space is concerned the only difference is the minivan's are slightly bigger cars in terms of height, I guess probably a little more roomy therefore, however you could I am sure fit 4 cases in the rear of a Pacifica.
Our cases are very big, so take up more room than the average 3 would do.

 

[jna]

How many of you are there?
There are only 3 of us but loads of stuff

When we go away, on holiday in the UK, we tend to leave one of the middle seats down too as we take so much rubbish with us

What the rental companies seem to suggest (and I'd agree) is that, if there are only 3 or 4 of you, you need to consider a more expensive 4 wheel drive type vehicle with more boot space than one which will seat lots of passengers

Alison, thank you. There are four of us and following Johnny Sharpe's experience that any car with a 'normal boot' most likely won't accomodate four suitcases (plus hand luggage of course) I have been reviewing the situation. I'm never happy with suitcases in with passengers for the obvious reasons, but for the trip from MCO to I-Drive I would have lived with the situation. Doing this for a return trip to Clearwater Beach for our third week is a different matter entirely.

A four/five seat SUV seems the best bet, and so I'll take what I've reserved and see if it works out and if not go back to the desk and change it for something similar in the Dollar range to what you and Johnny hired. It's a minor inconvenience which will be resolved in the fullness of time. It has been useful obtaining the thoughts of those who understand my concerns and have recent experience of what's on offer.

Thanks again.

Edited to say that I've just read your post Johnny which was lodged whilst I was typing mine. Yes, I think that Pacifica is for us, so maybe straight to the upgrade and save time. Hope they have one.