Car rental "Loyalty" clubs

[leebee]

I usually rent from whichever car company is most affordable; we've had fine experiences and awful experiences with ALL of the companies over the years. However, I have never signed up as a member of a loyalty club (except National, but they are way too expensive to consider anymore). I always hesitate to sign up when it asks for a credit card number; I hate to leave my numbers on file. I also worry that if I don't use a reservation and forget to cancel it, I'll get charged. Does anyone know if this happens/if they can actually do this? The loyalty programs are looking more and more interesting, especially after having spent several hours in line at MCO to pick up a (reserved) rental car.

 

[_19disnA]

Have belonged to loyalty clubs with both National & Avis, currently with Avis. My Avis profile does not require me to store a credi card #, but can't comment on what other rental car companies might do. I also prefer to not store credit card numbers online since any site can get hacked and it isn't that big of a deal to enter it when making a rental reservation. Card #'s might also change when your card expires and they send you a new card. If you have stored it on several sites, you need to go around updating with the new card #. I don't see any advantage to storing my card #'s online vs. the potential for issues. On some websites, you can make a purchase and then choose to delete your card #, Amazon is a good example. Amazon stores your card # by default when making a purchase, but you can easily delete it from your profile, so it isn't left sitting around on your account.

In my view, the only real advantage to a loyalty club is getting to bypass the rental counter and go directly to your vehicle. That tends to save time when arriving. I don't fly/rent a car often enough to accumlate any other sort of benefits and not even sure what those might be.

I only make a rental reservation when planning a vacation so have never had any concerns about charges if plans change. I would simply remember to cancel your reservation if it turns out you won't need it prior to the date you originally scheduled for pickup. I don't see it as a situation where you have large numbers of these made ahead of time, so it isn't that much work to keep track of them and then delete if necessary.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I usually rent from whichever car company is most affordable; we've had fine experiences and awful experiences with ALL of the companies over the years. However, I have never signed up as a member of a loyalty club (except National, but they are way too expensive to consider anymore). I always hesitate to sign up when it asks for a credit card number; I hate to leave my numbers on file. I also worry that if I don't use a reservation and forget to cancel it, I'll get charged. Does anyone know if this happens/if they can actually do this? The loyalty programs are looking more and more interesting, especially after having spent several hours in line at MCO to pick up a (reserved) rental car.

No stored credit card information for the Alamo Insiders program. To use their skip the counter feature, I go online to enter required check in information in advance of arrival and need to enter the CC information at that time. My driver’s license and credit card are verified by the gate agent as I leave the garage.

There is also the option to do advance check in without doing skip the counter. In that case, the credit card and driver’s license can be entered at a self-service kiosk prior to going to the garage. I’ve had to do that in San Diego and at Dulles by Washington, DC, since neither of these locations supported skip the counter at the time.

I usually rent through Costco. Their confirmation email provides both Costco and Alamo reference numbers. I use the Alamo number to link the reservation to my Insiders account at the time I’m ready to check in online, since I frequently cancel a booking when I find a lower rate. No cancellation fees with the Costco reservations, and the reservations can be cancelled online. No way to get charged even if I were to forget to cancel, since Alamo doesn’t have my CC information until I check in for the rental, but it’s a courtesy to free up the car if it won’t be needed or if a lower rate has been found. Costco encourages that you rebook first to assure the lower rate and then cancel the unneeded reservation.

 

[mikehn]

I like Budget Fastbreak. I dont always rent from them. But when I do, I love the speedy convenience. Sometimes you are in a hurry to get somewhere and that's where they shine. Budget has all my info. The moment my plane lands, and I put my phone off airplane mode, there are two text messages waiting for me. One from Budget with the stall number of my vehicle. Two from my credit card company with the pending charge from Budget. Im off. The bad part of this is what you said. If you change your mind and forget to cancel the reservation, then you're screwed.