Car Size - What happens if Alamo runs out?

[disney0210]

We booked through Costco back in May - the car size is for 8 passengers and it was for a Chevy Suburban or similar. I know if the car company runs out of smaller vehicles, they upgrade you to a larger one. I already booked an 8-seater; if they run out of this size, does anyone know what the car company’s usual alternative is?

Back in May, we didn’t have flights yet so I put 12 noon as pick up time. Now I know we’re landing around 10am, but I couldn’t rebook the car rental because no 8-seaters ever come up anymore (which is what makes me anxious and think about the what-if-they-dont-have-it scenario because there’s exactly 8 in our party). I used to be able to book and rebook when prices got better.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[sam_gordon]

I guess it's possible your 12N reservation is "holding" a car which is why there's none available at 10a.

My suggestion would be to make another reservation elsewhere (don't cancel your Alamo one) for say 11am. If Alamo has a vehicle, then cancel the other one. Note: Alamo, Enterprise, and National all have the same owner.

 

[disney0210]

I guess it's possible your 12N reservation is "holding" a car which is why there's none available at 10a.

My suggestion would be to make another reservation elsewhere (don't cancel your Alamo one) for say 11am. If Alamo has a vehicle, then cancel the other one. Note: Alamo, Enterprise, and National all have the same owner.

Thank you! If Alamo doesn’t have any 8-seater when I arrive - either 10am or 12 noon - would you know what they would give?

I know if they don’t have a 5-seater, they’d give a 7-seater. But I already have an 8-seater booked. I’m afraid if there was a shortage, they’d move us down to a 7 or a 5, and then I’d really have a problem.

 

[sam_gordon]

Sorry, I have no idea. Putting myself in their shoes I can see the following options:
1) Allowing you to get two vehicles (possibly at a discount).
2) Walking you to one of the "sister" companies.

That's about it. I just think to increase the odds of you getting an 8pax, you should make a 2nd (cancellable) reservation with another company.

 

[EACarlson]

It's going to depend on what they do have and what they think the odds are that they are getting in a reasonable time frame. They may give you a 15 seater, they may give you a minivan, they may say "this is what we've got, take it or leave it." This is one of the very few times I would consider booking a back up reservation if you really need a single eight passenger vehicle.

 

[Lewisc]

Credit card coverage and personal auto insurance generally DON'T cover vans which seat more then 8. If an upgrade to a larger van is offered insist on the waiver being included.

The can upgrade a customer reserving a 7 pax van to a 8. Hopefully the agency is holding back enough 8 pax van.

You might have to wait for a the agency to prep a recently returned van

 

[EACarlson]

Credit card coverage and personal auto insurance generally DON'T cover vans which seat more then 8. If an upgrade to a larger van is offered insist on the waiver being included.

The can upgrade a customer reserving a 7 pax van to a 8. Hopefully the agency is holding back enough 8 pax van.

You might have to wait for a the agency to prep a recently returned van

OP isn't booking a van, OP has booked an 8 passenger SUV of which there are not nearly as many to be had. If there isn't one available when OP arrives, they probably are not getting one that day.

Because this is how my mind works, @disney0210 How much luggage do you think you're getting in that thing? An 8 passenger SUV, may and I emphasize may, have enough space for one carryon sized bag per person, and that is going to be very uncomfortable. Any more than that is going to require other arrangements, strapping it to the roof, a hitch hauler etc.

 

[Lewisc]

OP isn't booking a van, OP has booked an 8 passenger SUV of which there are not nearly as many to be had. If there isn't one available when OP arrives, they probably are not getting one that day.

8 pax Sienna are sometimes available, could be offered based on availability.

Id be careful accepting a large pax van, seating more then 8

 

[EACarlson]

8 pax Sienna are sometimes available, could be offered based on availability.

Id be careful accepting a large pax van, seating more then 8

Completely agree, but that is not what the OP booked. Depending on the company and revenue management algorithms, at MCO an 8 pass minivan could be considered a huge upgrade from an 8 pass SUV. The only real difference between the two is that the back row of the SUV usually loads from the tailgate and the third row in the minivan usually loads from the passenger doors.

 

[Lewisc]

Completely agree, but that is not what the OP booked. Depending on the company and revenue management algorithms, at MCO an 8 pass minivan could be considered a huge upgrade from an 8 pass SUV. The only real difference between the two is that the back row of the SUV usually loads from the tailgate and the third row in the minivan usually loads from the passenger doors.

I don't understand your point.The OP asked what would happen if Alamo didn't have the car he reserved. An 8 pax minivan is a possibility, even if that means a complimentary upgrade.

An upgrade to a larger van raises insurance question. A large van is harder to drive.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

The back row of a Suburban doesn't load from the tailgate, it loads from the passenger doors. The second row of seats flips forward to allow passage to the third row of seats. Sure, one could crawl in/out the tailgate if they wanted to, but it won't be the most graceful of ingress/egress.

 

[miksicnarf]

This is an older thread, might be of interest:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/odds-of-actually-getting-a-chevy-suburban-alamo.3776576/

 

[disney0210]

This is an older thread, might be of interest:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/odds-of-actually-getting-a-chevy-suburban-alamo.3776576/

Makes me anxious to see what we’re gonna get.

 

[disney0210]

I don't understand your point.The OP asked what would happen if Alamo didn't have the car he reserved. An 8 pax minivan is a possibility, even if that means a complimentary upgrade.

An upgrade to a larger van raises insurance question. A large van is harder to drive.

I wouldn’t mind an 8-seater minivan - that’s what I drive now. And if they don’t have the 8-seater Suburban, I hope they give this 8-seater minivan and not a 7- or 5- seater SUV as that will wreck our plans.

I would not feel comfortable driving a 15-pax van at all.

 

[supersnoop]

In my experience, they closely control inventory on specialty vehicles, so I'd expect them to have an 8-passenger SUV for you at noon. In fact, I'd expect them to have it available earlier. They don't usually do same-day turnover on specialty vehicles, so it should be scheduled to arrive the night before and they plan to clean it that morning.