Changed to earlier flight - car rental 3x higher

[drgnfly30]

I got a great rate on an SUV with Enterprise for my 5/31-6/3 trip. I originally was picking it up around 8pm but a change of plans allowed me to fly in a few hours earlier. When I went to modify my car rental reservation to indicate I was picking it up earlier, my total went from $77.xx to $246.xx!!! So I called & they said yep, nothing they can do.. if I modify it today it recalculates my rate with todays cost....

Here's my question.. what if I DON'T modify my reservation & just get there earlier? (I can play dumb)... will they honor the original rate, will they give me a car?! HELP!!!!

 

[ancestry]

I also am having the *exact* same problem, except in my case the time change was made by the air carrier (AirTran - who readjusts their flight schedules so much that it is driving me batty). My time difference is only about an hour so I finally decided to just wing it. I'm going to show up when I get there and hope for the best.

Of course I also will continue to shop around for the lowest rental fee and if I find a lower one with a different company I will switch.

 

[MichelleVW]

I would just show up if it's just a few hours early.

 

[mousey]

I wouldn't modify it. Just show up and tell them they switched you to an earlier flight.

 

[seashoreCM]

I have simply showed up early every now and then and most of the time the rental agent simply got me going early. Once the agent didn't; instead he offered me a car "now" for a little more or to come back at the right time for the car and price as reserved. I chose the latter.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I could see possible adding an additional day to your reservation might increase your rates (if the number of hours increased beyond 24 hour periods), but if this is not occuring then the rate should be fine.

 

[taliategan]

My flight changed with AirTran also, which brought me to MCO about 2 hours earlier. I had the same problem with Budget. I was going to show up 2 hours earlier and see what happens, but I was able to find almost the same rate with Budget a few days later with a SW code - so I canceled and re-booked. Now my AirTran flight has changed again - but only by 20 minutes this time. You may want to make sure that by showing up early that you will not extend the car reservation over another 24 hour period - such that the hour of the day you are planning for pick-up is not earlier in the day than the hour of the day you are droping the car off. (That's if this was not already the case with your reservation.)

 

[drgnfly30]

^^when you put it that way.. it probably would... I would be dropping off around 3pm. My new pick up time would be earlier than that (was later).... ugh. I'll keep searching for another good deal in the meantime & try to rebook.

If I don't cancel my ME reservation (I haven't yet) and find myself w/out a rental - can I still 'shimmy' on over to ME & take the bus in?!

 

[taliategan]

^^when you put it that way.. it probably would... I would be dropping off around 3pm. My new pick up time would be earlier than that (was later).... ugh. I'll keep searching for another good deal in the meantime & try to rebook.

If I don't cancel my ME reservation (I haven't yet) and find myself w/out a rental - can I still 'shimmy' on over to ME & take the bus in?!

I would not cancel your Enterprise reservation unless you find something comparable; at a minimum I think you will have to pay for an extra day because of the time change if you show up at the counter and they let you keep your current rate; if you find another rental you are somewhat happy with, make a reservation with that company in case Enterprise will not honor your rate at the counter; and, if you have ME reservations through your Disney package, you can always use ME if decide not to get a rental. You should call ME and let them know of your time change with plane reservation.

 

[raven69david]

Dollar has Premium SUV's at $44.00 per day with code ooag (letter O, not number zero). No sense in having to wait for the rental car when you can be on your way to the parks earlier.

Of course if you are going and staying on Disney property you can take DME to the parks as soon as you fly in and then pick up the car at the Enterprise lot which is located just outside of MK. Not sure if that would work, but it's something to think about.

 

[drgnfly30]

UPDATE:

Picked up my $17.95 Mid Size SUV (Nissan Xterra) at Enterprise a full 10 hours earlier than reserved & had absolutely NO ISSUES!!!

Pick up was a breeze, although even the associate was shocked at the price I was able to get the SUV for (with NO codes!)!