dollar car hire upgrades

[pedro]

Hi all
going to wdw in may and was wondering what to do about upgrading my car. I have booked a compact size car and know for a fact that when i land they will say "as you are a returning customer how would u like to drive one of these",and point out some great looking suvs or maybe a full size like a crysler 300c or something along those lines. Now what should i do upgrade at home using tour operator or go for the upgrade in u.s. any ideas how much i should pay in u.s for the upgrade and also would a haggle be out of the question.

 

[cherjp]

HI and welcome to the DIS


Last time we went to orlando we had dollar car hire through TCD we booked a intermediate 4 door, when we got there they kept saying to my DH would you want to upgrade? blah blah cant put luggage on seats,etc more room ,he asked how much for upgrade and they said 200 Dollars, that was for a 7 seater etc, DH say no thanks and when we got out to the car park guess what we had....... a 7 seater. in fact all the cars left in the car park were 7 seaters.
but its the chance you take if you choose not to upgrade, keeping our fingers crossed for the same again this year too.

there will be someone along with more experience than me and advice.

cheryl

 

[wayneg]

Pedro Welcome.
What is it exactly you have got and which tour op? have you paid anything for the car or is a free car with limited insurance?
If you have paid nothing towards it its probably cheper for you to ignore that car and reserve a car thru somewhere like Airline network or USrentacar. Tour op cars are usually the most expensive way to go.
Chrysler 300 come in the premium catagory, we always rent full size with Dollar and only ever had a 300 when we had a free upgrade.
I costed a full size with Dollar for our August 24 night trip with platinum cover. It was over £800 same car with USrentacar was £450. Same car, same company same cover but without Virgin profiteering.

 

[Jakey Rowling]

I agree with wayneg about alternative sources for the car, but if you know you want a bigger car then you will get a better deal in advance rather than in person at the airport when you are pretty much held to ransom.

 

[pedro]

I should have said I have full insurance booked through kenwood travel on a compact size car. this will be my 5th time at wdw and I have never had a free upgrade nor have i ever taken an upgrade, but I can still remember my first time at the dollar kiosk at sanford as I kept saying no, the sales man ended up saying "your killing me man its only 200 dollers more on top of what you paid back in uk" but must admit i stuck to my guns and walked away but now I want to upgrade as there are 3 of us and luggage. So Im dont know wether to do the upgrade at home wich will cost me 30 to 50 pounds for a intermediate or wait until i get to u.s.a.Thanks in advance guys

 

[Jakey Rowling]

I should have said I have full insurance booked through kenwood travel on a compact size car. this will be my 5th time at wdw and I have never had a free upgrade nor have i ever taken an upgrade, but I can still remember my first time at the dollar kiosk at sanford as I kept saying no, the sales man ended up saying "your killing me man its only 200 dollers more on top of what you paid back in uk" but must admit i stuck to my guns and walked away but now I want to upgrade as there are 3 of us and luggage. So Im dont know wether to do the upgrade at home wich will cost me 30 to 50 pounds for a intermediate or wait until i get to u.s.a.Thanks in advance guys

I can only repeat what I said in my previous post, if you want an upgrade do it this side, I'd be amazed if you got a better deal at the airport when you are at their mercy, unless it suits them for some reason.

Free upgrades are rare, it's not worth the gamble in my opinion.

 

[wayneg]

Never upgraded in US to know the costs but its not something I would want to do after a 9 hour flight. For £30-£50 I would say its not worth the hassle, do it here.
I always book full size, they once asked if I was happy with size of car, I said well do you do refunds if I take a smaller one, he just said no sorry and processed my reservation.
I have always been very happy with Dollar in MCO, a firm no thank you and they dont try sell me anything, but all other locations I have used Vegas, LAX and Sanford I have had to insult them for them to understand I really mean no. I have beem in business for 19 years they dont stand a chance of selling me anything.

 

[Frances999]

Hmmm. We've managed to get discounted upgrades at the airport before, especially if I say "no" the first time but make the clerk know that I am interested. Having said that, for £30-50 you may as well do it here.

they once asked if I was happy with size of car, I said well do you do refunds if I take a smaller one, he just said no sorry and processed my reservation.

Classic! Bet he wasn't expecting that!

 

[daipp]

Free upgrades are fairly rare - in the past five years I have had two free upgrades and on both occasions it was due I think, to me remembering the name of the receptionist from previous visits.

Our last visit in September I had a free upgrade from a minivan to a Dodge Durango with 33 miles on the clock.

David

 

[Babyboo]

Our last visit in September I had a free upgrade from a minivan to a Dodge Durango with 33 miles on the clock.



David

How was the Durango? I'm thinking of booking one for August.

 

[londondude38]

I booked a Dodge Durango last year, even thou its very big, I found the leg room for my kids was very limted as they were in car seats. We found the Chrysler Pacifica had far more leg room for the kids to kick about in the rear. and you can fold down the rear seats for you baggage, But 1 word of warning when booking a car in the Premium class, I made a booking last year and expected a Chrysler Pacifica but ended up with a Korean 4 door hunk on junk , I said to the Dollar man this wasnt the car i had booked, he informed me this car was in the same class as the Pacifica, after a 30mins of moaning he found me a Pacifica. so beware

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

We booker Pacifica with Dollar last year & ended up with the big Chrysler 300. They were everywhere!

 

[daipp]

How was the Durango? I'm thinking of booking one for August.

Absolutely loved it - it had a 4.7 engine and growled with acceleration.
There were only the four of us and we had plenty of room.

Who are you thinking of booking with?

David

 

[Funky_dino]

We had a pacifica a few years ago and was reallt nice and comfortable to drive, esp as we did a quick nip down to miami on the turnpike.
our car we are due to pick up this year is a Seabring (not the soft top one) the next car to upgrade to is a Dodge Charger, and to be honest I'm looking forward to being able to drive the Charger hehe