DOLLAR: Returning a weekly rental early

[kittylady1972]

We have booked a 12-passenger van for an upcoming WDW trip with a large group in October. When I booked, I wasn't sure of the dates, so I chose 11am Wed - 11am Tuesday, which of course means I got a great weekly rental rate.

So now I'm picking the car up at probably 8pm or so on Wednesday...and need to return it at about 12pm on Monday and not Tuesday. So I won't quite have it a week...and I'll be returning it about 23 hours earlier than I had planned...but also picking it up about 9 hours LATER than planned.

Any idea what kind of "extra" charges Dollar will hit me up with in this case? I've emailed them but no response so far. That same rental for the period I need it...will cost me about $500 more for the week. As a backup, I've booked another rental but it is daily and runs Wed - Sunday...leaving me a day short there too...and adding a day there (again) would mean an extra $300+ on that rental to rebook now.

I hate to give up the van because we like driving to the parks and were looking forward to hauling some of our group with us, but if the added costs are going to be high I will happily dump it and just get a car for us and leave the rest on their own.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

You need to do a modification to the reservation and see what happens to your rate. You don't need to agree to change just do fake modification and see what happens to rate. You are changing times and terms so they can change rate per your changing contract.

Nobody here can tell you the correct answer. Call or do modification online.

 

[writerguyfl]

Typically, rental car companies and hotels do not allow customers to make changes to existing reservations via email. Availability can change minute to minute. As such, in the time it takes a customer to respond to an email response the car or hotel room might end up being sold.

To get your answer, try making the modification online like zoo2tycoon suggests or call Dollar.

 

[Alesia]

Keep in mind that picking up late and dropping off early really screws with their inventory. You can expect that to be reflected in the "extra" charges.

You definitely need to modify the reservation.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

You need to change it and yes it's probably going to cost more, but...

there are not that many 12 passenger vans in a fleet. When you don't show up and a few hours later someone walks up to get one the rental car company won't be real motivated to keep holding one for a passenger who finally presents 9 hours later.

This may flip you to a daily rate which is probably going to cost a lot more

 

[nacho113]

We have booked a 12-passenger van for an upcoming WDW trip with a large group in October. When I booked, I wasn't sure of the dates, so I chose 11am Wed - 11am Tuesday, which of course means I got a great weekly rental rate.

So now I'm picking the car up at probably 8pm or so on Wednesday...and need to return it at about 12pm on Monday and not Tuesday. So I won't quite have it a week...and I'll be returning it about 23 hours earlier than I had planned...but also picking it up about 9 hours LATER than planned.

Any idea what kind of "extra" charges Dollar will hit me up with in this case? I've emailed them but no response so far. That same rental for the period I need it...will cost me about $500 more for the week. As a backup, I've booked another rental but it is daily and runs Wed - Sunday...leaving me a day short there too...and adding a day there (again) would mean an extra $300+ on that rental to rebook now.

I hate to give up the van because we like driving to the parks and were looking forward to hauling some of our group with us, but if the added costs are going to be high I will happily dump it and just get a car for us and leave the rest on their own.

You won't get a reply on this by email, you will need to call the 800 number and speak to an agent directly.
6 days usually falls into the weekly rate, but only an agent can make these changes for you with any hope of keeping your original rate.
Definitely DO NOT just show up 9 hours late, at best you can expect a much higher daily walk-up rate. At worst, vehicle could no longer be available (rented out to someone else)
Make the call 1-800-800-4000

As a back-up, I'd book a car if you can get a decent rate. Try a search engine like carrentalsavers.com to get an idea of current pricing and which companies have the best prices.

 

[kittylady1972]

Thanks everybody! I went ahead and called and made the changes by phone...no major price change thankfully! Yay!

 

[nacho113]

Thanks everybody! I went ahead and called and made the changes by phone...no major price change thankfully! Yay!