Early car rental pickup

[las3888]

Hi all,

We may be changing our flight to an earlier arrival time. We reserved a car at a great rate but our pickup time for the car on the reservation is 5pm. If we change our flight, we would be arriving at approx. 1:30-2:00. Do car rental agencies penalize you for this? Our specific reservation is with FOX in LAX, so it's a little obscure and didn't think people would know about that specifically but in general what happens? When I try to change the reservation, it re-prices the whole thing and it's much more expensive now than it was when I booked. Any experience with this?

 

[StageTek]

Yes, if you change the reservation you will not get the rate of the original reservation.

 

[las3888]

Yes, if you change the reservation you will not get the rate of the original reservation.

Yes, thanks... I am just wondering what would happen if we showed up 3 hours early for our car...not sure if they would try to tack on fees or what.

 

[Lewisc]

Yes, thanks... I am just wondering what would happen if we showed up 3 hours early for our car...not sure if they would try to tack on fees or what.

There is a chance they won't even have a car available. There is a chance you'll have to wait.Typically there wouldn't be an extra charge, your return time might be advanced.

 

[StageTek]

Yes, thanks... I am just wondering what would happen if we showed up 3 hours early for our car...not sure if they would try to tack on fees or what.

They may honor the original price. But just remember - if the original agreement was 5PM to 5PM and you pick it up at 2PM, return it before 2PM on the due date. Otherwise they will charge you for the extra hours and not at the original price.

This isn't just FOX. This is just about every car rental.

 

[las3888]

Thanks all, I might just try calling them to see what they say…our return flight is at 1 so we should be good in that respect.

 

[spiders]

Under most circumstances, nothing will happen at all. You will get your car and you’ll be on your way -- even 3 hours and again, under normal circumstances, it’s not going to change your rate assuming you also return 3 hour early.

So with that being said, when is your return time? That could definitely change things temporarily or permanently. If you said you were picking up at 5PM and returning at 5PM then showing up at 1PM will change the “out” time to 1PM but your return time will still show the same. At that point, an extra day would apply. If you return by 1PM then the extra day would fall off at the end. Typically 1 hour over equals 1/2 of your daily rate and then 2 hours is a the daily rate.

 

[EACarlson]

With one of the major companies you'd be fine. With Fox, I don't know. They have been known to reprice for small things. Always a worry when using one of the lower tier companies.

 

[seashoreCM]

YMMV.

I have had it happen both ways with the same lower tier company at the same location (Orlsndo MCO). That is, I showed up early on two different occasions. One time they just gave me the car early. The other time they did not and I waited until the reserved pickup time. (I did not ask about or try to modify the reservation in advance.)

I did not analyze things further but I suppose the company would be less likely to grant you waivers and favors during a busy time such as Daytona Week in Florida.

 

[Lewisc]

I did not analyze things further but I suppose the company would be less likely to grant you waivers and favors during a busy time such as Daytona Week in Florida.

I suspect the agency didn't have cars available. Otherwise they might have at least offered an early pickup if you paid an extra fee.