Emerald Club Member - Help!

[jaff87]

I just joined the National Emerald Club for our next trip in August 2012.

I put in credit card info. into my profile, etc. I started playing around with rate codes, etc. and I found a car that I could live with for now and figured I would "book" it. When I did, I received the confirmation from National that said I was "Confirmed". Does that mean I just charged $600 to my credit card?

I know with Alamo, you can book without charging your card in advance.

I am in panic mode right now. Someone help!

 

[bumbershoot]

I doubt it. Why not call to make sure?

Also, play around with codes and coupons! $600 now will probably drop tremendously by the time you hit a month out from your reservation. At least it has for me, with our two trips out there.

 

[jaff87]

Took your advice and called. They said the card would not be charged until we pick up the car. Hopefully, the rates will drop. The thought of paying $600 for a car rental is killing me, but I'm so afraid the prices will jump (like everything else these days).

 

[conniehar90]

I usually always get great rates from National but you have to keep checking. I usually end up cancelling and rebooking several times before our trip. Check Mousesavers and Flyertalk for good codes. $600 is way to high, you should be able to get that down in the $200-$300 range (for a week). Good luck.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm glad you called.

You have such a long time until your trip. I really wouldn't worry.

In the meantime, read through the threads about codes and coupons, just to see what sort of codes and coupons float around out there. And check out mousesavers.com in their rental car section, because they post codes and coupons that are OK for the public to use!

When I first looked at rental cars for our vacation last month, rates were lovely. Literally overnight they raised the prices like crazy. I was in your range, for a 2 week reservation for a mid-size. I just kept watching, hoping, and checking out different codes and coupons, and as we got much much closer to the vacation, it started dropping.

I did have to check EVERY day, sometimes twice a day. When you do this, and I don't recommend checking every day *now*, because this probably won't happen until a few months before your trip (and then inside of that time), be sure you've got the exact dates, times, and pickup/dropoffs in there....nothing beats the mental pain of getting excited about a really low rate, only to find out that you had goofed on the length of time, LOL.

Anyway, I ended up getting a 2 week mid-size for 207.30 (which was actually charged at 207.27 which is weird). And when I got to the Emerald Aisle there was a plethora of BIG vehicles, and we got a Durango. (and then we extended the trip and got the car for 2 extra days at the *same rate* that we were getting for those 2 weeks, which was just splendid of National and I love them for it)


So just keep on checking, and hopefully you'll get the rates down to a level that doesn't take your breath away!