hate to, but should i keep 2 car reservations?

[pokeysmom]

i'm worried that when we get in on christmas night that budget won't have a car for us when i tried to get a lower rate their website rejects any reservations saying no cars available at this location, we are flying into jacksonville, then driving to wdw. i am so worried that we won't be able to get a car and we are getting in at midnight not much room for trying to find another car . i can get a real good rate with avis. any suggestions??? or have any of you kept 2 reservations?

 

[Bosjoe]

I have made 2 reservations with 2 different companies.. My prefered and alternate as
I call them.. since it doesn't cost anything you could do it and give you piece of mind..

Joe

 

[Disnydad]

I have a reservation w/National for next month. When I checked my reservation on their site, the cost they have is much more than my printout. Due to other posts about problems with National I'm going to make another reservation with another company. I'll decide before then who I will go with. I'm leaning away from National now. Too bad, I liked them in the past. Maybe DC will change the "official" rental agency soon.

 

[sgtdisney]

As long as they don't require you to hold the reservation with a credit card, why not? I usually make 2 reservations. I have had a couple of experiences where a rental company tried to pull the old bait and switch and I wasn't prepared with a back up. It won't happen again.

 

[DMRick]

I'm confused by the idea of having two ressies. Doesn't that mean, when someone else goes to make a ressie, the car rental place wil not have enough cars, and when you don't show up for one of your cars, the car rental places will lose money, since they have themselves as all booked? Sort of like when people hold onto several Disney rooms, trying to decide where they want to stay, and covering all their bases, and others need to pick other weeks, or keep calling and calling, hoping those holding mulitple ressie's will decide, and free up some rooms.
This is prob not a popular comment I'm making, but isn't that a tad selfish? I am really interested in how others view this.
{{I'm ducking!}}

 

[pokeysmom]

dear dmrick, i don't usually do anything like this but i am so afraid that when we get to the airport that the car rental place might not have a car for us, that i have been considering doing this. if we were renting a car during the day and not on a holiday i wouldn't be so nervous but all of the car rental agencies close at 1:30 am that night and i have this fear that we will get there and there won't be a reservation for us or something, surely you have heard of that happening to others. we do travel often and i have never had 2 reservations whether it be hotel, car or restaurant but we also haven't traveled at night on a holiday, so i thought i would get others input, i imagine i will still go with one reservation and pray that things go smoothly especially since its christmas that we will be traveling.

 

[sc2001]

I am also arriving xmas night, around midnight. This is a somewhat last minute trip-I made the reservations about a month ago. I got the plane, the hotel, and then went to book the car.....National (my first choice) had no cars available, Budget (my second choice) had no cars available, I finally settled on Avis. I do think that if you have a car reserved they will have one for you, so I wouldn't worry about getting to the counter with a reservation and having them have no car for you, but I certainly understand how you feel about that night - I have never had so much trouble finding a car!

 

[travelcoupons]

I would cancel one as soon as I could. It is not fair to the car rental companies, or other customers who have to pay higher rental rates because people tie up their inventories with bogus reservations. Car rental rates are based on supply and demand. When there is a large demand (lots of reservations), there are higher rates for everyone.

 

[baileybrad]

Until some or the car rental companies get their financial houses in order, I will hold 2 reservations just in case. Got to cover your bases when things are not really clear.

 

[sgtdisney]

Rental agencies count on a certain number of no shows. They have entire business matrices built around this. I have had one too many incidents at rental agencies where a bait and switch was pulled for me to risk not having a backup plan. Until they are held 100% liable for supplying exactly what you reserved at exactly the rate you are quoted, I would have a back up plan.

 

[pokeysmom]

i was feeling too guilty and cancelled other reservations, hopefully everything will work out, i went with avis, if things don't go well i will let everybody here know. dear travelcoupon i love your site i tried using some of your codes but we are renting in jax and the ones i used didn't work but i have your site in my favorites, thank you!

 

[Humphrey Bear]

I have to agree with sgtdisney. I worked for a car rental company and know how they operate. They are very good at predicting the number of no shows. I would never travel without a back up reservation and consider it an insurance policy. Remember there is no guarantee that you will get the size car that you reserved. I have seen this happen and have had it happen to me personally. Just my two cents.

 

[DMRick]

They are very good at predicting the number of no shows
***************
Judging by the amount of complaints from people saying there was no car for them when they got, there...they aren't good enough at predicting. When I questioned last night why the rates are so much higher now, than when I originally booked (I had to call, because when checking my on line price, it showed counter..and I was aisle..and when I tried to put in another ressie, the price was outrageous)..I got the old "supply and demand" answer. We have a lot of people booking that do not pick up, but since we show we are pretty booked up..our prices now rise, for limited cars.
They changed my old ressie from counter while I was on the phone (and on line..I could see the change!) back to aisle and my original price, but I instantly saw what happens if they get short of cars. The gal I talked to said last night, it's getting so rampant in Orlando, that soon they would be taking non refundable deposits. Same as rooms, as I mentioned earlier..we just now were able to add nights on our original stay (we were spending some of our stay elsewhere and something came up that made it more important we stay right in Orlando). Up til now, they were all booked where we wanted to stay..but as people release their double reservations, rooms free up...but it's a pain to keep calling and get one night at a time.
Think about it..you (not you per se) book two cars, because you don't want to take a chance you won't have one..the car rental places, going on what has happened in the past, figure 20% of you aren't showing up..only you do..so someone doesn't get a car. If they were that good at prediciting no shows, no one would have to get two ressies LOL!

 

[Humphrey Bear]

I guess I didn't make my point clear enough. If the SIZE of the car is a major factor, then it is a good idea to have a back up reservation. A well run rental company should be good at making sure that they have enough vehicles to cover their reservations but there are always exceptions. People can keep the car longer than they reserved, they are waiting on shipments of cars to be delivered, the cars can get in an accident and have to be put out of service for weeks or longer, they can be "trashed" by the customers and have to be sent out to be professionally detailed, they can be over the amount of mileage allowed for their lease and have to be "turned back" to the manufacturer, or they need to get service( i.e. oil changes, tires brakes etc.). So they will try their best to have a vehicle but maybe not the size you need or reserved. I booked a convertible with Avis. They didn't have one ( NOT because of too many reservations but because they were waiting on returns and were weeks behind in getting cars from Chrysler). They gave me a Caddilac and brought a convertible to us the next day. Did it ruin our trip? No, but it may have been a major disappointment for someone who only wanted a convertible and wasn't able to do the switch. Sometimes you will be offered free upgrades from a car class because they have to many of another class. Other times you need a minivan or suv and only can use that type of car so you need that type. Also remeber that car rental rates fluctuate like airlines and tend to go up the closer you get to your trip. Most large companies offer lower rates to the person booking in advance than the one needing the car right now. Walk up's rarely get the best rates even with an abundance of cars. As far deposits go, they have been used by some companies in the past, especially for specialty equipment. I have no problem with that as long as they do have the type of car I need. That would be fine with me, but I doubt they would be able to push the non refundable part.

 

[mom23guys2]

When arriving late at night at a holiday time I think having a second reservation is probably a good idea. If your just going to WDW from the Orlando airport it's not that much of a problem but if your not close by it can be one. We flew into Tampa on MLK weekend very late. Not only was the car we reserved not there but there were no cars available from any agency. They paid for a cab to our house and for a cab back the next day to pick up our car, but it really ate up time the next day(We were outside of Clearwater). It may be selfish but with late night arrivals its better to be safe. I can't do that with EA though because they have my credit card on the reservation

 

[pokeysmom]

i decided about a week or two before our trip that i just couldn't keep two reservations knowing that this could affect others needing a car at the holidays, so i took a chance. i have to admit that avis was wonderful, they didn't have a midsize car so we got our pick from a minivan, cadillac or convertible, we picked the cadillac and it was wonderful. the check in and check out process went very smoothly, the staff at the jacksonville airport avis was great. i would highly recommend them.