How picky is Alamo if picking up car half hour later?

mermaidwannabe

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Jun 8, 2004
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My flight just changed so we are now getting in closer to midnight. I originally booked my ressie to pick up the car at 11:30PM. When I went to make a new ressie to change pick up time to midnight, it added $20 to my ressie, which of course I don't want. If I check in with the kiosk will it even matter if I just leave my existing ressie? Thank you.
 
My flight just changed so we are now getting in closer to midnight. I originally booked my ressie to pick up the car at 11:30PM. When I went to make a new ressie to change pick up time to midnight, it added $20 to my ressie, which of course I don't want. If I check in with the kiosk will it even matter if I just leave my existing ressie? Thank you.

What happens if you change the pick up to the next day and put in a 1am pickup? Will it be less then what you started with since you are renting the car for 1 day less?
 
What happens if you change the pick up to the next day and put in a 1am pickup? Will it be less then what you started with since you are renting the car for 1 day less?

Car rental rates are generally base on a 24 hour, not calendar, day. The total number of days the car will be rented won't change.

I don't know if this is still true but National used to hold reservations until midnight. Do you have your flight number listed on your reservation? I'd think National would work with you, particularly since you'll be picking up the car withing an hour of your original pick up time BUT at midnight I don't know hoe long it will take to get an employee who can work with you.
 
What happens if you change the pick up to the next day and put in a 1am pickup? Will it be less then what you started with since you are renting the car for 1 day less?

I changed the pick up time to 12:30AM and it still is more but not as much ($15). Should I change the time and eat the $15? I don't want them to give my ressie away if I'm late or would they? Our flight gets in at 11:41PM now, so depending on how long it takes to get off plane and bathroom breaks for the kids maybe it would even be after midnight. ??
 

I changed the pick up time to 12:30AM and it still is more but not as much ($15). Should I change the time and eat the $15? I don't want them to give my ressie away if I'm late or would they? Our flight gets in at 11:41PM now, so depending on how long it takes to get off plane and bathroom breaks for the kids maybe it would even be after midnight. ??

I would put pick up time 1am and if you get there earlier that's okay too and just pay whatever the difference is for piece of mind. You didn't allow time to pick up your bags either. So it will be at 12 midnight for sure.

Enjoy the mouse!
 
Yeah, I guess $15 is worth piece of mind. Just redid ressie and almost forgot to change the date to the next day since I rebooked for a pick up of 12:30AM! Yikes that would have been bad as I would have been 12 hours late lol!! Thanks!
 
My flight just changed so we are now getting in closer to midnight. I originally booked my ressie to pick up the car at 11:30PM. When I went to make a new ressie to change pick up time to midnight, it added $20 to my ressie, which of course I don't want. If I check in with the kiosk will it even matter if I just leave my existing ressie? Thank you.

It's my understanding that if you have your flight information (airline/flight # & arrival time) completed on your original reservation they will honor it since the change was not 'your fault'. I've only had a change of a few hours in this regard and it didn't run into the next day, ymmv. This is one of the rare instances where i would call them regarding a rate.
 
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It's my understanding that if you have your flight information (airline/flight # & arrival time) completed on your original reservation they will honor it since the change was not 'your fault'. I've only had a change of a few hours in this regard and it didn't run into the next day, ymmv. This is one of the rare instances where i would call them regarding a rate.

If it wasn't close to midnight I don't think I would sweat it, but it ended up being $13 so even though it bugs me, it will be worth me not worrying about it. Dang Delta! Thank you for your post!
 
If it wasn't close to midnight I don't think I would sweat it, but it ended up being $13 so even though it bugs me, it will be worth me not worrying about it. Dang Delta! Thank you for your post!

lucky 13;) you have a good attitude about it, enjoy your trip.
 
When I have had flight delays (extensive) or flight time changes, I just call the car company direct and have never had an issue with rate change. Sometimes you can't do everything online that a reservationist has access to. Also you would not want to make a new reservation but modify (not sure if that was the issue in your case).
 
With Alamo your reservation is good until midnight on the date of your rental. If you can't make it by midnight your reservation will cancel and you will have to make a "walk up" reservation which can be very costly.

So to be safe I would change your reservation even if it means it would cost $15 more.
 
Situations like this merit a telephone call. Sometimes humans can do what machines cannot.
 
Hi! I did change my pick up time to 12:30AM just in case and by the way, the price had gone down that morning back to the same so I was very happy about that. For some reason my email ressie didn't have a barcode on it so had to use the counter, and the man there could not have been nicer to deal with. No trying to upsell me and thanking me a few times for using Alamo. So easy I really couldn't have asked for anything to have gone better. Great experience!
 
Hi! I did change my pick up time to 12:30AM just in case and by the way, the price had gone down that morning back to the same so I was very happy about that. For some reason my email ressie didn't have a barcode on it so had to use the counter, and the man there could not have been nicer to deal with. No trying to upsell me and thanking me a few times for using Alamo. So easy I really couldn't have asked for anything to have gone better. Great experience!

I don't think you have to have a barcode to use the kiosk. If you have used SaveTime, you can swipe your Drivers License to initiate the kiosk checkin. I think you can also pull up your reservation by confirmation number only at the kiosk.
 
I don't think you have to have a barcode to use the kiosk. If you have used SaveTime, you can swipe your Drivers License to initiate the kiosk checkin. I think you can also pull up your reservation by confirmation number only at the kiosk.

Thank you good to know for next time!
 





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