National -anyone cancel late and get charged anyway?

[Rpsemont]

I currently have two reservations for our November trip - one with budget and one with national. I seem to remember that when booking through the Emerald Aisle site it said something about you must cancel with 24 hours notice or you'll be charged a day. Since they have all my credit card info, I just assumed this would happen. My budget reservation is about $25 cheaper, but I've never used them before and would like to hang onto the National reservation in case the budget doesn't go well. I'd also like to hedge my best with the possible car shortage. SO back to the original question, ever been charged for a car rental that you either didn't who up for, or canceled after your expected rental time?

 

[Dagny]

Can't answer your cancellation question, but I am booking two seperate reservations for our December trip... all of these posts have me really concerned about car shortages. When I booked my National reservation, I didn't use my EA number. Booked it using only my name and email address. Rate wasn't any different, I just have to use counter service check-in instead of EA car pick up.... to me, it is worth a little hassle for a little piece of mind!

 

[DebbieB]

Someone posted on another thread that they only charge the "no show" fee for reservations larger than full size (i.e. mini-van, convertible, luxury, etc). You may want to call and ask. Say you may have a last minute cancellation and you wondered what the policy is.

 

[CarolA]

Read your confirmation. It generally tells you if you will be charged or call the company and ask a general question.

I routinely fail to show up for reservations and have never been charged.

 

[rlduvall]

I had EA reserved for 9/25 to 10/2. We changed our trip to 12/4 to 12/11 about two weeks before 9/25 because of weather concerns (boy, did we call that one right). Then, I FORGOT TO CANCEL the reservation for 9/25. I remembered the night of the 25th, lol. I ran to the phone just sick about it and the guy at National was very nice and said there is no charge for that. Of course, in my case, the airport had closed at 5:00 that day due to Jeanne. I've always wondered if Jeanne saved my butt.

 

[232271]

We used budget once and hated our experience.
we always use National Emerald isle.
IT is great !!

good luck!

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by 232271
We used budget once and hated our experience.
we always use National Emerald isle.
IT is great !!

I have not rented from Budget before, but the 2005 edition (and 2004) of the Unofficial Guide to WDW rate Budget the lowest among the majors at MCO, on both service and car quality. For our dates Budget is pricier anyway, so not an issue for us. Perhaps piece of mind is worth the $25? Then again, you spend enough at WDW anyway, perhaps you should cut corners where you can (and where it might not matter)?