Please Check Your National Reservations

[cindala]

This is an alert for those of you with National Car reservations to call National and check your rate!!

I called to check my rate, which I obtained using the DC contract # and the Entertainment coupon. The dollar amount they had on record for my reservation number was WAY more than what my printed confirmation and email said!! (Try $200 more!) They also said they were unable to honor it!

After numerous times on hold, and asking to speak to a manager, I was told that the contract number and the coupon number must match, or you can not use two discounts. In other words, I must use a DC contract with a DC coupon, or an Entertainment contract with an Entertainment coupon. I used a DC contract with an Entertainment Coupon, which their system readily accepted, on three different occassions that I made reservations. Therefore, I said that they must honor it.

The supervisor said that I now need to go to the counter, and show them my printout, and hopefully they will honor it. They finally did try to modify the reservation in their system, but it was still $10 more than my original. They cannot modify it more than once, and so if I want that extra $10 I must go to the counter. Otherwise, I can just go to the aisle. I think I can live with the extra $10, rather than the original $200 overcharge.

The supervisor also said that the technical department is working on developing a firewall which will not allow two different contract/coupons to be used.

Just a heads up to check your reservation before you leave, and try to troubleshoot any headaches when you get there!

 

[punkin]

Oh Poop. I just got a reservation with a code from mousesavers and an entertainment coupon for fee weekend day. There do not seem to be any contract codes in the entertainment book at all. All I can say is they BETTER honor it!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

WOW, thanks for the heads up on this.
Just an FYI, and I do know that things can change, but last Feb. we did use the AARP code with the BJs coupon and had absolutely NO problem when we checked out.
I believe they have to honor the confirmation as quoted, just bring it with you ( I am sure you already know this.).
On my present reservation with them, they show the discount for AARP and the BJ's coupon.
Since this post made me think, I called National and what I have for a confirmation price 159.07 is what they show on their computers.
I wonder what the OP did that made it not work for her. It is a bummer, for sure.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by punkin
Oh Poop. I just got a reservation with a code from mousesavers and an entertainment coupon for fee weekend day. There do not seem to be any contract codes in the entertainment book at all. All I can say is they BETTER honor it!

Punkin,
On your coupon, there should be a code also. Or...it should be on Entertainment's website.
Just to be on the safe side, I would call and ask them to confirm the rate. I just did, and they were very very nice. 1-800-carrent.

 

[punkin]

Thanks Gail. I did find the other code. I tried to plug it in for the website and it comes out to be about $40 more than the code I originally used. I think I will keep my original ressie (unless something better comes up) and get a confirmation from national on the phone. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[lawgs]

just checked my november reservation and sure enough it has changed from110.73 to 219.81 even though i have the print outs from the net and an email that says otherwise...

this was booked march 6, 2003 just before the changes were made to emerald aisle and we were still able to book full size for the price of intermediate

wonder what they are doing at National to all of a sudden be changing rates .....this happened in may/june too but they "allowed" the confirmed price when i called...

luckily we have the print out and will take that with us ....but will probably have to spend some time at the counter working it OUT...


all our other pending rentals with nataional....st louis, baltimore and las vegas seem to be fine when i checked them so maybe it is an "orlando" problem

 

[punkin]

I just called to check my rate. I did not point out to them that the contract code and coupon code were different. They confirmed the rate. I have a print out. I have an email. I hope I will have no trouble. I will call a few days before my trip to reconfirm the rate. Otherwise, I'll just keep my fingers crossed (and try to lowball an even better rate on priceline )

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by lawgs
just checked my november reservation and sure enough it has changed from110.73 to 219.81 even though i have the print outs from the net and an email that says otherwise...

this was booked march 6, 2003 just before the changes were made to emerald aisle and we were still able to book full size for the price of intermediate

wonder what they are doing at National to all of a sudden be changing rates .....this happened in may/june too but they "allowed" the confirmed price when i called...

luckily we have the print out and will take that with us ....but will probably have to spend some time at the counter working it OUT...


all our other pending rentals with nataional....st louis, baltimore and las vegas seem to be fine when i checked them so maybe it is an "orlando" problem

Lawgs,
Mine is the same as the print out and it is for Orlando.

When I spoke to the agent she even listed the discounts. One for AARP at 10% and the coupon for 20.00 from BJs. Go figure.

 

[FoodLover]

I have mixed all manner of discount codes, coupons, contract IDs, etc at National repeatedly, and as recently as last week.

I always booked online and have never had the slightest problem when picking up the car. I've never been charged more than the confirmed amount. In fact, in a few cases I've been charged LESS.

By the way, it is common to find your rate has changed (sometimes significantly) if you go back into an online reservation later. Some kind of quirk in the system. However, it never seems to be a problem when you show up and get the car. Just be sure to print out your confirmation at the time you make the reservation.

Also, this is why you should NEVER go into an existing online reservation at NationalCar.com and change anything. It's almost guaranteed to cause your rate to be screwed up. Make a new reservation and cancel the old one.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[lawgs]

thanks mary....maybe that is what has happened...it sure was a shock to look up the reservation number and see the "big" change in cost

i did a rebooking of intermediate today using the same codes i used with the original booking and it came back at 176$ ...the web site allowed me to use two different codes ....one DC and one entertainment (20$ off), thus until they find some way to block using different codes and the website spits out a confirmation they may have to "honour" reservations so placed...

not sure but it seems the trouble with my two reservations were due to "booking" just before the switch of full size cars from "same as" emerald aisle intermediate to them being "emerald reserve"

they did take care of the "difference" in june but now i see we will have to pursue this one in november

 

[beattyfamily]

I just called, even though I thought I'd leave well enough alone, but then I thought that if they do increase the price, my DH would just pay it as he returns the car by himself and he wouldn't even realize he paid more or why and he wouldn't fight it!!! If I was the one dropping it off, I wouldn't call ahead to check on it; I'd just show them my paperwork at drop off if they raise the price.

So I just got off the phone. She checked my reservation for me and said the date and that it was a full size and then she said my total was $120 instead of $111. I asked if the price difference was fees/taxes or something and she said "no, it's because you went from Emerald Aisle to Emerald Reserve". I said "well, that's not my doing". "Both my confirmation email and the confirmation from your website, that I printed out, state that I reserved a full size, at $111. and Emerald Aisle". She said, "well, to pay $111, I would have to go to the EA and get a mid-size". I said "no, I want a Full size for $111 as that is what I reserved". She said "can you hold please?" and put me on hold for a long time. She came back and said "looks like you are reserved for a Full size for $111." I said "so I'm all set, and I can go to the Full size aisle?" and she said "it looks like you can go to the EA". I said fine and hung up.

Now I'm afraid I opened up a whole can of worms! I better get my Full size at $111!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by beattyfamily
I just called, even though I thought I'd leave well enough alone, but then I thought that if they do increase the price, my DH would just pay it as he returns the car by himself and he wouldn't even realize he paid more or why and he wouldn't fight it!!! If I was the one dropping it off, I wouldn't call ahead to check on it; I'd just show them my paperwork at drop off if they raise the price.

So I just got off the phone. She checked my reservation for me and said the date and that it was a full size and then she said my total was $120 instead of $111. I asked if the price difference was fees/taxes or something and she said "no, it's because you went from Emerald Aisle to Emerald Reserve". I said "well, that's not my doing". "Both my confirmation email and the confirmation from your website, that I printed out, state that I reserved a full size, at $111. and Emerald Aisle". She said, "well, to pay $111, I would have to go to the EA and get a mid-size". I said "no, I want a Full size for $111 as that is what I reserved". She said "can you hold please?" and put me on hold for a long time. She came back and said "looks like you are reserved for a Full size for $111." I said "so I'm all set, and I can go to the Full size aisle?" and she said "it looks like you can go to the EA". I said fine and hung up.

Now I'm afraid I opened up a whole can of worms! I better get my Full size at $111!

Personally, I cannot wait for your return (not that I want to rush your vacation) and hear how this went.

 

[cindala]

Originally posted by lawgs
just checked my november reservation and sure enough it has changed from110.73 to 219.81 even though i have the print outs from the net and an email that says otherwise...

this was booked march 6, 2003 just before the changes were made to emerald aisle and we were still able to book full size for the price of intermediate

wonder what they are doing at National to all of a sudden be changing rates .....this happened in may/june too but they "allowed" the confirmed price when i called...

This is when we booked our reservation too! Maybe it has something to do with the change from EA to ER.

All I did was use the DC contract # and the Entertainment Coupon, and the system accepted it, no problem. I never made any changes or modified it in any way. BUT, their computer system had the different price in it. (Even when I checked my ressie on line, it was the correct price!) It seems that their system has a totally different set of numbers in it!

I only called them because two earlier ressies I had cancelled on line, weren't showing up as cancelled, and I didn't want to be charged for them. Once that was properly cancelled by them, I gave them the res.# for my final booking. That's when the trouble started.

If you booked your reservation around the beginning of March when all the changes started with Emerald Aisle and Emerald Reserve, then please check your reservations. I know I wouldn't want a surprize bill amount when I return my car!

 

[ripleysmom]

I've mixed and matched before without a problem too. My next ressie doesn't have a coupon cause it's a minivan but I will keep my eye open in the future.

 

[madge]

whew! I checked mine and all is well--$153 for 9 days on the EA, made on March 12 with different discounts. When I tried to add my flight number online, the fare shot up to almost twice as much. I called National and the nice rep told me to NEVER change anything online if you want to keep the rate you have. Modifying by phone was very easy and everything looks correct

 

[Lewisc]

About 2 years ago I spoke to an internet computer person at National. (Problem with National assigning the same confirmation number to more than 1 person). Back then they were aware of the fact that the system was allowing for "illegal" coupons/discount code combination. Most of the discount coupons specifiy what discount code must be used.

Back then they were honoring the rates but it would make sense that at some point they will either correct the computer system or have some check the coupons when you get the car.