Pre-Pay Fuel; Alamo Half-Tank

[Day-Day]

I don't know if this was a local policy or if it is normal for Alamo car rentals. I recently rented at the Savannah airport and was able to pre-pay for half of a tank of fuel. The car started with a full tank.

The amount Alamo was charging per gallon was a little less than any prices I saw at local gas stations. I was told how much half a tank would cost ($12) and I had to return the car with no less than a half tank of gas or I would be charged (don't remember what that would have been). I was not aware of this half-tank option and also expected the price for fuel to be higher.

This was good deal for me. I figured I would be throwing away a few dollars but I would not have to add the extra process of filling the tank before going back to the airport. I would not have considered this for a full tank because I did not expect to put that many miles on the car but we did approach half of a tank of usage.

Does Alamo offer this at Orlando International (MCO)? I would consider this if offered at MCO for a visit to WDW. If I ended up using more than a half tank of gas, I would be able to add a few gallons a day or two before returning to the airport which eliminates the added time and stress of filling on the way to the airport. I would still lose a little money but I've had some early morning flights and stopping for gas is a pain.

 

[bumbershoot]

I haven't seen it.

We drive quite a bit when at Disney/Universal, so we sometimes have to fill up during the trip then just a few gallons at the end. So neither of those options would work for us.

I don't feel that getting gas before turning in the car is stressful; if it feels stressful to me, it's because I've left too little room in the schedule. As long as I overbudget our time, there's no stress.

 

[seashoreCM]

Prepaying for gas can be a big convenience.

Prepaying for gas is a big profit maker for the car rental agency.

You will be very anxious about running out in the middle of the road if you buy a whole tankful and try to use it all up; usually 2 or 3 gallons are left behind for which you get no credit or refund.

If you could prepay for a half tank, it is very difficult to get it back to exactly half full when you return the car. So you put in more than needed which is the rental company's extra profit. Compared with not prepaying and filling it up before return when you can let the pump click off to tell you when you got it to full full.

Long long time ago there was another format of prepaying for a half tank where they gave you the car just (about) half full. Here you have the first problem of being anxious about running out if you try to use it all.

If you don't prepay for any gas you can try filling up the night before. Then, if you run short of time you will only have to pay the agency for only a small amount of their super expensive gas to top off with if you run short of time.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

All car rental gas payment programs are a rip off. Fill the tank yourself.

 

[Woodview]

Any of the cars that I have rented over the last 15 years have Full tanks of Gas in them at the start .

So Full to Full is the best way to have your fuel policy .

They May / Will take a refundable amount of $ swipe of your credit card .

You are never very far from a Gas Station anyway & to fill up to full will only take a few $.

This applies to Europe as well where I live.

When we arrive in USA & Europe , we always have a Pre Paid Car Voucher with the Full to Full fuel policy.

We have had 6 rental cars this year .. 2 in USA & 4 in mainland Europe.

Next year it looks like 2 rentals in USA , 1 in Canada , & 3 in Europe & 1 in UK.

 

[Day-Day]

OP here. When I rented a car last week, I was staying very close to the airport and only had a couple of miles to travel on the last day. I filled the car up the night before I returned it.

The half tank deal I posted about started out with a full tank and had to be returned with a half tank or more. At under $2 per gallon, I probably ended up "donating" about $4 to the rental car company. I'll stick with the normal plan of not pre-paying and filling the car myself at MCO.

I have been at some airports where it is difficult to find a gas station and the option to pre-pay for half-a-tank is better than pre-pay for a full tank; especially if I don't expect to put a lot of miles on the car.