Question about car rental from someone who has never rented one before!

[japanese maple]

We have a back-up reservation for a car from the car care center at Swan/Dolphin through Alamo for the day we are scheduled to fly home. This is in case flights are chaos due to shutdown and we need to drive home.

What are the chances of us going to pick up the car and being told there are none? I keep reading horror stories on reddit, but, it's also reddit.

Just making decisions on any back up plans, thanks!

 

[jimmymc]

If you have a reservation, it's pretty rare that there's nothing available.

 

[japanese maple]

If you have a reservation, it's pretty rare that there's nothing available.

Thank you!

 

[sam_gordon]

It is possible you may have to wait for a car to be returned and detailed before you can get in it though. That happened to me a couple of months ago at LGA. Had a reservation, got to the counter, and they didn't have cars ready yet. I ended up waiting about an hour to get my car.

Not saying it's going to happen, but the chances, while close to, are not 0%.

 

[japanese maple]

It is possible you may have to wait for a car to be returned and detailed before you can get in it though. That happened to me a couple of months ago at LGA. Had a reservation, got to the counter, and they didn't have cars ready yet. I ended up waiting about an hour to get my car.

Not saying it's going to happen, but the chances, while close to, are not 0%.

Thanks! We don't mind waiting as long as we get one.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Picking up from Alamo at the Dolphin, it could be that the car category you have booked is not immediately available. In that case, they may offer you an “free upgrade” or give you the option to wait while they bring a car over from the Car Care Center. That happened to us twice. The first time we accepted the “upgrade” from a full size sedan to an SUV. Unfortunately, the SUV turned out to be a large Suburban, basically a truck compared to my usual drives and we were stuck with it for a full week driving to the Gulf coast after our WDW stay. Never again. The second time, I waited for a car to be brought over from the CCC. Much better outcome. Car availability at the Dolphin is somewhat dependent on what has been returned there.

 

[Simba's Mom]

It is possible you may have to wait for a car to be returned and detailed before you can get in it though. That happened to me a couple of months ago at LGA. Had a reservation, got to the counter, and they didn't have cars ready yet. I ended up waiting about an hour to get my car.

Not saying it's going to happen, but the chances, while close to, are not 0%.

You can tell I've watched too much "Dumb and Dumber"-"So you're telling me there's a chance!"

Hope all goes well!

 

[Lewisc]

We have a back-up reservation for a car from the car care center at Swan/Dolphin through Alamo for the day we are scheduled to fly home.

You have a reservation you don't plan on honoring. How much overbooking will Alamo do to compensate? How many rental customers will wind up extending their rental so they can drive home?

You have a reservation you don't plan on honoring. You're concerned Almo won't honor your reservation. Just saying.

 

[japanese maple]

You have a reservation you don't plan on honoring. How much overbooking will Alamo do to compensate? How many rental customers will wind up extending their rental so they can drive home?

You have a reservation you don't plan on honoring. You're concerned Almo won't honor your reservation. Just saying.

Just asking if it happens! I mean, I can't complain right?

I'm canceling the night before, hopefully even sooner if shutdown ends. We will know if we are flying by then. That won't affect anyone trying to pick up or reserve that day. Not sure what the issue is as long as we cancel beforehand!

 

[Lewisc]

My wording could have been better. Assume the worst. MCO is all but closed. Many guests will be extending their rental and will drive home. The number of no shows and cancelations will be way down.
Maybe an airport reservation. Assuming the worst incoming passengers may be down.

 

[japanese maple]

My wording could have been better. Assume the worst. MCO is all but closed. Many guests will be extending their rental and will drive home. The number of no shows and cancelations will be way down.
Maybe an airport reservation. Assuming the worst incoming passengers may be down.

I don't know what else to do I guess.

 

[easyas123]

Where are you coming from / flying in from?

 

[EACarlson]

We have a back-up reservation for a car from the car care center at Swan/Dolphin through Alamo for the day we are scheduled to fly home. This is in case flights are chaos due to shutdown and we need to drive home.

What are the chances of us going to pick up the car and being told there are none? I keep reading horror stories on reddit, but, it's also reddit.

Just making decisions on any back up plans, thanks!

If MCO is in chaos, I would bet there are no vehicles to be had anywhere and the chances you get one with a reservation is slim. People are not going to return their vehicles or there will be a run on vehicles so that people can get home. Car rental companies are not the pinnacle of customer service in the best of times, when they can get $500/day from people that are trying to get home, they're going to take the money and ignore the reservations that have reasonable rates.

 

[japanese maple]

If MCO is in chaos, I would bet there are no vehicles to be had anywhere and the chances you get one with a reservation is slim. People are not going to return their vehicles or there will be a run on vehicles so that people can get home. Car rental companies are not the pinnacle of customer service in the best of times, when they can get $500/day from people that are trying to get home, they're going to take the money and ignore the reservations that have reasonable rates.

was this supposed to make me feel better? I'm actually starting to have real anxiety symptoms over this.

Well, oh well then. Unless you have any other suggestions, that's all I can do. I'll just pack enough to sleep at airport until we can get home. Or maybe we just cancel.
No need to respond, thanks!

 

[Lewisc]

was this supposed to make me feel better? I'm actually starting to have real anxiety symptoms over this.

Well, oh well then. Unless you have any other suggestions, that's all I can do. I'll just pack enough to sleep at airport until we can get home. Or maybe we just cancel.
No need to respond, thanks!

Bring extra drugs and medical supplies such insulin pump supplies and CGM sensors.

Worse case. Flights are slashed. You want to get home

Can your family take different flights home. Can you fly to a different airport?

A shutdown in air should result in something being done.

 

[japanese maple]

Bring extra drugs and medical supplies such insulin pump supplies and CGM sensors.

Worse case. Flights are slashed. You want to get home

Can your family take different flights home. Can you fly to a different airport?

A shutdown in air should result in something being done.

Sure we can take different flights home if there are any! It's not a money thing.

I just read about the ground stop at LaGuardia in 2019 that ended that shutdown. The actual ground stop lasted I think a few hours, but the delays lasted into next day. They said delays were about 2 hours there and at surrounding airports too.

We are okay with waiting a few hours if that's the worse case scenario. My brother said he can pick up our cat from the vet and watch him if we can't get him on his scheduled pick up day. It's just we can't be stranded for days.

Fingers crossed!

 

[EACarlson]

was this supposed to make me feel better? I'm actually starting to have real anxiety symptoms over this.

Well, oh well then. Unless you have any other suggestions, that's all I can do. I'll just pack enough to sleep at airport until we can get home. Or maybe we just cancel.
No need to respond, thanks!

If you can afford to do it, I would look at booking a refundable back up flight from somewhere other than MCO. With a different connection point if necessary than what you have now. Currently, and in the previous instances, the delays were mostly due to individual locations and not systemwide. If ATL has issues, it will mostly affect Delta, if it's in NJ, then United is going to bear the brunt of it. If it's MCO, flights might be going normally from TPA, MLB or JAX.