Rental booking glitch?

[huskies90]

I have a week long family trip planned in April (not to Orlando/Disney) where I will be renting a car. I have been checking rates regularly. I will be picking up on a Sunday afternoon and dropping the following Sunday morning at a different airport. So, when checking rates, I have just been putting Sunday to Sunday - Noon to Noon because I know I will be charged a weekly rate no matter what.

However, one time when I was checking rates I accidently changed the return time to 1PM (So Sunday to Sunday - Noon - 1PM) and although the rate was a weekly rate + 1hr, it was significantly lower. I booked this rate. I don't see any issues with this. Even if I drop the car off in the AM before our Sunday flight and don't make it the entire week, I should just get charged the weekly rate. And even if they charge the extra hour, it was only $3.50 extra.

Does anyone see any issues with this? I am also perplexed how this happened in the rental companies booking system.

 

[kj2mom]

I think when I made my reservation I used my return flight time as my car return time just so that I wouldn't go over my time for any reason. I think we ended up at the airport a little over 2 hours prior to our flight and when I was charged it was the amount I reserved at (not more, not less).

 

[auger]

There are times when you will get a lower price for a longer time. That's why I always play with the times a little bit. It's not a glitch, just the way it played out for you for the moment. You could try it ten minutes later and could be gone.

 

[nacho113]

If you are just doing a quick check to see what the rates are like, leaving the default noon to noon times is fine (although I recommend putting in the actual times for the most accurate rates). If you find something that you are going to book, you will definitely want the correct times in the search.
It is important to have the correct times in your reservation, sometimes it can be VERY important (or can be a costly mistake).
If you are flying in, I would also make sure that you put in the flight information in-case of a delayed flight or similar.

For example: If you book a noon to noon rental but then go to pick up at 10am, there may not be a car for you (since you are 2 hours early) and/or they may re-asses the rate because you are arriving early and now are adding time to the reservation.
On the flip side, If you were to pick up the car at 2pm, your reservation would technically have expired as a "no show" (unless you had a flight delay and the reservation had the flight info attached).
As far as returning the rental, booking noon to noon but returning the car too early can and often will result in the rate being adjusted (quite often to the much higher current rate at the time of return)

You should note that most (if not all) car rental companies finalize and charge the rental bill at the time you return the vehicle so changes to your itinerary and/or return times can/will effect the final price that is charged.

That being said, I always put in the correct times of our pickup and drop off, then play around a little with the times to see if the rates change.
ie: if my flight times have me arriving at 6pm and departing at 8am I would book the rental car first from 6pm to 8am, then start to play with the times to see if the rate varies. My flight arrival time could be a little early or late so I will check times from 5:30- 7:00pm (make sure flight details are connected to your rental reservation in-case of longer delays).
For our 8am flight out, we are probably going to arrive at the airport 2-3 hours prior to departure so anytime in this area will be good to play around with times (try times from 5am up to 8 am to see if you find a sweet spot)

 

[huskies90]

It is important to have the correct times in your reservation, sometimes it can be VERY important (or can be a costly mistake).

I have rented dozens and dozens of cars in my life. I have never put in exact times and I have never been told at drop off that I would be charged more or less than what was is printed on my agreement -- ie a Weekly Rate, Daily Rate and an Hourly rate. Has what you described actually happened to you? This is why I asked the question. Anyone else? Now I am a bit concerned.

 

[Melissa_E]

no help here, but NICE avatar!! I graduated from UConn in 99.

 

[nacho113]

I have rented dozens and dozens of cars in my life. I have never put in exact times and I have never been told at drop off that I would be charged more or less than what was is printed on my agreement -- ie a Weekly Rate, Daily Rate and an Hourly rate. Has what you described actually happened to you? This is why I asked the question. Anyone else? Now I am a bit concerned.

I to have rented tons of vehicles over the past 25-30 years, both for business and pleasure and have been challenged on several occasions over pickup or drop off times.

I'm not saying you need to be exact with your times down to the minute, but you do want to be reasonably close and within the tolerance of the rental company.
Most companies are pretty understanding (within reason) if your flight is early or delayed (recommend that you put in your flight info into the reservation in-case of delays). Return times can be tricky depending on which airport you are flying out of. MCO for example needs 2-3 hours before your flight to return the vehicle and get through the long security lines before your flight while other smaller airports may only need 60-90 minutes for this. Sometimes dropping off this extra hour or 2 early can affect you final rate especially if you are on the cusp of a special rate (weekly or coupon elidgeable rate such as a free day or dollar off amount week or weekend etc)

On one occasion I flew in on a Sunday at 1pm and was leaving on Friday at 3pm (5 days and 2 hours) and got an awesome weekly rate of $94 taxes incl.
My Friday afternoon flight was cancelled and I was rescheduled on an 11am flight. When I returned the vehicle a couple of hours before flight time I was questioned about returning the vehicle so early and informed that I would be charged the daily rate since I was now less that 5 days. It cost me over $150 for the 5 days at the daily rental price. The boss didn't even blink an eye at the extra cost but I was ticked off.

On another occasion we had mechanical issues on our 7am flight to MCO and had to be put on a later flight causing us to miss our connect in ORD. Instead of arriving in MCO at 4pm, we arrived at almost 7pm. When we arrived at the Alamo desk we were told that we no longer had a reservation (it had been cancelled as a "no show" since we were 3 hours late and our original arrival flight had arrived on time but without us on it). They were willing to make us a new reservation at more than double our original rate.
Had to get a manager involved to get our originally booked rate, not the best way to start a Florida vacation.

 

[huskies90]

Just to report back, no problems returning my car before the booked time. I got a full size from Alamo - pick up in LA drop in SF for $43/week by simply making the rental slightly longer than 1 week even though my actual rental times were closer to 6 1/2 days (landed in the late afternoon in LA on 4/10 and took off early morning 4/17 in SF). I was simply charged the quoted weekly rate when I dropped it off.

no help here, but NICE avatar!! I graduated from UConn in 99.

Go Huskies!!!!