Travelocity/L&M price switch

[sandyneck]

I went to travelocity to book a minivan with L&M after much debating and reading all the posts of the board. A rate came up of 149.99 for a week. I went ahead and entered all my info including credit card and when it came back confirmed the price had jumped up to 169.00 and it said I was given the best available rate and there could be a charge if I wanted to cancel!! I know there is no charge, but for people not used to dealing with rental car companies this could be intimidating. Is this travelocity or L&M doing this. How can they confirm you at a totally different rate than what you were quoted and what you thought you were reserving? It is not the 20.00 difference that bothers me, because it is still cheaper than anywhere else, it just seems very shady the way they did it and I am hoping it is not an indication of the type of company they are. Any insight or comments would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Pluto4President]

That is odd??

 

[sandyneck]

Pluto4President--yes, very, do you think I should be leary of this company now, or do you think the good posts outweigh what may just be a travelocity glitch?

 

[Pluto4President]

I have three pending ressies for them. The first is for 1/19. I am keeping that one and will base the other two on that experience. We'll be driving straight to the Disney Magic, so once settled in I will post the experience from the ship.

 

[friskykitten]

I don't know if this is the answer or not but when I went to check out their rates for this May, they gave me an estimate but declared that that was all it was. They wouldn't guarentee their rates until about 90 days out. I was wondering how that affected travelocity and their rates......so maybe that is why???

 

[DebbieB]

I was checking Travelocity for a friend yesterday for the end of January and all the quotes said "estimated rate" on them. L&M said "$18.50 estimated daily rate". When I hit policies, it said "rate effective Saturday, Sunday and sometimes Monday (the dates entered were Thursday to Monday)". Sometimes Monday??? What about the rest of the days? My friend already had a quote direct from L&M for $18 a day, so it was a moot point.

 

[DVC-Don]

I'm with Pluto on this. I've a L & M reservation for a full size car in 12 days for 12 days (What?). I've also got a reservation with Dollar in April. I'm waiting for my experience and others before I change that. I did dump my National reservation for the January trip.

 

[seashoreCM]

If someone else was using Travelocity at the same time and the other person got the last $169. car before you clicked "Go" then you got bumped to the next higher rate category.

That "sometimes Monday" got me concerned too. I e-mailed at least one company to get a clarification in writing, I have also called on the phone (800 numbers only) from time to time. (I reserved the car first, expecting to cancel if the answer to my inquiry was not what I wanted.)

More Disney tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

9/65 Disneyland
3/75 (World Inn* off I4 near DD)
4/85 (Kon-Tiki* on 192)
'80s Disneyland once or twice
7/94 POR
9/97 ASMu
11/98 ASMu
12/98 (Knights Inn on 192)
9/99 ASMo
12/00 ASSp
9/01 ASSp
11/01 ASSp
*no longer exists

 

[kntheboys]

I would email L&M about it. When I emailed to confirm the daily rate past the first week, I got a response within a few hours at most. They were very quick and "friendly" with the email response.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

L & M is rude and their staff is anything but helpful. Had a ressie with them and cancelled it today because of this rudeness.
Managed a Priceline ressie for 15.00 per day with Avis for a midsize car, total with taxes and Priceline's fee, 146.37 approx. 12.32 more than L&M, but, with a known company with a friendly staff.

 

[sandyneck]

Gail, what kind of rudeness did you encounter?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I called them regarding a statement that they post on their web site regarding "senior rates" for those over 50. I called to inquire about them and was told that they are on the web site, which they are not. I mentioned to the reservationist that she should speak to someone about this, her rejoiner, I did not write the page, not my problem. I asked if there was someone I could speak to regarding this and she rudely said "nope, just me".
I realize that you cannot know everything on a company's web site, but, not to be able to know the rates is simply a no go with me.