March 2022 Car Rental Thread

[Aug2020distrip]

We are in the middle of booking with UCT. I just bought a fountain drink at a movie theatre for $5 for our 50% off. It was this or Fox rentals and I am not reading good things about them? Although sounds like Budget is insane now too.

Does anyone know though…if I book through UTC with our credit card that has rental car insurance on it, is it nul and void? I am worried since we are paying UTC that maybe we won’t actually be covered by Budget.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Bad experience with budget.. I picked up my UCT deal budget car last sat night. Was in line for over an hour till midnight.. We declined all upcharges. We had a hard time understanding our agents accent. He would not tell my husband how much our total would be. We had prepaid UCT $217. We have paperwork saying we declined things and lots of zeros. Imagine my surprise when I see budget charged my card $363 the next day. Is this a hold? Idk but I won't spend my vacation time talking to them. I'll have my cc dispute it. We turn it in tomorrow. Also, car came with 1/4 tank of gas and paint peeled all over front bumper. Was anyone else charged like this with UCT? BUDGET CAR RENTAL, NEVER AGAIN.

 

[EACarlson]

Does anyone know though…if I book through UTC with our credit card that has rental car insurance on it, is it nul and void? I am worried since we are paying UTC that maybe we won’t actually be covered by Budget.

It should be covered but you're going to need extra paperwork and information. Make sure you save your receipt from UCT that shows what card you paid with, then make sure you save the rental agreement from Budget. If you need to make a claim be prepared for it to be a long drawn out process to get it all taken care of. What card are you using?

 

[igrsod]

We rented a car with Budget on our December trip... with a horrible check in experience.
This time (last week), we went with Turo. Although it was a new experience, with some learning curve to overcome, in the end it was positive and super cheap compared to the car rental companies.
We will use them again for sure.

 

[migel]

I picked my car from Avis yesterday (UCT deal). There were 5 ahead of me in line, but my wait was only 15 minutes. Budget's line was longer, maybe about 10. Avis tried to upsell insurance as usual, but I declined. I also carry my own Sunpass. I did opt for the gas top-up option this time, and perhaps that's why they didn't hound me further on the insurance. I'd read on this or another thread that Avis uses an 'electronic' sensor to check for a full tank. I normally fill when I leave Kissimmee, and usually the tank still reads full at the airport, but I didn't want to chance them charging me a full tank for a $4 top-up. I also didn't want the hassle of trying to fill up near the airport. I'll bring the car back on empty, still pay a bit more on my end, but avoid any exorbitant charge. Car is decent. All in all, it was a quick in-and-out.

 

[ashleyrm]

I have a rental for my upcoming March/April trip. Full size with National. Emerald Aisle. Corporate account. 3/30-4/4. $259.36.

Just got a full size with Thrifty through Priceline (autoslash notification) for $233.69. Their cars are usually not as new as National but I've never had any issues with them and I've always been able to pick up in garage.

 

[ashleyrm]

Just got a full size with Thrifty through Priceline (autoslash notification) for $233.69. Their cars are usually not as new as National but I've never had any issues with them and I've always been able to pick up in garage.

Just a note that even though I entered my Blue Chip number when I made the reservation, it is not showing up in the system at Thrifty. Talked to both Thrifty and Priceline and they say it can’t be added. I talked with a friend who books Thrifty/Dollar through Priceline and he said he’s always been able to pick up in garage so I will give it a try.

Response from Thrifty:
“Hi there, I apologize, we are unable to add your member number to an existing prepaid reservation. Third party reservations would forfeit member benefits and are ineligible to earn reward points. In order to continue earning points and using your perks, all reservations must be made directly through us, while signed into your member profile. - Chris”

 

[EACarlson]

Just a note that even though I entered my Blue Chip number when I made the reservation, it is not showing up in the system at Thrifty. Talked to both Thrifty and Priceline and they say it can’t be added. I talked with a friend who books Thrifty/Dollar through Priceline and he said he’s always been able to pick up in garage so I will give it a try.

Response from Thrifty:
“Hi there, I apologize, we are unable to add your member number to an existing prepaid reservation. Third party reservations would forfeit member benefits and are ineligible to earn reward points. In order to continue earning points and using your perks, all reservations must be made directly through us, while signed into your member profile. - Chris”

Blue Chip benefits are not available on third party prepaid bookings. A pay later booking would be eligible for benefits. They are not going to have your contract at the booth and will send you back to the counter.

 

[ashleyrm]

Blue Chip benefits are not available on third party prepaid bookings. A pay later booking would be eligible for benefits. They are not going to have your contract at the booth and will send you back to the counter.

It is not prepaid. I’ve done this with Dollar before with no issue.

 

[EACarlson]

It is not prepaid. I’ve done this with Dollar before with no issue.

Then you may want to reach out to Thrifty again. In the response from them you quoted above it specifies they can't add a number to an existing prepaid reservation, hence why I thought it was a prepaid reservation. I used Blue Chip on a Priceline booking made through Autoslash in January with no problems. It does seem like it is hit or miss if the Blue Chip number takes. Did you happen to copy/paste your Blue Chip number? On my last reservation I discovered that doing that cause a leading space to be pasted into the field as well, which of course made the number not take with Thrifty.

 

[Doingitagain]

Ugh, long wait at Budget Fastbreak. We rented a 12 passenger van and they said they were short on larger vehicles minivans and up because of spring break and a shipment they were expecting didn’t come. Didn’t really move me when traveling with young children. They ended up giving us a 15 passenger van, which means that they have an extra row of seats. No room for any luggage, nope not even small carryon bags. The guys had to heft big suitcases up and over the back row and fill in seats. Seriously painful,

 

[EACarlson]

Ugh, long wait at Budget Fastbreak. We rented a 12 passenger van and they said they were short on larger vehicles minivans and up because of spring break and a shipment they were expecting didn’t come. Didn’t really move me when traveling with young children. They ended up giving us a 15 passenger van, which means that they have an extra row of seats. No room for any luggage, nope not even small carryon bags. The guys had to heft big suitcases up and over the back row and fill in seats. Seriously painful,

Just to make you aware, if you were planning on credit card insurance coverage you may want to double check with your issuer. Most if not all of them specifically exclude the 15 passenger vans from their coverage.

 

[ashleyrm]

Then you may want to reach out to Thrifty again. In the response from them you quoted above it specifies they can't add a number to an existing prepaid reservation, hence why I thought it was a prepaid reservation. I used Blue Chip on a Priceline booking made through Autoslash in January with no problems. It does seem like it is hit or miss if the Blue Chip number takes. Did you happen to copy/paste your Blue Chip number? On my last reservation I discovered that doing that cause a leading space to be pasted into the field as well, which of course made the number not take with Thrifty.

I did cut and paste. I’ll try it again and see if it works.

Just got a full size with Thrifty through Priceline (autoslash notification) for $233.69. Their cars are usually not as new as National but I've never had any issues with them and I've always been able to pick up in garage.

Got a slight price drop today with the same autoslash/Priceline/Thrifty deal. $230.92

 

[Samoyed25]

For anyone traveling later this week, I just got a mid-size car at Thrifty (AAA rate) for 4 days at $148 (including fees). Started out about a month ago with $297 from Dollar for the same 4 days. Dollar has come down to $205 for the same reservation. So if you're traveling this week, recheck Dollar and Thrifty for a better rate.

 

[wdwstar]

Even though we prepaid through UCT for Budget rental car we were charged $250 on our credit card as a hold if we didn’t return the car with a full tank, damage, etc. The day we returned the car, the charge was refunded.
I am still waiting for a refund from Hertz for a hold that I prepaid for rental car a month ago. I prepaid directly through Hertz, not UCT.

 

[EACarlson]

I am still waiting for a refund from Hertz for a hold that I prepaid for rental car a month ago. I prepaid directly through Hertz, not UCT.

If it was a hold from Hertz, once it was released it's up to your credit card company when that gets released back to you. Some card companies will hold for a very long time, I recall someone that used a debit card that didn't get the hold released for 6 weeks.

 

[Spunky946]

I have a rental through Costco for budget for 3/31-4/4. It’s been bouncing all over the place. I had it booked in the fall for around $450. It came down a little here and there all the way down to $373. Bounced up and and down, but never lower the last couple of weeks. I just checked and it’s now $307 with Avis for a full size car. Yay.

 

[susienut1]

Just got back and wanted to report no problems with UCT deal with Budget other than a line at the desk which was worth the $400 we were saving. Also got preminum parking for the price of regular at the Universal garage by asking for it and showing our Budget rental agreement.

 

[tlg588]

Just got back and wanted to report no problems with UCT deal with Budget other than a line at the desk which was worth the $400 we were saving. Also got preminum parking for the price of regular at the Universal garage by asking for it and showing our Budget rental agreement.

That’s great!

 

[migel]

Returned my car to Avis on Friday, after a 9-day rental. No issues with the UCT deal, and only about a 15 minute wait at the counter on pick up. Saved at least $300 over Costco's best rate. Booking again for May.