Rental car conundrum Don’t laugh

TammyLynn33

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Ok so I booked a rental car using airmiles for our trip next week . It was a steal but it was way early I j wanna say 1200 airmiles for the week from budget for an “intermediate “
So couple days ago I look and intermediate is listed as a Hyundai Elantra . I swear when I originally booked it showed something larger .. anyhow
So I called budget to see if I could updated to a full size . Nope it’s a loyalty reservation call airmiles I call airmiles and my options
1. Wait and see
2. Cancel and pay the $11 charge have my 1200 airmiles returned and rebook at 3000 airmiles for full-size plus close to 100 usd in fees
Somehow I have to jam the 5 butts knapsacks and 2carryon and a hockey bag ..see my stress level . (Sticks are with team manager)
hoping budget Fastbreak I can select the car out of the row and pick the biggest trunk space or they let me go full-size at counter ..
Worse case scenario big kid uses Uber/Lyft estimated cost of 35 bucks and for the Monday night we book a throwaway room at same hotel we are staying Tuesday night so I have somewhere to store his bag while we travel to the MVMVP for a night. That idea has gotten me tjo stop panicking at least
Anyone have any thoughts ? Or prayers at th his point hoping for a nice Jetta or something’s it’s a large trunk .. or feel free to laugh at me ha ha all j ca. Do at this point
 
What I've done in the past and sometimes it works, but other times it doesn't is when you get to the counter, talk to the rep you are dealing with at that time. Sometimes an explanation right there, you might get a sympathetic ear, etc. It couldn't hurt to try.
 
Ugh so sorry you are going through this. No one is laughing. It's a vacation and any stress level doesn't help. We always book Alamo and walk the line due to our oldest is very tall and we need a car he fits in although it has to stay in the same class. I can tell you we always rented from Budget before and we never got the car we asked for and have been upgraded at the counter every time without asking. We always get an intermediate and have gotten Malibu, Santa Fe, Camry. I say go with RogueX and the sympathy and cross your fingers it will be oK
 
I just had an Elantra rental (car was in the shop thanks to a car scraping the side and running on my MiL). It is deceptively spacious but I don't know that it is 5 butt spacious. I don't know if there are any families with one in your area so you can see if it's still worth renting?

Side note: Budget Fastbreak is an express check-in: There's a separate area where you basically pick up your keys and go. National is the company where you select a car out of the row.
 


Is it a long drive? Sounds like not really, since you mentioned the Uber option. Also the sizes of the passengers might make a difference.

I'd probably just risk it. Worst case, much of the gear goes with the passengers in the back seat. Probably won't be comfortable, but if it's not for long, they'll live. Or if you're really stuck, maybe you could make two trips?

Intermediate cars in North America are usually pretty big (by my standards, anyway). Chances of actually getting an Elantra are near zero, but you should expect something around the same size.
 
If it’s Canadian kid/teen butts in the backseat, then everyone should be fine with a hockey bag on their laps for that portion of the trip. Tell them it’s a point of national pride to not mind being buried in stinky hockey gear... ;-)
It's fine for the kids. But OP has to drive with that stinky gear in the car. I'd almost rather be trapped in an unventilated smoker's lounge.

Almost.
 


It's fine for the kids. But OP has to drive with that stinky gear in the car. I'd almost rather be trapped in an unventilated smoker's lounge.

Almost.

LOL. We have a Jeep Wrangler, so DH’s hockey gear is always inside the vehicle with us. You get used to it. Or maybe I’ve just gone nose-blind. (We did just get back from Vegas, where people are chain-smoking everywhere, and I think I’d rather be trapped in the car with the hockey gear.)
 
Ok so I booked a rental car using airmiles for our trip next week . It was a steal but it was way early I j wanna say 1200 airmiles for the week from budget for an “intermediate “
So couple days ago I look and intermediate is listed as a Hyundai Elantra . I swear when I originally booked it showed something larger .. anyhow
So I called budget to see if I could updated to a full size . Nope it’s a loyalty reservation call airmiles I call airmiles and my options
1. Wait and see
2. Cancel and pay the $11 charge have my 1200 airmiles returned and rebook at 3000 airmiles for full-size plus close to 100 usd in fees
Somehow I have to jam the 5 butts knapsacks and 2carryon and a hockey bag ..see my stress level . (Sticks are with team manager)
hoping budget Fastbreak I can select the car out of the row and pick the biggest trunk space or they let me go full-size at counter ..
Worse case scenario big kid uses Uber/Lyft estimated cost of 35 bucks and for the Monday night we book a throwaway room at same hotel we are staying Tuesday night so I have somewhere to store his bag while we travel to the MVMVP for a night. That idea has gotten me tjo stop panicking at least
Anyone have any thoughts ? Or prayers at th his point hoping for a nice Jetta or something’s it’s a large trunk .. or feel free to laugh at me ha ha all j ca. Do at this point
An Elantra has a very large trunk (more than one hockey bag large) but chances are that's not what you will actually get. Budget does not let you choose the car. You can ask at the counter what intermediate cars they have available and they may or may not tell you. They do generally try to sell upgraded vehicles at the counter BUT if you ask first they will charge you a lot more than if they make the offer to you. Once you are at the counter the fact that the car was booked/paid via Air Miles no longer matters. BTW, at 1200 miles you got a steal....3000 for a week is closer to the norm. As to fitting people in the car just remember that the ride from the airport is pretty short so does it really matter if everyone is totally comfortable or has a bag on their lap?
 
Thanks everyone . Yes we are all pretty “nose-blind” to hockey smell.. DS is 17 and been playing since 4.
In Tampa we can probably squish but we are heading to Poly for one night for MVMCP and If they are too squished I will hear about it the whole way .. lol to which I will respond with my usual “where are your friends right now ? Are they at Disney? “ usually works every time
 
If you have a smaller hockey bag without wheels available use it. My kids have those standup ones and they take up more room than necessary. I am 40 and won a smaller sized bag. I can fit everything if I pack carefully plus beer. You want to fit that bag in the trunk. The rest of the luggage on laps is not a huge issue. Anyone else going that can take some stuff in their car?
 
If you have a smaller hockey bag without wheels available use it. My kids have those standup ones and they take up more room than necessary. I am 40 and won a smaller sized bag. I can fit everything if I pack carefully plus beer. You want to fit that bag in the trunk. The rest of the luggage on laps is not a huge issue. Anyone else going that can take some stuff in their car?

No we are all flying in from diff airports/flights. Team manager is taking two stick bags with everyone’s sticks at least .
He has a fairly big bag but not on wheels (after a certain age that’s not cool nor will he allow his little 5 yr old brother to have one ha)

And when we get back to Tampa we are staying at a different hotel near the airport bc we have a morning flight .. I know I looked at changing but I booked airport hotel through airmiles so prepaid

im just trying to think positive and if we can’t Jam it all in we will deal with it then :)
 
I would call and ask the Tampa hotel if they will take the bag early before you check in. They may be willing to store the bag for a day before you arrive (even if they charge you some nominal fee to do so). Or see if the hotel you are checking out of (before your night at Disney) will keep it an extra day for you (again for a fee) just explain your situation. American hotels are often quite accommodating.
 
I’ve had pretty good luck getting upgraded by the employees in the garage. Never with front desk, they’re always trying to upsell you. One time the desk guy was trying to upsell me to Full size from what I booked, mid size. I told him no, I’ll stick with what I booked. I get to garage and it turns out all the mid sizes were sold out and got Full size for no extra charge :headache: Probably the front desk knew that. They must be on commission for how much they can upsell you for.
 

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