Upgrade declined: Travelers turning down car rental upgrades
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Some Upgrade: Travel Better readers might recognize their name (and quotes) in this article in the LA Times, detailing the recent trend of customers turning down car-class upgrades at the rental counter. (You may remember the post asking for stories from travelers who said “no!” to the comp car-rental upgrade. The article is the result.)
David Sikorski went to a Hertz in Austin, Texas, last month to rent a car for a business trip to Dallas. He’d booked a fuel-efficient mid-size sedan, hoping to keep expenses down on the 400-mile round trip.
What he got was a 16-mile-per-gallon Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle.
“I walked right back in and asked for something smaller,” said the Austin computer data specialist, who eventually was given a Hyundai. “They claimed it was an upgrade, but I sure don’t want an upgrade if it means driving an SUV.”
Amen, David.
But what’s the fallout for consumers?
Although rental companies say that pricing has largely stayed the same, Wall Street analysts predict a several percent across-the-board price increase in the industry to help with the changing business model. But Steven Fitzgerald, vice president for hotel and car distribution at Sabre, said that might not be enough.
“We might see . . . subcompacts renting for triple the price of SUVs,” he said.
It’s already happening. A recent survey of pricing at a Budget location at Los Angeles International Airport showed the midweek daily price for a Hyundai Accent economy car exceeded that of a Ford Explorer or a convertible Ford Mustang. Dollar and several other companies were offering SUV rentals in June for as little as $37.99 a day.
That sort of pricing is not commonplace… yet. But it’ll be interesting to see if the economics of car classes really do get turned on their head.
The problem is the fact that you aren’t guaranteed your car class when you make the reservation. You can always be given a higher class for the same price. And if the higher class is now undesirable, we either need to see a complete realignment of the car class hierarchy or a firm guarantee of in-class reservations.
(P.S. Thanks to all the readers who wrote in to volunteer for inclusion in Ken Bensinger’s article.)
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July 17th, 2008 at 7:59 am |
Just a note, you can reserve a specific car if you reserve a car from the Hertz collection series (such as the Green collection). It costs a couple dollars more, but you are reserving a specific car.
Instead of seeing “Mazda 6 or similar” when you book a Green Collection car you see “Ford Fusion.” None of the “or similar” nonsense. If they can’t provide that car they have to provide a car that gets a similar EPA MPG rating.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:02 am |
Avis in Denver tried recently to upgrade me from a compact to a Hummer!
July 17th, 2008 at 9:32 am |
Must be something about the Denver Airport. I paid $17/day over the July 4th holiday for an economy rental. When I got to the counter I was offered a Hyundai Santa Fe or Jeep Grand Cherokee. I was happy to take the upgrade, since I was whitewater rafting in the mountains, but had this been the city I would have tried to decline also.
There were at least 2 others at the counter arguing that they didn’t want to drive the SUV upgrade that they were given.
Luckily the Santa Fe was extremely fuel efficient.
I love your blog by the way, always keeps me informed.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:21 pm |
I recently researched car rentals at LAX and in almost all cases the SUVs were cheaper than all categories below it. I did rent a Toyota Highlander SUV at Alamo for $39/day and was glad I did. I filled up twice for a total of $100 for gas. There is no way I would have driven Southern California freeways in a small car. Too intimidating.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm |
Bill… oh please, I am not in SoCal, but up here in the Bay Area we see tons of Minis and nowadays even Smart cars cruising down the highways. Don’t be a chicken
July 20th, 2008 at 9:45 am |
Think carefully about what kind of vehicle you’ll need. If you’re traveling with children or with a lot of gear, you may want a large sedan or SUV. If you’re simply looking to save money on rental rates and gas, you’ll want to reserve the smallest available model.
www.americanfianceevisas.com
July 21st, 2008 at 9:54 am |
I like small cars. I’ve always liked small cars. I’ve always owned small cars. I always rent small cars. And when a rental firm tries to do me a “favor” and upgrade my vehicle, I always say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com