Alamo car rental; cheaper to rent for less time?

[VAfamily1998]

Our flight arrives at 7:20 pm. When I search with a pick up time of 7pm it quotes me a rate of $390. But if I change the pick up to noon (so essentially reserving the car for a longer period), it quotes me a rate of $350. Why would it be $40 cheaper for less time?
And if I did go ahead and schedule the pick up at noon, but didn't show up for many hours (since my plane lands at 7:20) would there be any type of penalty?

 

[Ralph&Pam]

The observed price difference can result from a variety of factors. Dynamic pricing based on expected supply and demand at the rental location can cause a variation in price. If they expect to have a lot of cars returned that morning, prices might be lower. Fewer available cars later in the day might lead to higher prices. Somewhat similar to variations in airline ticket prices as seats at a lower fare get booked up and all that are left are more expensive. Another factor can be a difference between a weekly rate compared to a daily rate if the additional time for the earlier booking pushes the rental over the threshold for a weekly rate (usually based on 5 24-hour days).

You might go to Costcotravel.com and price your rental there. If the price difference is great enough, it might be worth the $60 for a one-year Costco membership. I see differences much greater than $60 on weekly rentals through Costco compared to booking directly with Alamo. Also, second driver is free with Costco bookings.

If you book the earlier pickup and don’t arrive until much later, you run the risk that they won’t have a car for you or that they have a car but they reprice the rental starting at the actual pickup time using the prevailing walkup rate. This could be much more expensive than the rates you were originally quoted for either pickup time. This depends a lot on the agent you deal with, either at the rental counter or at the exit gate if you use Alamo’s skip the counter service.

 

[nacho113]

Our flight arrives at 7:20 pm. When I search with a pick up time of 7pm it quotes me a rate of $390. But if I change the pick up to noon (so essentially reserving the car for a longer period), it quotes me a rate of $350. Why would it be $40 cheaper for less time? And if I did go ahead and schedule the pick up at noon, but didn't show up for many hours (since my plane lands at 7:20) would there be any type of penalty?

Yep, Ralph&Pam have it correct, if you book it for noon but don't show up to pick it up until 7:30-8:00, your reservation will have already been cancelled.
The likelyhood is that you will be forced into a walk-up rate that will be much higher than anything you could have booked in advance.

You didn't say how long you will have the car and what time you plan to return it. It could be that extending the rental (by booking from noon) is pushing you into a weekly rate OR your expected return time could be affecting the number of 24 hour days that you have the rental.

Either way, I would just book the correct pickup time, which should be after your scheduled flight arrival time (say 7:30-8:00). Add your flight info to your reservation, in case there are any flight delays. And make sure your drop off time is reasonably accurate also (1-2 hours before your flight time)
Then check back frequently to see if the price drops. If price goes down, book a new reservation and cancel the original. Rinse and repeat.

I usually recommend a booking engine like carrentalsavers.com to check pricing as they apply any publicly usable coupons and codes to get the best pricing.
You can book through their site or just glean the codes/coupons and book directly on the car rental agency's website.

EDITED to note that sometimes trying your reservation using a different browser (IE, Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc) can, and often will, yield different results. Also try on a mobile browser (smartphone or tablet)

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep, Ralph&Pam have it correct, if you book it for noon but don't show up to pick it up until 7:30-8:00, your reservation will have already been cancelled.

Alamo specifically and clearly (and in person not on the phone) told me that your rental is held for 24 hours. With National (same company) we have accidentally been hours late and the rental was still fine.

With Alamo a late pickup and traffic-was-great slightly early drop-off caused them to reprice it, but a stop at the CS desk after drop-off cleared it up. I was glad to have the time to wait. My fact time with the Alamo employer was fast but the people in front of me were having more difficult issues and so the actual wait was long. But again, traffic had been great so I had the time.


I’m not suggesting anything for the OP, but it’s not true that they cancel
reservations within hours. They are in the travel industry and they know that things happen.

 

[nacho113]

Alamo specifically and clearly (and in person not on the phone) told me that your rental is held for 24 hours. With National (same company) we have accidentally been hours late and the rental was still fine.

With Alamo a late pickup and traffic-was-great slightly early drop-off caused them to reprice it, but a stop at the CS desk after drop-off cleared it up. I was glad to have the time to wait. My fact time with the Alamo employer was fast but the people in front of me were having more difficult issues and so the actual wait was long. But again, traffic had been great so I had the time.


I’m not suggesting anything for the OP, but it’s not true that they cancel
reservations within hours. They are in the travel industry and they know that things happen.

My bad, when I worked there it used to be 6 hours, now looks like its 12 hours (or end of day) , just make sure you have flight info attached to your reservation.
According to Alamo's website:

What do I do if my flight has been delayed?
Airport Rental Locations in the US and Canada:

• Vehicles will be held until the end of the business day on the scheduled pickup date or for 12 hours, whichever comes first, for any delayed flights.
  
  
• If you are arriving after closing the pickup date and time should be changed to the next day.
  

When booking your reservation on-line or with an agent include your airline and flight information. Providing us with your flight information allows us to serve you better.

Return time needs to be pretty accurate too:

There is generally a 29 minute grace period for daily rentals. If the vehicle is returned within 2 hours of the time it was rented on a subsequent day additional hourly charges will apply. If you return the vehicle 2 hours or more from the time it was rented on a subsequent day, you will be charged for an additional day of rental.

 

[Jimsig]

Depending on how long you are renting for you could be paying a daily rate as compared to weekly rate. For example let's say you are renting a car at 7pm and drop it off a noon at a $50 a day rate ($300 total) that could make it a 6 days. However if you pick it up at noon and drop it at noon you get a weekly rate for $250 total. That 7 hours could be the difference between a daily and weekly rate according to the car rental agency. It can also matter what day or time you pick it up for certain rates. Sometimes they run specials that say you pick it up by noon on Thur and return it on noon by Tue its one rate. But if you pick it up a 6p on Thur and return it a 6p Tue you pay more even though you had it out the same time.

 

[NotUrsula]

Whether or not your rate will be voided by a late pickup depends a LOT on which day of the week you plan to pick it up. Weekend rates, for instance, generally require pickup by noon on Saturday to remain valid. There is often fine print in the rate description that lays all this out.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Thank you all! The dates would be January 2 (a Tuesday) with a drop off of Monday January 8 (Monday.) The drop off on Monday would be around 7 pm (our flight leaves around 9 pm)

 

[NotUrsula]

Those dates should qualify you for a weekly rate.