When booking a rental car, does pick up time matter?

[tripletsmama]

We are working on booking a rental car for our June 7-14 trip. When it asks you to choose pick up and drop off times, how set in stone are these times? If I pick up 2 hours later or want to drop off earlier, would that be a problem? Any tips or tricks for getting a good deal would also be appreciated!

 

[PrincessJo]

I had a boss once who didn't think the times mattered. He went in a few hours earlier than he had told them and they didn't have a car ready for him. They had to scramble around and find one and then clean it before he could take it. He waited for about an hour. They do try to coordinate times to make sure enough cars are dropped off, cleaned up and ready for who ever they are expecting at particular times.

He was a frequent renter, so I know he had discounts and perks. He also had business memberships that gave him discounts too, like AAA and others.

If you check the website it will tell you what discounts are available.

 

[NotUrsula]

Sometimes it matters quite a bit, because eligibility for some leisure rates can be time-dependent.

For instance, most weekend rates require that the vehicle not be picked up before noon on Thursday, and it also must be kept overnight on Saturday.

 

[LSchrow]

once when we had our flight delayed over 2 hours, we arrived at MCO to find the rental car co (i believe it was dollar, but not positive) didn't have any cars left.

we wound up waiting hours in MCO for someone to return a car, any car.....not a fun way to begin a vacation

 

[Greysword]

Others have reported various times can yield different pricing results on the rental car websites. However, I have not investigated this closely, myself.

As for delayed flights, this is why it is important to both provide your flight info as well as sign-up for an agency's frequent user program. Many times, the agency can hold or swap out a vehicle if you are going to be late due to flight delays. Also, call the agency to let them know you are going to be late, if you can, and provide a good estimate of arrival.

As for the frequent user program, it provides various benefits including the potential to get a vehicle more rapidly if there is a waiting line.

 

[tripletsmama]

I can understand that there wouldn't be a car ready if you arrived too early, but what about dropping off late? Would you be charged extra?

 

[safetymom]

The car rents in 24 hour periods. If you pick up at noon it is due back by noon. There is a charge if you exceed the 24 hour period. You would need to check the rental website to see when the extra charges starts.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

Many rental agencies have a 1/2 hr grace period for being late. Then you incur additional charges, especially if you run over a 24hr period.

 

[mrg013]

I don't really think there are any great tricks when it comes to car rentals and timing. You'll definitely want to be conscious of the fact that pricing is done on a 24-hour basis, so slight differences in pick-up and drop-off time can make a difference, but only sometimes. For example, if your flight lands at 1:00 pm and you plan to drop it off at 2:00 pm a week later, there's a possibility in some cases that the extra hour at the end will lead to being charged for an extra day (not always though). I'd play around with those things a little bit, to the extent that a change is realistic for your itinerary.

In the end, you want your vacation to go smoothly, so the best bet is probably just to reserve the car for the most realistic times possible. It's nice to have the peace of mind that the car will be there when you want it. Even then, there are times I've arrived at an airport at the exact time reserved with no car available. Plus, the reality is that car rental employees generally tend not to have the same level of customer service and eagerness to please that you find on Disney property. So in situations where you'd expect a Disney employee to bend over backwards to help you check-in early, a car rental company may not.

The only situation where I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem is if you drop your car off early at the end of the trip. They'll be happy to take it back early and have it back in the inventory to rent to someone else! (Just don't necessarily expect to get any money back for your early return though).

 

[jmartinez1895]

I was able to get a great rate for a SUV for a week with Costco. The car was going to cost almost $400 more with AAA.
After I booked it I asked what would happen if I was late to pick it up and they ( enterprise) told me that when you book the car they hold it for 24 hrs for you.

 

[NotUrsula]

...

The only situation where I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem is if you drop your car off early at the end of the trip. They'll be happy to take it back early and have it back in the inventory to rent to someone else! (Just don't necessarily expect to get any money back for your early return though).

Actually, this depends on HOW early we are speaking of. Early on the day that it is due back is normally fine, but cutting the rental short by a calendar day could cost you, depending on what day it happens to be.

If you got a multi-day leisure rate and you bring it back before midnight on the day before it is due, there is a possibility that they will recalculate the rate and charge you the daily rate, and if you read the fine print, they are allowed to do so. The reason for this is to prevent business customers from using leisure rates.

Here is an example: say you book a rental with a weekly rate and pick it up on Monday morning at 10 am. The norm with weekly rates is that there is a 5-day minimum keep, which would mean that the car was due back on Saturday at 10 am.

If you turn the car in on Saturday morning at 6 am, no problem. However, if you return the car on Friday at 10 pm, it is HIGHLY likely that the weekly rate that you were originally quoted will be vacated and recalculated to put the entire rental on a daily rate, which would normally end up costing at least 3X as much as that weekly leisure rate.

 

[figment_jii]

As others have said pick-up and drop-off times do matter. The only times that I've found that they don't "care" about the drop-off time is if you're returning the car while the office is closed. For example, I rented a car from the Dolphin and selected 1:00 am as the return time. I needed to adjust it to be 2:30 am and the teller said that as long as it was back before 6 am (I don't quite know what this time corresponds to), I wouldn't be charged a late fee. However, in most cases, you need to pick-up/drop-off the car as close to the specified time as possible.

 

[LisaS]

On one of our Alamo rentals, I specified a pick up time of 5pm and a drop off time of 5pm the following day. We ended up getting to the kiosk about 4:45. When it printed out our paperwork, I noticed the rental rate was a bit higher than expected. We also had a problem with adding me as an additional driver so we ended up going to the desk to fix that issue. It was after 5pm by that time and the new paperwork showed the rental was back to the original price. So in my case, arriving 15 minutes early was going to cost me!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

After I booked it I asked what would happen if I was late to pick it up and they ( enterprise) told me that when you book the car they hold it for 24 hrs for you.

That is not true, you must have misunderstood or you spoke to someone who didn't know what he or he was talking about. Car rental agencies do not hold your car for 24 hours!