4 ms·

All the complaints in this article and in the comments seem like they originate from rare/one-time renters trying to find a deal. Meanwhile I have rented thous

All the complaints in this article and in the comments seem like they originate from rare/one-time renters trying to find a deal. Meanwhile I have rented thousands of times over the years, with a flat rate, and never had an issue. The rate I pay is never the lowest, but it’s usually a decent deal and I always get a car, and of course now I have status with the rental company. I think trying to pay the lowest price possible suckers people into bad experiences. To a large degree you get what you’re willing to pay for.

Digory 5y ago
People are generally willing to go through a lot to get a lower price. I fly Southwest, which guarantees no seats, but offers free changes. A car rental usually comes with a flight, and the flights aren’t 100% reliable. The airlines don’t bear the cost of being late. If they’re delayed a day or a half day, people would seethe at the “sunk” costs of paying for the “missed” time. They’d rather be charged for actual time used than get a guarantee for a particular car at a particular time.
- kortilla 5y ago
  > I fly Southwest, which guarantees no seats, but offers free changes. I think you mean it doesn’t guarantee specific seats. It still absolutely has to guarantee you a seat on the plane or suffer the same penalty as any other airline for overbooking. They are not exempt from that requirement.
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    Yeah but all airlines overbook and they're pretty good at it, but sometimes there aren't enough seats, but it's certainly no a Southwest only thing. I've always done just fine with them.
  - Digory 5y ago
    Right, just pointing out that people ITT seem to think there's a bigger market for reserving a particular (car/seat), with the buyer bearing the costs for changes. Southwest is the opposite of that, as are most of the rental car companies. That's how the 'full service' airlines reserved seats, but there isn't a lot of extra profit in it. People want cheap and flexible transportation more than they want a particular seat or car.
bradlys 5y ago
Thousands of times? You’ve been renting a different car every week for more than 20 years? You said thousands - 40+ years in fact?
- kubb 5y ago
  At least he has status.
- 55555 5y ago
  Have you not?
- tristor 5y ago
  I was using that as a figure of speech. I couldn’t tell you exactly how many times I’ve rented a car, however it is quite a lot. Between two different periods of my life I spent nearly a decade constantly traveling, so if I had actually rented cars a thousand times I would not be surprised. It is certainly many hundreds of times.
lbriner 5y ago
I haven't personally had any terrible experiences (although the car I had booked was given to someone else, leaving me with a smaller one once!) but that doesn't mean the companies couldn't do much better. I think we have come to accept things like filling in a really long form; not trusting each other so we have to check the car over for 10 minutes; not knowing exactly what wear-and-tear is covered; them using those web apps that take about 20 minutes to process. What should happen is that I fill everything in online, pay, and then when I turn up, there is someone there with a clipboard who has already determined the damage that is already present and I sign it and leave. I think one problem is their thinly veiled attempts to upsell you the "we have a Camry in today, it's only another $20/day" etc. can't do that if you are sweeping people through the shop in 5 minutes.

Digory 5y ago

People are generally willing to go through a lot to get a lower price. I fly Southwest, which guarantees no seats, but offers free changes. A car rental usually comes with a flight, and the flights aren’t 100% reliable. The airlines don’t bear the cost of being late. If they’re delayed a day or a half day, people would seethe at the “sunk” costs of paying for the “missed” time. They’d rather be charged for actual time used than get a guarantee for a particular car at a particular time.

kortilla 5y ago
> I fly Southwest, which guarantees no seats, but offers free changes. I think you mean it doesn’t guarantee specific seats. It still absolutely has to guarantee you a seat on the plane or suffer the same penalty as any other airline for overbooking. They are not exempt from that requirement.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  Yeah but all airlines overbook and they're pretty good at it, but sometimes there aren't enough seats, but it's certainly no a Southwest only thing. I've always done just fine with them.
- Digory 5y ago
  Right, just pointing out that people ITT seem to think there's a bigger market for reserving a particular (car/seat), with the buyer bearing the costs for changes. Southwest is the opposite of that, as are most of the rental car companies. That's how the 'full service' airlines reserved seats, but there isn't a lot of extra profit in it. People want cheap and flexible transportation more than they want a particular seat or car.

bradlys 5y ago

Thousands of times? You’ve been renting a different car every week for more than 20 years? You said thousands - 40+ years in fact?

kubb 5y ago
At least he has status.
55555 5y ago
Have you not?
tristor 5y ago
I was using that as a figure of speech. I couldn’t tell you exactly how many times I’ve rented a car, however it is quite a lot. Between two different periods of my life I spent nearly a decade constantly traveling, so if I had actually rented cars a thousand times I would not be surprised. It is certainly many hundreds of times.

lbriner 5y ago

I haven't personally had any terrible experiences (although the car I had booked was given to someone else, leaving me with a smaller one once!) but that doesn't mean the companies couldn't do much better. I think we have come to accept things like filling in a really long form; not trusting each other so we have to check the car over for 10 minutes; not knowing exactly what wear-and-tear is covered; them using those web apps that take about 20 minutes to process. What should happen is that I fill everything in online, pay, and then when I turn up, there is someone there with a clipboard who has already determined the damage that is already present and I sign it and leave. I think one problem is their thinly veiled attempts to upsell you the "we have a Camry in today, it's only another $20/day" etc. can't do that if you are sweeping people through the shop in 5 minutes.