"this isn't hard" -- first sign that the ranter, I mean commenter, is way out of his depth. Of course car rental companies take reservations seriously, there a

"this isn't hard" -- first sign that the ranter, I mean commenter, is way out of his depth. Of course car rental companies take reservations seriously, there are plenty of times a company will say they are "sold out" in a specific city on specific dates. Plenty of others where prices are sky-high exactly because of a large influx of reservations. Are there times when their algorithms don't work precisely right? Assuming 10% no-shows and actually turns out to be 6%, for example. Yes that's a problem (that hotels and airlines face as well). And it sucks to be stuck. But unable-to-fill reservations probably comprise a very small percentage of overall rentals. Flights are asking for volunteers to be bumped all the time. If you really want to be safe, don't just make a reservation, pre-pay. They will have a car for you.