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Renting a car for a week is close to a monthly car payment(less true today) - and the more frequently you have to do this- the less sense it makes. I've also fo

Renting a car for a week is close to a monthly car payment(less true today) - and the more frequently you have to do this- the less sense it makes. I've also found it increasingly difficult to book rental cars in advance that will actually meet my needs. it's a bit of a gamble to depend on that.

freedomben 3y ago
Not to mention something I've been running into lately when renting cars: They will only rent to you if you are from out of state, and oftentimes you have to show them that you have a valid flight ticket. They don't like renting cars to people who live in the local area, and they're getting more and more strict on not doing it.
- mdon 3y ago
  Where are you and what rental agency are you using? Is it at the airport?
  - jen20 3y ago
    I got refused a rental in the middle of Manhattan once because I wouldn't show them a return flight ticket (I actually did have one, but it's none of their business). I charged the company back via my credit card provider, and have never even considered doing business with that company again.
    - Rebelgecko 3y ago
      What company?
      - jen20 3y ago
        That one was Hertz. I use Avis pretty much exclusively now. They're mostly "ok" but certain pickup locations (SFO for example) are notoriously terrible at actually having a car ready like they are supposed to.
  - freedomben 3y ago
    The most recent one for me was in Chicago at Routes Car Rental, and yes it was near the airport. It has also happened to people in my group in New York and New Jersey.
- cozzyd 3y ago
  This is very strange. I rent cars routinely from a few blocks away and it's never been a problem. (I don't own a car and occasionally will take a day or weekend trip with a rental car...).
drdaeman 3y ago
Mainstream rental car industry being a complete mess doesn't help - they don't bother to even promise you the make and the model, best they can do is "a sedan with 4 doors and automatic transmission." I have no idea why people don't care as if that's something normal. There are services like Turo, where you know the exact car you're getting, but, sadly, they're far from universally available. And it's pricier, of course.
- cozzyd 3y ago
  In their defense, they have a lot of consumer-friendly policies (free cancellation, the ability to add on days to your rental) that would make it difficult to promise particular makes.
  - drdaeman 3y ago
    That's fair, but I guess my problem is that they don't even seem to try. All rental agencies surely know what fleet they have - typically it's as uniform as possible, to make the maintenance easier. Yet, it's not exactly unusual to see that a particular location has a fleet of entirely different make than they had listed on the website. Or, e.g. I know a place that doesn't have "compact" cars (or have so few of them I've never seen one on the lot), and just automatically "upgrades" everyone to "mid-size" - no clue why, they're a good (aka not scammy or too blatantly overpriced) company otherwise. My only guess is that no one complains or cares about it.
    - cozzyd 3y ago
      The one I go to regularly (Enterprise, Chicago loop) often exchanges cars with other locations so they probably don't know what they'll have.
- klausa 3y ago
  Unless I have very specific needs (like six seats or whatever), why would I care about specific make and model?
  - 3y ago

freedomben 3y ago

Not to mention something I've been running into lately when renting cars: They will only rent to you if you are from out of state, and oftentimes you have to show them that you have a valid flight ticket. They don't like renting cars to people who live in the local area, and they're getting more and more strict on not doing it.

mdon 3y ago
Where are you and what rental agency are you using? Is it at the airport?
- jen20 3y ago
  I got refused a rental in the middle of Manhattan once because I wouldn't show them a return flight ticket (I actually did have one, but it's none of their business). I charged the company back via my credit card provider, and have never even considered doing business with that company again.
  - Rebelgecko 3y ago
    What company?
    - jen20 3y ago
      That one was Hertz. I use Avis pretty much exclusively now. They're mostly "ok" but certain pickup locations (SFO for example) are notoriously terrible at actually having a car ready like they are supposed to.
- freedomben 3y ago
  The most recent one for me was in Chicago at Routes Car Rental, and yes it was near the airport. It has also happened to people in my group in New York and New Jersey.
cozzyd 3y ago
This is very strange. I rent cars routinely from a few blocks away and it's never been a problem. (I don't own a car and occasionally will take a day or weekend trip with a rental car...).

drdaeman 3y ago

Mainstream rental car industry being a complete mess doesn't help - they don't bother to even promise you the make and the model, best they can do is "a sedan with 4 doors and automatic transmission." I have no idea why people don't care as if that's something normal. There are services like Turo, where you know the exact car you're getting, but, sadly, they're far from universally available. And it's pricier, of course.

cozzyd 3y ago
In their defense, they have a lot of consumer-friendly policies (free cancellation, the ability to add on days to your rental) that would make it difficult to promise particular makes.
- drdaeman 3y ago
  That's fair, but I guess my problem is that they don't even seem to try. All rental agencies surely know what fleet they have - typically it's as uniform as possible, to make the maintenance easier. Yet, it's not exactly unusual to see that a particular location has a fleet of entirely different make than they had listed on the website. Or, e.g. I know a place that doesn't have "compact" cars (or have so few of them I've never seen one on the lot), and just automatically "upgrades" everyone to "mid-size" - no clue why, they're a good (aka not scammy or too blatantly overpriced) company otherwise. My only guess is that no one complains or cares about it.
  - cozzyd 3y ago
    The one I go to regularly (Enterprise, Chicago loop) often exchanges cars with other locations so they probably don't know what they'll have.
klausa 3y ago
Unless I have very specific needs (like six seats or whatever), why would I care about specific make and model?
- 3y ago