You’d think a rental company that advertises a good rate would be eager to rent you a car at that rate, wouldn’t you? At one time, I was naive enough to believe that, but a recent experience-and a subsequent investigation by Consumer Reports Travel Letter-proved me wrong. What we found after many calls and computer searches is that you really have to work at getting those good deals.
It all started last summer, when I reserved a car with one of the bigger “second-tier” companies. I remembered seeing an advertisement quoting a Cadillac Sedan de Ville for $39 a day, with unlimited mileage. I thought that was a good deal, especially since, in my view, many of the midsized cars that the rental companies tout as six-passenger sedans can handle six passengers only if five of them are anorexic jockeys.
I called the rental company’s toll-free line, believing that the transaction would be simple and straightforward. Guess again. When I explained where and when I wanted the car, I was quoted a rate almost double the promotional price. I expressed some surprise, and I was told that the rate I’d been quoted was the “regular money-saving” rate. When I persisted that I’d seen a much lower price advertised somewhere, the agent repeated the “regular rate” pitch.
Pressing on, I added that the promotional rate was one of those new ones that required a Saturday-night “keep.” Still, no movement from the agent. By that time, I was exasperated, and asked, with an edge to my voice, “You mean you’ve never heard of a promotional rate of $39 for a Cadillac if you keep the car over a Saturday night? I distinctly remember seeing the promotion, I just can’t remember the name.”
Perhaps sensing some finality in that last question, the agent relented and came back with something to the effect of, “Oh, you mean the `Magnificent Miles’ (or some equally inane adman’s tag) rate? Yes, I can give you a Cadillac for $39 on that rate.” And, the agent went on in a tone of mild reproval, “You really have to give us the name of the program before we can quote you some of those rates.”
When a colleague reported a similar problem, we decided to run a more extended test. Sure enough, we found that some rental companies aren’t really anxious to rent cars at the rates they advertise. Unless we asked for the specific promotion-by name or the number sometimes cited in the ads-only a few of the agents we tested volunteered the promotional rate right off the bat.
In many of the cases, persistent questioning-such as I went through earlier-finally elicited the desired rate. But a few of the agents never gave us the promotional deal until we finally mentioned the magic name or number.
Well, you might think, you could have avoided that problem by having your travel agent check out the deals in the computer. But we tested several rental promotions in one of the big computerized reservations systems, and found we often couldn’t find the promotional rates at all. Even then, sometimes we had to get involved with some arcane areas of the computer’s data base that many users ignore.
What’s the lesson for travelers? Whenever you want to rent a car at some promotional rate, make sure you know the name of the promotion, or copy down the code number that may be shown in the ad. Sure, sometimes you can get the sale price without having that information, but it’s chancy-and it can involve a lot of negotiation.
