Anchorage car rental beware

[lundys21]

We reserved ( last October ) two cars for July 2009. We received a email back from the company and had the present managers name on it with a confirmation number for the reservation. I decided to call yesterday to check on the reservation. They at first couldn't find our reservation. I got ahold of the manager who found it but said that rate wasn't no good as it was there winter rate. Still don't know what they are going to do about it. We are now looking for a honest and reasonable car rental in Anchorage. Any help would be appreciated.

[Yukon]

Who it is that's giving you a problem?

[lundys21]

I am not sure I can put their names on this board??

[Yukon]

Yes, you certainly can post their names here.

[lundys21]

They are suppose to give me a answer tomorrow weather they will honor my reservation or not. I would like to give them a chance before I put there company on this site.

 

I do however want to warn other to check on there reservations especially if they get a quick response back from them. They said the reponse I got was a automatic response, however it had a confirmation number with my summer dates and the company name on it. I did another check yesterday with another company who does business in both Homer and Anchorage and the same thing happened their website gave a rate and when I booked it I got a conformation with a number back confirming the reservation. I called they said that rate was a winter rate and wasn't any good. I ask why then do they advertise this rate and give you a response back with a conformation number with the summer dates. Answer I don't know.

 

Just want people to be careful with there car rentals booking.

[Retired 07]

Thanks for the heads up. I just called Avis in Anchorage to confirm our rates for May. We are still good. The summer rates start June 1. The rates went up more than $50/day!

[tranceFusion]

They are suppose to give me a answer tomorrow weather they will honor my reservation or not. I would like to give them a chance before I put there company on this site.

 

I would like to know who it is, wether you get a satisfactory response or not.

 

I booked on Hotwire.com yesterday for Hertz and I am concerned because the rate was half that of every other company, and even Hertz's own website. (this was not a rate that I bid on, just the posted rate for Hertz on the hotwire website).

 

I was under the assumption that car rentals were like hotels - everyone gets a different rate based on when/how they book and the available inventory for the time they are requesting. Is this not true?

[Italy52]

I would like to know who it is, wether you get a satisfactory response or not.

 

I booked on Hotwire.com yesterday for Hertz and I am concerned because the rate was half that of every other company, and even Hertz's own website. (this was not a rate that I bid on, just the posted rate for Hertz on the hotwire website).

 

I was under the assumption that car rentals were like hotels - everyone gets a different rate based on when/how they book and the available inventory for the time they are requesting. Is this not true?

 

 

I have always booked with Hertz for business and pleasure travel and never had a problem with them honoring the quoted price. If something is changing I would like to know as well.

[Chat Noir]

I hope you have your confirmation email from your original booking, and I would argue that price all the way up the ladder.

 

Other than to make sure you get a car (and I don't think Anchorage has a huge shortage), reserving also serves to lock in your rate.

 

If they don't honor your reservation to your satisfaction tomorrow, I certainly hope you do come back here and post the agency. Personally, I don't think that's something that they need a day to figure out, anyway.

[vbmom87]

I was under the assumption that car rentals were like hotels - everyone gets a different rate based on when/how they book and the available inventory for the time they are requesting. Is this not true?

 

That is how it usually works.

[clintjake]

Try yescarhire.com. ,great rates.

[frugaltravel]

Try Enterprise, book super early and you often get a $100/week plus taxes rate for a compact car for their off-airport locations. Happens pretty much every year 11 months in advance. By 9 months in advance the rates double or triple.

[pshaze]

We reserved ( last October ) two cars for July 2009. We received a email back from the company and had the present managers name on it with a confirmation number for the reservation. I decided to call yesterday to check on the reservation. They at first couldn't find our reservation. I got ahold of the manager who found it but said that rate wasn't no good as it was there winter rate. Still don't know what they are going to do about it. We are now looking for a honest and reasonable car rental in Anchorage. Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

Was this one of the major car rental agencies or a local?

[crazycath]

I made my reservation with Avis in August 08 for July 09, just cked it, it is still OK at $194 for 4 days, unless you give us a name of the car rental company I cant believe your claim is true

 

Cathy

[kenish]

Some rental car locations are franchises and not company-owned. For example, I know that most airport Avis locations are corporate, while most downtown and neighborhood locations are franchised. It should not make any difference whatsoever, but when I've run into problems with hotels, rental cars, etc. it's usually with a franchise. The good news is the corporate customer service will usually go to bat for you if the local franchisee does not resolve things to your satisfaction.

 

One thought on the OP's summer vs. winter rate situation....does the OP live in a country where dd/mm/yy is the normal date format? In the USA, mm/dd/yy is the format, but a foreign resident (even Canadian) wanting a car on August 3 might enter 03/08/09 which a US website will interpret as March 8! :eek:

[lundys21]

Yes I have a copy of their email confirmation for both cars, which clearly states ( Your reservation #-------------- is confirmed)

 

To answer crazycath who doubts my claim the car rental name is (High Country Car & Truck in Anchorage.) My two quotes are for Jul 13, 2009 8:00 am pick up to July 18 2:00 drop off for $290.22. My email quotes are from RentalCars@alaska.com with the name of ( High Country Car & Truck Rental on it and signed with the name of the present manager. There are 8 of us and we need two cars

 

The other car rental that did the same thing to me was (Adventure Alaska Car rental)

 

The website that got me to these car rentals was http://www.carrentalexpress.com

 

I wouldn't write this to play games with anybody I have received excellent information off this site which has helped me and I am only trying to warn others of my problem.

[tranceFusion]

Yes I have a copy of their email confirmation for both cars, which clearly states ( Your reservation #-------------- is confirmed)

 

I found when looking that it seems like pretty much all of the local (like, not big chain brand) anchorage car rental places had horrendous reviews.

[vbmom87]

I also got great prices from Enterprise about 10-12 months ahead. We got a great deal from them. No other major company came close.

[kenish]

We rented a car for 4 days from the downtown ANC Avis office and returned it at the airport (no OW drop charge). I scoured all the possible deals and got the best deal using an employee discount code. My employer is a major corporation who uses Avis exclusively. Employee discounts are part of the agreement.

 

Point is, don't forget discount codes from your employer, AAA, airline mileage programs, AARP, etc. It's hard to say one rental car company or location is consistently cheapest....like airline seats, it depends on inventory on the day(s) you need the car.

[Sapphire73]

We reserved ( last October ) two cars for July 2009. We received a email back from the company and had the present managers name on it with a confirmation number for the reservation. I decided to call yesterday to check on the reservation.... The manager...said that rate wasn't no good as it was there winter rate.

 

I remembered this posting when a friend called Sunday night to say that Budget wanted to cancel our reservation for a Ford 12 seat passenger van for a week in July. She had reserved it for 7 days with a deposit of $250, and she has a confirmation letter that the rate is $1000 - with pickup and dropoff at the airport location because we arrive in Anchorage late Saturday (10 pm). This was all done over the phone rather than the internet.

 

Last week she called Budget to see if they could remove the 4th seat for the week, and they said they could for a $100 fee but then called back and said she was given the wrong rate. It was really $1,400 for the week (which is more like what we found on the internet). When she mentioned the deposit and confirmation letter, they evidently suggested that they just cancel the reservation, claiming she must have given them a corporate code. (She is a retired school teacher who did not use any of the codes.) Not the kind of surprise one wants to get - especially at this stage in our trip planning.

[lovebug33]

Car rentals are all whacked in my opinion. We were trying to get a one way from Houston to Galveston last year. There was only one company who did it (Hertz, I think, I've tried to block that from my memory) and they kept saying they wouldn't do it, then giving me horrifically high rates, then low rates, then when we got to the airport, they didn't want to give us the rate we had finally gave and all sort of crud. We are so glad we can get from Anchorage to Seward on a train, albeit really late (almost the time the cruise leaves!), because we don't have to deal with car agencies!