USA Today (and others) report that Alamo Rent A Car created a Pre-Pay & Save option for customers to reduce the number of rental no-shows and cancellations, which one expert says occurs about 30% of the time. The program gives a 10% discount on those rentals pre-paid online, but a $25 credit card penalty is applied if the customer fails to show or cancels within 24 hours of the reservation.

( http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/prkHxIiWCebXipkfJK )

I never thought the noshow rate was so high. Will this cause a cascading effect? The article says Hertz won't follow, but how about other smaller companies? Maybe the days of "risk-free" autorental reservations is ending. But then, maybe better guarantees that the type of car we reserved WILL be there.

I don't blame them for penalizing no-shows. Why shouldn't they? Hotel no-shows have virtually disappeared once they started penalizing.

I have had several rentals in the past mostly of "specialty" vehicles that required a credit card guarantee.And if I didnt cancel at least say 24 hours in advance, then a fee anywhere $25 - 100 would be charged.But I've never actually had a charge.

I agree with Howard. From a number of posts here I learned that some posters make multiple reservations in Anchorage, AK so if one company doesn't have a car they would go to another. Many hotels require to cancel before 5 or 6 pm on the day of arrival. I think car rental companies sooner or later will have the same policy. I wouldn't mind at all especially if I can get 10%discount

I've also often wondered how long it would take for this to happen. However, on the bright side, it does seem that you're not penalized if you cancel at least 24 hours prior to your reservation. This way, if your trip is cancelled, you're still OK. Additionally, it would still allow you to book a reservation, and then if the rates drop, or a better deal comes along you could make a new reservation and cancel the old one. Of course, that presumes you remember to cancel the old one! (And I'm speaking from a bad experience with a hotel reservation.)

Along the lines of new trends in reservations, I've noticed several hotel web sites now offer a better online rate with the catch that it's TOTALLY nonrefundable. That makes me too nervous.