The other day I picked up my economy one day rental at Ft. Lauderdale airport from Avis (Costco discount) to drive home to Naples and turn in there.

The clerk said, "Wouldn't you like to upgrade to a Cadillac we have that needs to be returned to Naples?" I responded, that no, I'd prefer not to spend the extra on gas -- unless they wanted to buy me a tank of gas -- which made her laugh out loud. Then she mentioned how little leg room there would be in the KIA I had reserved. I reminded her that I just got out of an economy seat on an airplane, so the KIA would seem roomy by comparison. Finally she added, "It would only be $20 more to get the Cadillac." I was shocked. Until then, I thought she was offering it to me for free. I asked, "So you're telling me that to do AVIS a favor and return the car they need to get to Naples, I should not only spend extra for the gas, but you want to charge me $20 to do it as well? Are you kidding?" I took the KIA.

LOL Patrick! Well you can't blame a gal for tying. That is a funny story.

It is a wonder that the story didn't end with the clerk saying that they were out of Kias and you had to take the Cadillac.

Keith

I just went through the same thing with Avis in Atlanta. They offered me a Mercury Grand Marquis or a Ford Explorer. They couldn't figure out why I didn't want either for driving around the city. I can't even imagine how I would have parked the car at my hotel, let alone pay for the gas. They finally "found" a Camry for me to rent after I looked outside and saw around 20 full size cars sitting right there.

Wow...that's just special, NeoPatrick. Seriously. I wonder if Avis would be willing to do you a favor AND pay you $20 for the privilege?

Reminds me of a time in Dallas....they kept trying to upgrade my economy to a "nice flashy new Mustang" for only $25 a day more....kept pushing it and pushing it, and we kept saying no.

The guy went so far as to say we (3 guy friends of mine) will look stupid driving around in an economy car....declined it again, and wouldn't you know, when we walked into the garage, they gave us the Mustang anyway because apparently they didn't have any more economy cars anyway....

Author: Keith
Date: 07/08/2008, 10:55 am
It is a wonder that the story didn't end with the clerk saying that they were out of Kias and you had to take the Cadillac.

Keith

**************************

I was thinking the same thing.

I'm still mad at myself for not complaining when they "upgraded" me to a big SUV during my trip to South Dakota. I really wasn't comfortable driving a car that big, particularly on some of the windy roads on the Black Hills.

On my most recent trip, they tried to "upgrade" me, and told me they had no other choices for cars and all they had was a very large car. This time I was determined not to drive a car I wasn't comfortable with. Before leaving the airport, I checked with the other rental agencies and one of them could give me a compact car that was what I wanted. When I went back to the original rental agency and told them to cancel the reservation, they suddenly said they might be able to find a different car for me. I told them not to bother at this point, and to their credit, they were gracious about cancelling the reservation.

It's hard enough driving on unfamiliar roads, I'm not going to make it harder by renting a car much bigger than what I'm used to driving, even if they are happy to offer me the "upgrade".

I can't believe they want to upgrade you for $20! I guess this method does work for them once in a while, otherwise they wouldn't be trying the same trick over and over again.

Common guys. I'd pay $20 extra for a Caddy over a Kia any day. And they are not that bad on gas either.

I realize that it is common, but don't have an attitude when we try to refuse it. And do not try to push it down our throats. As for it being extra money, you should be notified up front that it is $20 extra and be given a choice.

Something similar happened to me in phoenix. I had a Jeep Liberty reserved for a week at Advantage, and they kept saying that they had only one old, smelly Jeep (it turned out fine), and that they wanted me to upgrade to one of the many Dodge Nitros (one car size up) for only $100 more for the week. No thanks!

There is also the insurance issue. I usually decline the rental car agency's insurance because my own policy and my credit card's policy cover me. However, "luxury" cars ( read caddies) and some SUVs, as well as trucks are not covered under my insurance. So in my case, that could turn into a very expensive upgrade.

AttyWSW, I was renting a car to get me as cheaply as possible 110 miles across an interstate to my home in under two hours total, then return it to the agency when I got there. No it would not be worth an extra $20 (plus extra for gas) to me to have a Caddy. I was happy with the surprisingly peppy little Kia, and very happy that it took a tiny fraction over 3 gallons of gas.

And Keith, at least if they had said that all they had was the Cadillac and I had to take it, they couldn't have charged me the extra $20 to do so.

Have a slightly different story on my recent Avis rental as a Prefedred meember.
Rented a subcompact but car assigned looked like it was from Rent A Wreck..it had not just scratches but HUGE scrapes back of rearview mirrors, the side and the rear.
Went back to rental booth and said very loudly in front of other customers "for a Preferred Customer the car you assigned is not in very good shape.. Do you have something else in the same class please?"
They nicely put me in a car next class up and it was much better looking and gave me one day free...Avis has always fixed the issues in a Customer service fare & friendly way..but I travel alot so I do insist on loyalty recognition from the travel companies I give my money too..

FYI when I leased with Alamo I would alwys get hazed for a bigger car...

Whenever I rent a car, I rent what I want: compact (when alone), full-size (when with family). One time, trying to retrieve a (full-size) rental for my family, the person at the desk kept trying to upgrade me to a Cadillac (luxury), for a "low low" price of only $25/day. I said no as persistently as they tried to talk me into the upgrade. Amazingly, the price kept coming down, but I still refused. In the end, I got the upgrade for free, as it was the only car type available. This was Avis. To me, that's bad customer service. Other companies give me free upgrades when there are no more cars of the class I reserved. Granted, I only rented from Avis once. But still...

I spent two years in/out of hospitals, daily therapy, etc., after being in an accident in 1965 while driving an English Ford Angelia (a really small car)...got rear-ended by a 1958 Lincoln...4 tons of steel, cast iron and chrome. Believe me, the difference in gas mileage is not always the cost!

Not only do I always book a small car, but I love it when I get the free or very cheap up-grades...and I would have been more than happy to just pay $20 to go up to the Caddy!