Car Hire Upgrades?

Tojo_Ralph

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Upgrades are common place with most car rental companies, but in my own experience, more often than not the upgrade amounts to being dumped upon.

If I have booked an Astra, it's because that's all I need and whilst I'll happily accept an A4 or a 3 series in it's place, the uprade usually amounts to the likes of a Zafira, a Sharan a Volvo estate or some equally unwanted vehicle.
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cazziebo

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

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Upgrades are common place with most car rental companies, but in my own experience, more often than not the upgrade amounts to being dumped upon.

If I have booked an Astra, it's because that's all I need and whilst I'll happily accept an A4 or a 3 series in it's place, the uprade usually amounts to the likes of a Zafira, a Sharan a Volvo estate or some equally unwanted vehicle.
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Yes - that's true too. Although it's a bigger car that the OP wants. One time the agent made a big fan fare of upgrading me from a ford fiesta size to a zafira - it was for me to drive alone about 500 miles and the petrol costs would have been at least double!

Jasper27_2

It's true that in the US there are no "small" cars as we know them. We've been to the US over a dozen times and only ever book the smallest car becuase even if we get it we find it's more than big enough for the two of us plus luggage. If you have a bigger group and more suitcases think about what you realistically need. If the car rental staff are too keen to sell you an upgrade it usually means they haven't got the car you booked and are going to have to upgrade you but want you to pay for it. I'd say 75% of the time we've had a free upgrade. However petrol is no longer as cheap as it used to be and smaller cars are more in demand as cazziebo points out a bigger car can add a lot to your fuel bill especially if you're going a long way and need the air-con on.