Alamo pricing glitch?

George_Michael

I'm going over to Orlando at the end of the month and whilst there I will be hiring a car.
I've been looking on the Alamo.co.uk and Alamo Brits websites and have noticed something strange with their pricing.
I normally opt for a standard or full size car (Impala or similar) but for the period I will be there, the prices are astronomical for these classes of vehicles.

An economy or compact car is priced up at around £300 for 13 days for their fully inclusive package but a standard or full sized car is showing up as about £870!
This makes them far more expensive than a full size SUV or luxury car such as a Cadillac.

Does anyone know if such a massive price increase happens when the availability of certain classes of cars is low, or is it just likely to be a computer glitch causing this?

EssexExile

I'd check on other companies websites & see if it's a common theme.

HogMan

I have noticed that too, it seems to be an issue relating to Alamo/National. Other rental websites seem to be okay.

It seems to be an intermittent issue, as by revisiting the site a few times it did eventually give sensible prices and I managed to book at a good rate.

Worth mentioning too that there is Thanksgiving later this month so that may be having an impact on prices too.

richardw

It's the Thanksgiving factor.

George_Michael

Thanksgiving is on Thursday 23rd November and I'm not arriving until Tuesday 28th I don't think that could be the reason.
Even allowing for the holiday weekend, I would have thought that everything would be back to normal by the Tuesday evening.

HogMan

I have just tried a test booking for when I am going (for Thanksgiving) and the prices seem to okay. Very similar prices to when I booked a few weeks ago.

Might be worth trying again today just in case it is a glitch.

George_Michael

Still showing the same for the dates I want. (28th Nov to 10th Dec).
I think I'll give them a call and see what's up.

loskie

could it be to do with the number of cars wiped out during the recent hurricanes and the increased demand that will have brought from local customers?

photome

I have been checking car hire sites regularly for last few months for a hire in the USA next yyear

Alamo and Alamo brits have consistently been double or more than what everyone else is offering

Tha abnormalities of Alamo pricing has been mentioned before on here

I normally use Alamo but looks like it will be someone else next year

cb1979

Been to Orlando many times over the last 15 years and car hire has always been fairly cheap with Alamo
I am going next Saturday for a week and are getting prices of around £220 for a Standard car, which i think is quite expensive even with the poor exchange rate

As an example i went to LA for a week in April 2016 and my invoice showed £151 for a week(was around $1.40 to the £ then)
Just put the same dates in for April 2018 as a comparison and is now showing the same car as £171 at the current exchange rate

Maybe there is a shortage of cars in Florida as the result of storm damage and hence they have hiked the prices

cb1979

Just found this website which offers better prices
https://www.zestcarrental.com/usa/florida/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhs-du-Gn1wIVypTtCh3Iaw7cEAAYAiAAEgIE8_D_BwE&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_content=Search+Engine+Ad