 Poster: A snowHead
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Avoid Advantage, which is also co-branded as EZ. I made the mistake several years ago on a ski trip, but inadvertently repeated last month while going out for a fishing trip. 1.5 hour wait for the line inside their office to actually get my car. I realized when I got to the desk finally that the primary explanation was that the agents were spending a great deal of time with each customer trying to upsell to nicer cars, more insurance, etc. I was rude as hell with the agent, and got past him in about 3 minutes. When I left (at 11 pm) the line was just as long as when I arrived, so the patrons at the end of that line were going to be there past midnight.
If you just do an aggregator type search, this company will routinely show up a few dollars per day cheaper than competitors. Trust me, it's not worth it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thing to watch is that they are the Europcar partner there. Ended up with them once through this - would agree not worth it, most reviews of car rental branches I take with a pinch of salt as only people with a gripe review them but I think it is justified - noticeably older vehicles and blatant lies as they assign you a car smaller than you have paid for.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Is it just Denver or in other location too?
Never used them so far. But would watch out in the future.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Good tip. Car hire remains a PITA, whilst most other travel stuff has become fairly slick (airline apps etc). Even though they have all your details, they seem to be tapping away at the keyboard forever. It's about time they clamped down on the industry for pressure selling and scare tactics.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Themasterpiece wrote: |
| Good tip. Car hire remains a PITA, whilst most other travel stuff has become fairly slick (airline apps etc). Even though they have all your details, they seem to be tapping away at the keyboard forever. It's about time they clamped down on the industry for pressure selling and scare tactics. |
The system is rigged against the unwary and desk staff giving the scare sell when your brain is knackered after a flight is a major trap. Prepaid through a broker and full inclusive is the only way to go in the US for peace of mind then just firmly decline offers of upgrading for "only $20 a day" as it will be at least double by the time all the fees and tases get loaded on. US car rental firms seem to have become noticably stingier over the years inventing new classes of vehicle and assigning cars to classes they don't belong in like a Corolla described as Full-size and city cars like the Fiat 500 described as compact. I've even seen them upsell people to an SUV on the basis "it's illegal to drive a 2wd in winter in the mountains" and then have no guilt whatsover that the SUV is itself a 2wd version.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have been skiing from SLC for a number of years and have always rented a car. I used an online agent rentalcars.com because by booking through them CDW included. The actual rental car company was always Alamo. The car rental building and parking lot is 25 yards from the airport exit door 2 minute walk. The car pickup process on average took less than 15 minutes except on one occasion when they had no cars and I had to wait maybe 30 mins. They then gave me a new V6 Mustang instead of my Focus. Woo Hoo.
I had to use the insurance twice and there was no fuss or nit picking. Just go in and swap the car at the airport and spend a few minutes on the phone with the insurance company.
The first few times I was anal about getting every chip and scuff documented and photographed as I had heard horror stories about people being hit with big bills for body damage. Now I still check but the car handlers at the airport assure me that providing it is not a big dent or big score they don't care.
Skiing SLC again this winter and booking through rentalcars.com again.
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@abc, Denver is the only place I have used them, so unsure of other locations. I would suspect the let 'em wait while we upsell is a company wide business practice, however.
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@TQA, I don't have much experience of rental in the US - glad to hear things have gone well for you. When you say "used the insurance", what was the circumstance and was it the default cover or extra insurance you had?
The horror stories are real. I was collecting a car whilst they screwing guy next to me taking £1000 off his credit card. When he said it's a small scratch the guys response was "I'm not a mechanic, so we take the full amount and you'll get a refund if it costs less." No chance of seeing that money again.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Using the insurance
case 1 I had a tyre deflate with a large piece of plastic stuck in the sidewall. I was expecting to have to pay for a new tyre but they said because of the size of the piece of plastic it was covered.
case 2 I had a side window broken by a casual thief nothing stolen except my candy bar stash which was hidden in the center consol.
No cost to me and no deductible.
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@TQA, that's because you bought the extra insurance (CDW)!
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FAQ
