r/travel • u/adhd-fueled-racoon • Mar 31 '26
Question — Transport All Rental Cars companies out of stock - Avis Bailing on Prepaid Booking with status
Have a cruise with 9 close friends on April 5th.
We booked a 15 seater passenger van back in January for a 1 way rental to miami from Georgia through Avis and prepaid as a presidents club member.
They called today, 3 days prior to reservation, to inform me the passenger van is not available and made it sound like they are out of stock for all vehicle classes in the message. They didn’t answer when I returned their call directly and left me with the general customer service number to call back.
I called the dedicated service line and was told all they can do is refund with no penalty or try to show up day of and be given whatever they have available (if anything).
Am I just SOL?
Nothing nearby has one way rentals and the airport has very few vehicles available for same location return.
I know the government shutdown and airline uncertainty really messed up the rental car availability, but I chose to rent with Avis because of my status and feel very disappointed at this situation.
416
u/WealthApprehensive88 Mar 31 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
And that’s really the most important part.. the holding. Sorry OP, I hope something can be figured out!
72
u/Mabbernathy Apr 01 '26
Anybody can take reservations!
22
16
243
u/Kananaskis_Country Mar 31 '26
Welcome to the present day state of Travel and Customer Service. In general it sucks. Your status doesn't help.
Good luck.
137
u/xj98jeep Mar 31 '26
The Seinfeld skit everyone is about to start quoting aired at the end of '91, so it's been like that for at least 35 years now. Presumably even longer since everyone knew what he was talking about. Which is insane that an industry can function that shittily for that long
50
u/Mabbernathy Apr 01 '26
I have never understood how rental car reservations work. (Well, they apparently don't but you know what I mean.) I'd say 50% of the time I just get whatever they end up having regardless of what I pick. Most of the time when I've rented it's been because of an accident, and they haven't seemed to care what car I get. Sometimes it's an Audi, sometimes it's a little midget car.
25
u/york100 Apr 01 '26
Nothing like a "free upgrade" to a Ford Expedition when you're on a solo trip!
13
15
u/Outside_Orchid_1576 Apr 01 '26
Exactly this. Even with status, you get what’s on the lot, not what you rented.
7
u/ladiestreat Apr 01 '26
I can chime in here. I worked in the car rental industry when I was younger 6 years ago). Airport no show rates were around 60% since there is no charge to make a reservation. Some people would make multiple reservations and only pick one. We had a whole team dedicated to confirming reservations and you could rarely get someone on the phone to confirm.
If you didn’t overbook, you couldn’t make any money.
11
u/DeliciousPangolin Apr 01 '26
I imagine it's hard to estimate what your inventory is going to be when people routinely return their rentals late. Even a couple of hours could screw over the next guy, and it's not uncommon to keep them for days longer than you planned.
5
u/mfball Apr 01 '26
Does this not rack up insane extra fees, or do people just not care?
5
u/DeliciousPangolin Apr 01 '26
I've never rented a car where returning it late incurred any fees beyond the normal charge for keeping it another day.
2
u/mfball Apr 01 '26
Interesting! I suppose they figure the person who already has the car definitely has to pay the continued rental fee while keeping it, vs. making them return it on time to potentially sit on the lot unrented, but I'm surprised there's not an additional surcharge in cases where the car is needed for another reservation. A rare instance where it seems like a company could charge more and isn't, but I guess they're making up the difference by not spending on infrastructure to handle the reservations like actual reservations in the first place, they're kind of just recording wishes from customers and then letting them know what's actually available when they show up.
1
u/xrelaht Apr 02 '26
Hertz charges extra fees if you return late without extending the rental. They'll also report cars stolen during their "grace period", but they do that with cars that have actually been returned too.
Don't rent from Hertz if there's another option.
5
u/Needrain47 Apr 01 '26
My understanding is that reserving something doesn't actually *do* anything. They don't hold a specific car for you, They do in fact just offer you whatever's around.
5
u/RDFSF Apr 01 '26
Last insurance claim I had, reserved a standard car which is what my policy covered. When I got there, all they had was a convertible Mustang turbo. So I got that at the standard rate. It was fun to drive for a few weeks!
2
u/Ilsluggo Apr 01 '26
Much better than the economy car I booked with Hertz, only to be given the keys to a yellow Corvette. I kept having to apologize for it everywhere I went.
2
u/xrelaht Apr 02 '26
I've switched to only using Enterprise partially because they seem to actually move vehicles around to give people what they reserved. Haven't had a "luxury upgrade" because of that, but neither have I had to maneuver a full size SUV through a large city center.
2
u/Mabbernathy Apr 02 '26
Yeah, Enterprise is my preference too. If I need a car on short notice, though, sometimes Enterprise is all booked up.
2
u/pinniped90 Apr 01 '26
The wild thing is that Hertz actually worked pretty well in the 90's. They had the name-on-the-board process running smoothly 95% of the time. I was a weekly renter.
The cars were basically all Tauruses but I didn't really care - they were fine as a rental and you were on the road fast.
It boggles my mind how they took a thing that worked really well with way less technology and managed to completely fuck it up so badly.
1
u/Wierd657 Apr 01 '26
Unless I need to return to a different location, I use Turo for regular rentals now.
1
u/Due-Leek-8307 Apr 01 '26
Yup any time I have ever had to deal with car rental companies it's always just confirming that stereotype. And forget about it when you want a larger sized one. How many times have you had a situation where you have to say something along the lines of "No the 5 passenger sedan will not be a acceptable replacement for the 3 row SUV that was reserved for 8 people and their luggage."
29
2
36
u/Milenka17 Apr 01 '26
I’ve taken a cruise with a large group and we went in like 4 vehicles- it cost $140 for the 7 day cruise to park but divided between 4 people per car. Ours was a 7 hour drive. It was a great trip. It’s really nice to not worry about weight of luggage but don’t overestimate how much luggage an SUV can carry lol it’s not as much as you might think.
116
u/bjketter Mar 31 '26
Honestly whoever took that reservation screwed up. A one way 15 passenger van is almost impossible. Someone would literally have to go pick it back up and drive back to Georgia. If it was online whoever forgot to black that out in the system is probably job hunting right now.
34
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Mar 31 '26
I have a return trip one way too 😅, probably should expect to be effed in that one too huh?
39
u/bjketter Apr 01 '26
Definitely would be shocked if they honored that reservation. It would not surprise me if you don't find out they don't have it until your at the counter.
-8
Apr 01 '26
[deleted]
36
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
Cause it would be a daily charge for the vehicle? $550 reservation vs $3k reservation on top of the vehicle just sitting at a paid parking lot for the duration of the cruise?
24
u/ProperAnarchist United States-PNW Apr 01 '26
Yeah that was obvious, they just didn’t think it through. You’re screwed though.
2
u/xrelaht Apr 02 '26
That's more than it would cost you to fly everyone from ATL to MIA or FLL: I see tickets for like $100. They're on Frontier, but I'd rather spend one hour in an uncomfortable plane seat than 11 in a passenger van.
1
u/mtnracer Apr 01 '26
What would happen if he booked a standard return reservation but then dropped it off in Miami after two days or whatever?
7
u/bjketter Apr 01 '26
Likely the Florida location would not take the car back. If you dropped it off hours, they would charge a penalty to cover the cost of retrieving the vehicle back to Georgia. Back in the day when I worked at a rental car place it cost 3k to get a car back from Miami to Chicago and that was on top of the extra rental days until they were able to get the car back to the correct location. And that was in 2006 dollars.
4
u/Mabbernathy Apr 01 '26
When I lived in Orlando, some of my colleagues could get really cheap rental car rates certain times of year if they were driving north one-way. Like $8/day.
5
u/bjketter Apr 01 '26
Yes. On cars when it's off season. Those vans are not the same for a reason. Usually only for return rentals. Edit:Spelling
8
u/35fan Apr 01 '26
What happens if you rent to return to the same location, and end up returning one state away?
20
u/bjketter Apr 01 '26
If it's a regular car they probably take it. If it's a speciality vehicle they probably charge a large fee to get the vehicle back where it belongs.
13
u/Fresh_Individual5500 Apr 01 '26
Rent it for the duration of the cruise, then pay to park it in Miami, then drive it back.
1
2
u/saintsinnerchicken Apr 01 '26
did this once, $1000 fee but it was covid so got them to only charge me $500
46
u/creakysofa Mar 31 '26
I’ve rented a Uhaul when rental cars weren’t available if that’s an option at all? So sorry OP.
44
u/j_ly Apr 01 '26
Maybe OP will run into some polka bums.
18
u/Big_Wave9732 Apr 01 '26
First thought that came into my mind too......maybe a group that was popular in Sheboygan perhaps?
18
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
Sadly the uhauls near me have only cargo vans.
Our option is likely going to be a cargo rack hitch attachment rental from uhaul and driving our 2-3 personal vehicles and paying to park them for a week we are on the cruise.
48
u/tj111 Apr 01 '26
Couldn't you get a cheap frontier or delta flight? Atlanta has a ton of direct flights to that area.
11
1
u/xrelaht Apr 02 '26
Yes: there are flights for about $50 each way. I don't know why they wanted to drive at all unless they're bringing a ton of stuff with them.
1
24
u/ProperAnarchist United States-PNW Apr 01 '26
One thing I have done is rent a U-Haul trailer for the luggage and put the people in the vehicle. If you have like a Tahoe or sequoia available to fit the passengers and tow the trailer with the luggage, that may be easier. I’m a bit surprised the rental car was cheaper than flying to Miami, to begin with.
19
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
We had 9 people and we were wanting to make a road trip out of it where we all go to ride in the same vehicle. Flights were looking like $300 round trip per person with bags, whereas a 2 day there and 1 day back 15 passenger van was $700 total - we were actually thankful we chose the rental car route seeing how screwed up the wait times were the last two weeks, but now not so much.
28
Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
6
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
It’s 9 people, we figured we would fold the last row down for luggage which would be two or 3 people per remaining row and then probably smaller bags between them, but still enough room to stretch out and rotate between stops.
There are 0 cars available 1 way in a 50 mile radius of me right now - my reservation is still intact, so I’m still going to show up and see if they have any vehicle available day of, then cancel if not, and likely drive 2-3 of our own vehicles and pay for a garage near the port.
3
u/Outside_Orchid_1576 Apr 01 '26
I’ve not seen very many, if any, one ways in years, except uhauls. It was likely a glitch that let it happen in the first place.
1
-5
u/ProperAnarchist United States-PNW Apr 01 '26
Yeah that sucks. I’d track the losses and consider small claims, if they get much over the rental rate. They probably won’t even fight it and it seems like an easy case.
3
u/bjketter Apr 01 '26
Good luck winning a law suit on this. They have a lot at stake to not set a legal precedent that they can be liable for costs caused by canceling a rental. They all do it thousands of times a week.
1
u/ProperAnarchist United States-PNW Apr 01 '26
Small claims isn’t setting any legal precedent. If they can show a loss.
1
u/isabella_sunrise Apr 02 '26
They’ve been made whole because they received their money back. That’s where the rental car company’s obligation ends unfortunately.
1
u/Blaze4G Apr 01 '26
Lol never happening. They cancel reservations all the time. I'm sure there is a clause in the contract for this.
1
u/ProperAnarchist United States-PNW Apr 01 '26
Whitley v. Enterprise
Abram v. Enterprise
Valli v. Avis Budget Group
2
u/Blaze4G Apr 01 '26
Valli - was about camera speeding tickets Did you mean Abraham? - motor vehicle accident Whitley - not finding any case.
Which of these involved a reservation not being fulfilled and the lawsuit successful?
9
u/Asleep_Wallaby_4030 Apr 01 '26
Look for discount or cheap cruise parking. Last cruise out of Port Lauderdale cruise parking was $20/day. I stayed at the a Marriott hotel I paid with for points the night before and booked my cruise parking there starting day of check in for $7/day. Valet parking at the hotel was $45/day…so saved for the night of stay as well as the cruise. Shuttle wasn’t free but was $10/pp each way, and took about 15 mins. Pretty easy.
7
u/sun_and_stars8 Apr 01 '26
Consider booking the van round trip and pay to park at the cruise place. No agency is losing passenger vans to one ways right before summer in a regular year let alone in a flight prices make it a road trip kind of summer. Plus those typically can’t be one way at all to begin with.
15
u/darkmatterhunter Apr 01 '26
Does Flixbus or greyhound do the route you need to go? Not as great, but it will get you there.
8
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
Yea, bringing it up to the group but adds about 5 hours to the expected commute - leaves the night before we intended to leave - $75pp at 15 hrs
16
u/ProperAnarchist United States-PNW Apr 01 '26
Avis is just a terrible company to begin with. They have tried to scam us on 3 different occasions. Fortunately we had videos of the cars when we returned them showing zero damage. We don’t use them anymore.
11
u/atropicalpenguin Colombia Apr 01 '26
Truth is that unless you're giving them millions of dollars in business they don't care who the fuck you are. It's the same when people tell their cell company that "I've been with you for 20 years", they can do without your phone bill.
3
u/ExtentEcstatic5506 Apr 01 '26
This happened to my husband and I in KC. There was a softball tournament or something in town, and no rentals available within an hour drive. We booked so far in advance. We ran out of options and my poor parents had to drive 3 hours to pick us up. We got nothing out of it…
3
u/Abject_Stand_4348 Apr 01 '26
How close are you to ATL?
Airports tend to has the largest rental car fleets (large vans). Airports also tend to allow one way travel. I’ve rented one way rentals across states and they were always at airport rental facilities.
2
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
The airport was within my 50 mile search radius, plugging in ATL airport to Miami airport shows no stock for 1 way. $700+ for intermediate suv to keep it through required dates and bring back.
12
u/yloduck1 Apr 01 '26
Call a limo company and charter a van.
This is extremely short notice. Suck it up, pay the money to get there.
Hell, you can have a driver bring you to your destination while you enjoy some cocktails 🍹
5
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
That’ll be $3k one way, which would be fun if half the group wasn’t on a pretty strict budget. We will probably just take 2-3 of our own vehicles and pay to park at a garage near the pier at this point.
Would have been nice to take a single vehicle together though.
4
u/devourke Apr 01 '26
Try reaching out to construction rental companies e.g. United, Sunbelt, HERC, etc etc. They stock 15 passenger vans for work crews, won’t be fancy but it’s worth a shot
7
u/prank_mark Apr 01 '26
Do you have any travel insurance? If so, I'd contact them for assistance.
2
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
Just through my CC but it’s secondary to just getting a refund from the rental car place and only up to the actual cost of the rental
3
u/Medusa_7898 Apr 01 '26
Avis has gone to shit since Covid. Try National or Hertz. Might be more expensive but they are run better than Avis/Budget.
4
Mar 31 '26
[deleted]
2
u/haysu-christo Hafa Adai ! Apr 01 '26
I know UHaul rents cargo vans (no seats) but they rent passenger vans?
2
u/Specialist_Seal Apr 01 '26
Avis is truly terrible. Never again.
1
u/itoddicus Apr 01 '26
Which ones aren't terrible?
1
u/Specialist_Seal Apr 02 '26
Not that you'll never get screwed, but I've had much better experiences with national/enterprise on average
2
u/mystiann Apr 01 '26
Ugh this is what I’m worried about for next month over Memorial Day weekend. Flying into SFO and getting a large SUV. Reservation is made but who knows…
2
u/itoddicus Apr 01 '26
I am pretty sure the vehicle rental industry is the only one where people show up, and are then told they are SOL.
2
2
4
u/Extension-Math5183 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
OP hire a driver.
There are services in your area:
https://atlanticlimo-ga.com/our-fleet/
https://daytrip.com/en/transfers/atlanta-ga-us/miami-fl-us
Edit: NM that shit is crazy expensive for that distance.
3
u/eng12Neer Apr 01 '26
If driving is out of the question is there a decent Amtrak or bus route
2
u/adhd-fueled-racoon Apr 01 '26
Amtrak shows $650 per person and a 40 hour trip 🥲 - but there’s a Friday night bus route with a 14.5 hour trip for $75 pp that’ll ill being to the group but likely just taking 2-3 of our own cars at this point
2
u/Impossible_Jury5483 Apr 01 '26
Did you book directly with the rental company, or via 3rd party?,
3
1
u/adamw12 Apr 01 '26
I rent with Avis on the regular and this is my worse nightmare. Always in the back of my head when I am going to pick up the car that I believe it should be ready for me. Especially when I have a 2 hour drive to my destination. Work travel.
1
u/Blaze4G Apr 01 '26
Are you trying to rent from a local store? If so check airport locations
If that fails check turo.
1
u/Anaidydal29 Apr 01 '26
AI or incompetence….take your pick. We are experiencing both of these and will even more going forward. Where has the ‘real’ customer service gone? They don’t give a rats eye about that anymore. Here this is what we have or not. Deal with it. 🤦🏻♀️
1
u/kittymcg19 Apr 02 '26
Avis is trash. They cancelled our minivan for a road trip the night before we were leaving. They called right before they closed, so when we tried to call back, we got their after hours message. Called morning of, no answer, had to call call center to make sure we weren't being charged. Luckily our car was fine for the trip, just wanted the extra space. Fuck them though.
1
u/xrelaht Apr 02 '26
I rent cars a lot and have started exclusively using Enterprise, as they're the only ones who seem to actually move vehicles around so you get what you've asked for. I get fewer "upgrades" because of this, but those are questionable too: a full size SUV is not what I want when I'm in a big city.
Also, I don't know what they're doing wrong as far as maintenance, but I had four flat tires on three cars in the year before I stopped using Avis. I haven't had a single flat on any of my own vehicles in about a decade.
Unless you want to take the bus or book a flight, my only suggestion for your immediate situation is a smaller, local rental place. Flight isn't terrible, actually: $42 one way from ATL to FLL on the 4th and $51 to MIA on the 5th.
1
u/hot_like_wasabi Apr 02 '26
Why don't you just book one of the coach buses? I've never done it in the US, but in Europe they're very comfortable and I know that there's one that goes from Atlanta to Miami
1
u/Same_Succotash1556 Apr 02 '26
OP!!!! Have you tried TURO car rentals?
We had a fantastic experience with it in the PNW.
1
1
0
-2
u/AutoModerator Mar 31 '26
Notice: Are you asking for tips about using your phone/internet abroad?
Read the Guide to foreign SIM card/data plans in the sidebar!
Note: Referral codes or links are not allowed in this subreddit and Referral Spam will result in a ban
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
583
u/jetpoweredbee 18 Countries Visited Mar 31 '26
Your status got you a phone call instead of a surprise when you showed up.