Will I have a rental car when I arrive?

July 2, 2021 12:26 PM

I have a week-long rental car reservation with Enterprise through Costco starting in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Can I expect that I will in fact have a rental car when I arrive with the current rental car shortage? What sort of alternative plans should I consider if a car isn't available?

The trip will be majorly messed up if I cannot actually get a rental car with my reservation. Have you rented a car recently in Las Vegas or run into shortage issues with Costco or Enterprise?

What sort of things can I consider if a car isn't actually available when I show up at the rental car counter?

posted by msbrauer to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

If you booked it you should be good, I believe shortages are only related to people who didn't book ahead. If you're really stuck my neighbors rented a truck from Home Depot, that may be a cheat that people aren't really looking at. If this is work related would using a car service like Uber work? It might be the same price if not less than an overpriced rental.
posted by geoff. at 12:42 PM on July 2, 2021

I just rented with Enterprise for a cross country move. I'd booked several months ago through AAA.

All was fine - this was out of LaGuardia in New York. There was only one other person there when I showed up to claim my car, he did not have a reservation, and they were nice about telling him that he was SOL. I had two great options, both were ready and I was very happy with the service.

Based on my experience, Enterprise was fantastic and all was well.
posted by rdnnyc at 12:49 PM on July 2, 2021

I have rented a lot at Vegas recently - only with Hertz, though. The worst case I have seen from my flying in and out of places recently is that you may have a delay if they are so short they are waiting on cars to come in to go back out again. But this hasn't been an issue for me so far and certainly not at Vegas. There have been hardly any cars in the pick up location lot each time, but my car was always there (or a free upgrade).

I have heard nightmare stories at LAX and a few other places across the country where the line is extremely long, but Vegas rental car centre always seems quiet the last few months still. If it's any different next week when I go I will update.
posted by Brockles at 1:52 PM on July 2, 2021

Your backup plan in the worst case scenario is to take a cab or rideshare to an off-airport car rental location, of which there are many in Las Vegas, and at least one is sure to have cars.
posted by primethyme at 1:55 PM on July 2, 2021

I just got back from a trip to Palm Springs where we booked our rental car months ago -- the car rental agency did not have a car available for us when we arrived on schedule. The desk agent mentioned that the manager had had vehicles transferred to another location and accordingly wiped out their local inventory. We took a Lyft to our destination, and we were able to pick up a car the following morning. It was annoying and not the end of the world since we were staying nearby. We also noticed that the car rental parking lot at the airport looked extremely empty when we arrived and it didn't look like the other companies had enough cars available for the groups waiting in line.
posted by stowaway at 2:08 PM on July 2, 2021

If you booked it, they have to give you a car that's what you reserved... OR BETTER! You often get "free upgrades" this way.
posted by kschang at 3:15 PM on July 2, 2021

Your rights are that you get a car or an upgrade. Enforcing that when there are no cars available is not going to happen. Rental car companies have optimization software that is supposed to account for reservations at different locations. My gf has traveled to LA several times over the last 2 months and had no issues with her reservation. Ditto for renting from HPN here in NY. I drive her to the rental car place whenever she rents here locally from HPN. At the beginning of the year, the rental lot was a sad relic of what it once was. Each company had maybe two or three cars. Lots of empty spaces. In the last 4-6 weeks that has changed. Almost every spot is taken during the week. Weekends, cars get rented. It appears to me that the rental companies are starting to both procure more cars and allocate their cars where the demand is. Vegas is a high demand location. If it were me, I would call the local Enterprise desk the day before arrival and confirm your reservation and ask them what car is it likely to be as you need to plan your luggage. Lock them in a little bit more with the actual local desk.

I would also call Costco Travel (866-921-7925) and confirm as well as ask them what if you get there and there are no cars. Will Costco Travel back it up with a car somewhere else.
posted by AugustWest at 4:11 PM on July 2, 2021

Honestly, I've had a problem with this, and it was years ago. I think it was in someplace like Idaho, but I'm not sure -- basically, they ran out of cars at some point during the day, and if you weren't there before they ran out, too bad. Even with a reservation. It was upsetting. I don't remember how it was resolved.

So, anyway, if you arrive waaay before the last flight at the airport arrives, you'll probably be OK.
posted by amtho at 5:10 PM on July 2, 2021

I ran into your worst-case scenario exactly once, about a decade ago, with the Thrifty at SLC over Thanksgiving weekend. (They were extremely inept and cavalier about it and I informed them in writing that my boycott would be lifelong. They offered conciliatory vouchers for another rental, which I threw away.)

Enterprise has never failed me like that. (Indeed, only Thrifty has.)

As someone who has rented a car in the last couple weeks, I can tell you that airport locations seem to have better inventories than non-airport locations. If your rental is out of the airport location, in the unlikely event that airport Enterprise is overcommitted, one of the other rental counters might be able to help.

If you don’t have more than two people, in a REAL pinch you might also be able to reserve a pickup truck or cargo van from a nearby U-Haul or similar such place. Not very swanky, but it’ll get you around town.

But you do have a reservation, and it’s through two companies that generally get good marks for not being inept. Even amid this shortage, the odds are overwhelmingly in favor that it’ll be OK.

Safe travels!
posted by armeowda at 11:32 AM on July 3, 2021

As a data point-- I picked up a reserved car in Vegas last week (late at night on a weekend, too) and they seemed to have plenty available. Not Enterprise, though (Fox rent a car).
posted by geegollygosh at 3:01 PM on July 3, 2021

Avis data point - very few cars there, but everyone that was booked got one, but Hertz was out of cars when I tried to book for someone last week. So I think with a booking you will be fine.

I got upgraded to a Dodge Challenger (from a standard) because of lack of options, but my flight was late so not that surprising.
posted by Brockles at 4:24 PM on July 8, 2021