DEN Denver Standard Alamo

[doublehelix]

Started by using the PRICELINE link on this board

Then won the first try for this rental

Your Offer Price: $15.00 (per day)

Total Rental Days: 7 days

Subtotal: $105.00

Taxes and Fees: $61.83

Total Charges: $166.83

All told, the toal price averages out to less than $24 per day, so that's a price I can live with for sure. Got our hotel for free with reward points... so now to buy lift tickets for this ski vacation!

~Jen

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Great deal for this Denver rental! Glad you are pleased with the result.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your trip.

[doublehelix]

I'm a bit rusty. I let the agent at the Alamo counter talk me into spending $130 more for an upgraded vehicle. (shaking head)

He told me that the Standard Car I'd reserved would be only a 4-cylinder vehicle, and that such a car would be risky to take into the Colorado mountains. He offered an SUV for $25/day extra, but knocked it to $15/day when I whipped out my National Emerald Club Executive loyalty card.

I wish I had stuck to my original reservation - I hate spending extra. If I had thought about it more carefully at the time, I would have realized:

• that he was describing Economy Cars, not Standard Cars
  
• I had the right to go look at the Standard Car selection to decide for myself whether it would be "risky"
  
• highway driving, even in the Colorado mountains, is something that small cars do every day, comfortably
  
• if the weather turned (it never did during our trip, thanksfully) they'll close the highway or we'll decide to stay put anyway - a special car isn't going to make us drive any differently
  
• the SUV we got was a small one, with the same engine power as any Standard Car they could have given us
  
• it was all just a profit-motivated scare tactic: "you'll be going to 11,000 feet!" was referring to the altitude at the peaks of mountains - cars don't drive on the peaks! They drive on the roads that are 5000-8000 feet above sea level in this part of the country, broad and spacious.
  

I'm not angry, because I did understand and agree to the extra charges before the rental. But I am kicking myself for letting myself be convinced by faulty logic. I'm using this experience as a learning occasion.

~Jen

[thereuare]

Other than the up-sell, hope you had a great trip.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the board.