# Paying the price $$$



## klpca (Jul 27, 2018)

So don't tell anyone IRL (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!


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## b2bailey (Jul 27, 2018)

klpca said:


> So don't tell anyone IRL (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!


Ouch!


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## VacationForever (Jul 27, 2018)

Ouch.  It happens.  

I am generally very detail oriented.  There was once that I booked a hotel more than a year away because I entered a wrong year - same day/month a year out.  It was for a business trip and thank god either my husband caught it or something triggered me to look at the reservation again a day before we got on a plane.  Fortunately, a room was still available and we managed to get it swapped to the right date.


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## Luanne (Jul 27, 2018)

It happens to us all.  I generally plan things way in advance.  We have a trip coming up this Fall starting in Quebec City and ending in NYC.  I realized I'd forgotten to make the train reservations from Quebec City to Montreal.  Ooops.  Luckily the price didn't vary, so I was still okay.


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## bbodb1 (Jul 27, 2018)

klpca said:


> So don't tell anyone *IRL* (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!



_Indy Racing League?_ 

Katherine has a heavy foot?????


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## klpca (Jul 27, 2018)

bbodb1 said:


> _Indy Racing League?_
> 
> Katherine has a heavy foot?????


Lol. In Real Life.


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## MULTIZ321 (Jul 27, 2018)

klpca said:


> So don't tell anyone IRL (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!


Hi Katherine,


Have you checked with www.autoslash.com to see if they can help lower your rate?

Good Luck

Richard


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## bbodb1 (Jul 27, 2018)

klpca said:


> Lol. In Real Life.


.....Katherine's desired rental......


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## VacationForever (Jul 27, 2018)

bbodb1 said:


> .....Katherine's desired rental......


OOOO... OOOO.... OOOO.... MINE TOO!


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## WinniWoman (Jul 27, 2018)

Luanne said:


> It happens to us all.  I generally plan things way in advance.  We have a trip coming up this Fall starting in Quebec City and ending in NYC.  I realized I'd forgotten to make the train reservations from Quebec City to Montreal.  Ooops.  Luckily the price didn't vary, so I was still okay.



Old Quebec City is awesome! We stayed at the Frontenac. Parked the car at the hotel and walked everywhere. Never took the car back out until we left.

Took a tour that brought us to the Falls and also to the Basilica and The Albert Gilles Copper Art Museum, a chocolatier with the best chocolate dipped ice cream cones we ever had, etc. Got a great deal on Booking.com or one of those sites. We drove from NY and then after 4 days there drove to our timeshare in Vermont, which was just 4 hours away.

Montreal is nice also. More cosmopolitan. NYC- well- been there a million times as we live in NY- a whole 'nother experience.


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## Luanne (Jul 27, 2018)

mpumilia said:


> Old Quebec City is awesome! We stayed at the Frontenac. Parked the car at the hotel and walked everywhere. Never took the car back out until we left.
> 
> Took a tour that brought us to the Falls and also to the Basilica and The Albert Gilles Copper Art Museum, a chocolatier with the best chocolate dipped ice cream cones we ever had, etc. Got a great deal on Booking.com or one of those sites. We drove from NY and then after 4 days there drove to our timeshare in Vermont, which was just 4 hours away.


We were there years ago, but I don't remember much about it. We are staying in the old section of the city for three nights.  No car.  We are flying in, and then will take the train to Montreal and spend 4 nights there before taking the train to NYC.


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## lockewong (Jul 27, 2018)

klpca said:


> So don't tell anyone IRL (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!



SAME!  I forgot to reserve a car in Seattle during SeaFair.  It is $87/day!  I may just Uber/Lyft.  I feel your remorse and consternation.


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## BJRSanDiego (Jul 27, 2018)

There is a book called "Don't sweat the small stuff".  If you would have reserved earlier perhaps you could have save $100 or $150.  That is "small stuff" - - IMHO.

I posted a review on Tripadvisor of my stay at Welk Northstar last week.  We had AC problems plus filthy carpets and dirty wooden floors.  But in spite of that we enjoyed our stay.


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## Tank (Jul 27, 2018)

I was renting a van once for 5 days. Booking for 7 days saved me hundreds of dollars. I turned it in early and saved. Might help. 

Probably knew this but just making sure

Dave


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## rboesl (Jul 27, 2018)

A couple of years ago we went to Vidanta's Nuevo Vallarta property We arrived on Sept 5th to be told we had no reservation. I pulled out my paperwork to find out the reservation was for Nov 5th. So there we are in foreign country. No reservation. And airfare not scheduled to take us home another week. Well, we made sure they knew we were owners. Asked for a manager. He got us a room. A rather nice room in fact. A 1BR Grand Mayan with an beautiful view. And we enjoyed a very nice vacation.


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## Luanne (Jul 27, 2018)

lockewong said:


> SAME!  I forgot to reserve a car in Seattle during SeaFair.  It is $87/day!  I may just Uber/Lyft.  I feel your remorse and consternation.


A few years back we were in San Francisco.  We had come specifically to see our younger dd off to Thailand.  We spent 9 days in the city and while we were there we also celebrated our older dd's wedding.  We only needed a car for one day and LUCKILY I had made a reservation through Costco for that one day.  I think we paid about $35 for a midsize.  By the time we got to SF the World Series was being played, there, and something else was going on in the city.  Prices for a one day car rental were over $100!


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## Jan M. (Jul 27, 2018)

klpca said:


> So don't tell anyone IRL (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!



I second Richard's suggestion to go Autoslash and enter your reservation information. Even at this point they may still find you a better rate.

And I also second what Dave said about sometimes being able to rent a car cheaper for a full week than a partial week.


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## Jan M. (Jul 28, 2018)

VacationForever said:


> OOOO... OOOO.... OOOO.... MINE TOO!




Can I get it in a different color?

A few years ago we were picking up our rental car in Vegas and they offered us a really cheap upgrade to a Mustang or Miata convertible. I said no thanks as I don't care what I drive as long as it runs well. Anyhow we are out in the garage headed towards our car and I see a guy getting into a burnt orange Miata convertible and I start looking around to see if there is another one in that color as I'm going to turn right around and go back inside to see if I can still get the deal they offered. Of course there isn't another one that color. I'm kicking myself because I could have had that car as we were standing next to him at the rental counter and were offered the upgrade first. While I'm standing there drooling over that car the guy starts trying to drive it away and is having trouble because he can't drive a standard shift worth a darn. I wanted to walk over and tell him that he should go back inside and get one of the others that is an automatic so I could have that car. I can drive a standard and back in the day used to impress my husband by being able to get the car moving forward from a dead stop on hill in wintertime with only a couple inches to no drift back. I'm one of those people who if I won the lottery for millions wouldn't go out and buy an expensive car or even a new car as long as my car was running fine and in decent condition. My husband really enjoyed seeing me fall off the pedestal and experience a moment of car lust. He enjoyed even more telling our son about it and laughing with him over it.

I still won't ever spend big bucks on any car but that Miata in Vegas turned a corner for me and now once in a while I see a car that truly catches my eye. This the the car I saw last year. I texted our son this picture to find out what kind of car it is. At that time we knew my husband was going to be retiring in a few months so we wouldn't have the use of his company car anymore and had begun discussing getting another car. Our son replied but added did I have any idea what those cars cost? Apparently he thought I wanted to buy one. I may have developed an appreciation for cars that catch my eye but aliens haven't taken me over yet that I would spend the big money to buy one. I also don't live under a rock and generally know an expensive car when I see one.

Black cars don't normally appeal to me but this one with the white and bright blue accents was stunning. I wish I had been able to a shot of it from the side.


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## VacationForever (Jul 28, 2018)

My current craze is over the Alfa Romeo 4C.  I want it more than a Ferrari.

https://www.alfaromeousa.com/cars/4c


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## WinniWoman (Jul 28, 2018)

Maybe its me but I don't think $325 is a lot for a weekly car rental. Then again, I do not usually do package deal vacations.I do usually book an SUV. I do a la carte. Usually 7 days.


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## isisdave (Jul 28, 2018)

Where are you flying to? What about getting one from Sacramento or Reno or Carson City or maybe Auburn, Nevada City, or Grass Valley?


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## Free2Roam (Jul 28, 2018)

Tank said:


> I was renting a van once for 5 days. Booking for 7 days saved me hundreds of dollars. I turned it in early and saved. Might help.
> 
> Probably knew this but just making sure
> 
> Dave


We tried this in FL years ago. My son left a couple days earlier than the rest of us. When he went to return his car, they said he would be charged a higher rate because it wasn't due back for 2 days and it was a weekly rate. I can't remember the numbers, but it was significant enough that we met up with him to get the car, took him to the airport and returned the car on the due date. Our strangest rental car experience ever. 

We've never tried that again, although I know others who have done it without a problem.


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## CalGalTraveler (Jul 28, 2018)

LoL We once booked a train from Milan to Venice after a transatlantic flight. Once we got on the train we realized that our assigned seats were full with no extra seats onboard.

After we were escorted off the train we realized that out reservation was one day prior and we had forgotten that our plane would arrive the next day.

We then had to suffer through long lines and the less than organized Italian train system to buy tickets on a later train.  We laugh about this now.

Not a loss of much money but lost vacation time in Venice.


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## bogey21 (Jul 28, 2018)

I remember one time when I booked (and took) a flight to Birmingham instead of Mobile where I actually wanted to go.  I realized it when I went outside the terminal to pick up my rental car.  I did an immediate about face and rushed back in to rectify the situation.  As I approached the door running Bo Jackson had just gotten out of a limo.  He held the door open for me and wished me luck.  

Delta put me on a plane to Atlanta connecting to Mobile.  I had to run for the plane and when I got on and sat down I realized I was in the same plane in the same seat as I had just vacated from my DFW to Birmingham leg.  This was years ago.  The car rental company voided to car with no charge and Delta didn't charge me anything for the rerouting.  It probably helped that I was a multi million miler with them but if it happened today I wonder how it would all have worked out...

George


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## klpca (Jul 28, 2018)

I was so sure that I had made this reservation that I expected to see a reservation when I logged into my Costco account (nope) then I searched my emails to find any kind of reservation (nope). Actually if I hadn't received a random email that said "great rental car deals in Reno" I wouldn't have booked one at all, so it could have been worse!

About 15 years ago my mom was going on a cruise. (She is the reason that I am the way I am about planning). Oddly she kept saying that she felt like she was going to forget something. I asked her if she had her passport - yes - and her credit cards -yes - so I told her to stop worrying and if she left something at home she could buy it on the ship or in a port. A few days later she got a call in the afternoon from Princess Cruises, asking her where she was because the ship was leaving in 30 minutes. She was at home - 3 hours away - because she thought that her cruise left on Sunday not Saturday. So they left without her. Amazingly they gave her a full credit on another cruise a few weeks later.  Those were the days!


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## isisdave (Jul 29, 2018)

CalGalTraveler said:


> LoL We once booked a train from Milan to Venice after a transatlantic flight. Once we got on the train we realized that our assigned seats were full with no extra seats onboard.


This happened to me once because I didn't notice that the Trenitalia website had changed dates somehow with all my browsing.  Somehow the outbound Florence to Venice was OK, but the return was for a week later!

FORTUNATELY, the conductor was a surfer who had visited our favorite beaches near San Diego. He found us other seats and let us travel.


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## klpca (Aug 7, 2018)

klpca said:


> So don't tell anyone IRL (because they think that I am an amazing travel planner) but I just discovered, much to my dismay, that I failed to reserve a car for our upcoming trip to Northstar (Truckee). The trip is just a few weeks away and an intermediate car set me back about $325 for 6 days. Ouch. About twice the amount I expected to pay - if I had actually made a reservation instead of just thinking that I made a reservation.  I still can't believe that I forgot!


Down to just a few days away and I have rebooked this a few times. I am now down to $247 for a full size. The intermediate was down to $237. I guess in the end I worried for nothing!


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## Talent312 (Aug 9, 2018)

Instead of missing a booking, I had one too many.

Monday night at MCO, when I went to the car rental desk, they asked me if I wanted both cars. I had booked one directly and one thru Autoslash and "forgot" to cancel the first one.

I said, "Sorry, I only want the one that's cheaper" (the difference was $7).


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## Luanne (Aug 9, 2018)

Talent312 said:


> Instead of missing a booking, I had one too many.
> 
> Monday night at MCO, when I went to the car rental desk, they asked me if I wanted both cars. I had booked one directly and one thru Autoslash and "forgot" to cancel the first one.
> 
> I said, "Sorry, I only want the one that's cheaper" (the difference was $7).


I did this with a hotel reservation.  We have been spending the night before our flights out of Albuquerque at a hotel near the airport.  I discovered I'd been charged as a "no show" for a room at the Best Western, when we had actually stayed at the Days Inn.  I am always (or so I thought) so careful about cancelling any reservations we aren't going to use.  I was sure I had cancelled the Best Western one.  I never could find the email showing I'd cancelled, but Best Western was very nice about it and refunded the money.


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## rickandcindy23 (Aug 9, 2018)

Sometimes car rentals are cheaper closer in.  I have been watching car rentals for Orlando in October.  Crazy high, and I am just not willing to pay that much for a car, so I will continue to watch.  I think my best price so far was $540 for a minivan.  I can use Chase Sapphire Reserve points to pay for it, but I don't want to burn off that many points for a car rental.

Have you tried using Kayak and then looking into the Priceline deals at the bottom corner of the screen?  Sometimes Priceline has a great deal and doesn't require that you pay ahead.


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## Luanne (Aug 9, 2018)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Sometimes car rentals are cheaper closer in.  I have been watching car rentals for Orlando in October.  Crazy high, and I am just not willing to pay that much for a car, so I will continue to watch.  I think my best price so far was $540 for a minivan.  I can use Chase Sapphire Reserve points to pay for it, but I don't want to burn off that many points for a car rental.
> 
> Have you tried using Kayak and then looking into the Priceline deals at the bottom corner of the screen?  Sometimes Priceline has a great deal and doesn't require that you pay ahead.


I had always thought I was getting the best price, at least for Hawaii, about 6 months out.  But then one year I checked again a couple of days before our trip and found the price had dropped quite a bit.  Now what I do is book a car as soon as I have our flights lined up, then register it in AutoSlash to see if they can find a lower rate.  That way I don't have to keep checking, they do it for me.


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