# Alamo Standard SUV in Maui (06/2018)



## StevenTing (Jun 26, 2018)

I just wanted to share a picture of the trunk space of the Standard SUV I had in Maui.  Since I'm travelling with small children (2, 5, 7) I'm always concerned about space.   This is what we looked like for 2 adults and 3 children for a 14 day stay.

We were hoping for an upgrade to a Minivan but received a Dodge Journey.  Not my favorite car but it had plenty of room.  There are 3 rows of seating but we folded down the last row for additional cargo space.

In the picture you can see:
1 Large Suitcase
3 Medium Suitcases
2 Smaller Suitcases (Our kids used these for coloring books and toys.
1 Laptop/Under Seat Suitcase
1 Camera Bag
1 Small Boogie board

I hope this helps someone in their planning.


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## TXTortoise (Jun 27, 2018)

Vacation or family planning?


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## Dean (Jun 27, 2018)

StevenTing said:


> I just wanted to share a picture of the trunk space of the Standard SUV I had in Maui.  Since I'm travelling with small children (2, 5, 7) I'm always concerned about space.   This is what we looked like for 2 adults and 3 children for a 14 day stay.
> 
> We were hoping for an upgrade to a Minivan but received a Dodge Journey.  Not my favorite car but it had plenty of room.  There are 3 rows of seating but we folded down the last row for additional cargo space.
> 
> ...


If you got a Dodge Journey and had reserved a standard, you got larger than you might have.  Often these are Hyundai Sonata sports or Nissan Rogue's which are noticeably smaller than the Journey though I do believe they are in the same classification.  I'd prefer other than the Dodge personally.  They are all in the same EPA classification.  We have a small SUV scheduled for our trip and it looks likely to be a Ford Escape unless we're upgraded.


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## sjsharkie (Jul 2, 2018)

I believe this is due to the fact that Enterprise owns Alamo.  The Dodge Journey is considered a Full Size Crossover for Enterprise.  There is no such category for Alamo (only Premium Crossover).  Because the car fleets are commingled, you probably received something typically in the Enterprise fleet.  But with Enterprise owning National as well, their car fleets are shared at most non franchise locations.

The Journey is smaller than a Full Size SUV.  In other news, I travel too much and rent too many cars; this knowledge will not help me in life so hopefully it helps you.

Ryan

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## LisaH (Jul 2, 2018)

We booked a mid sized SUV on Kauai from Avis and received a Hyundai Santa Fe. Big enough for five suitcases and various bags, and comfortably accommodating 5 people.


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## Dean (Jul 2, 2018)

sjsharkie said:


> I believe this is due to the fact that Enterprise owns Alamo.  The Dodge Journey is considered a Full Size Crossover for Enterprise.  There is no such category for Alamo (only Premium Crossover).  Because the car fleets are commingled, you probably received something typically in the Enterprise fleet.  But with Enterprise owning National as well, their car fleets are shared at most non franchise locations.
> 
> The Journey is smaller than a Full Size SUV.  In other news, I travel too much and rent too many cars; this knowledge will not help me in life so hopefully it helps you.
> 
> ...


It kills me how rental car companies have redefined car size/names for their own gain.  We have a Ford Eclipse this week, I was hoping for a Rav4 instead but I knew it was likely to be an eclipse (Budget).  I specifically wanted to try out the size planning for our next vehicle purchase in a couple of years.


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## Dean (Jul 2, 2018)

LisaH said:


> We booked a mid sized SUV on Kauai from Avis and received a Hyundai Santa Fe. Big enough for five suitcases and various bags, and comfortably accommodating 5 people.


I have a midsize booked on Kauai and it's a 7 seat Explorer but generally what I'm seeing now is the Santa Fe (I assume the sport version which is smaller since it seats 5) or Ford Edge.  I need the 7 seats so I hope I don't have a problem with that, I'm thinking I can get them to give me something else that seats 7 if they don't have that specific option maybe either a Tahoe or minivan.


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## LisaH (Jul 2, 2018)

Are you sure, Dean? I seem to remember all mid and standard sized SUVs have a seating capacity of 5, at least when I booked from Costco. Actually, Hyundai Santa Fe is considered standard size according to Costco or Avis (Hubby is Avis Preferred and apparently got an upgrade). Only Full size SUVs seat 7.


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## Dean (Jul 3, 2018)

LisaH said:


> Are you sure, Dean? I seem to remember all mid and standard sized SUVs have a seating capacity of 5, at least when I booked from Costco. Actually, Hyundai Santa Fe is considered standard size according to Costco or Avis (Hubby is Avis Preferred and apparently got an upgrade). Only Full size SUVs seat 7.


I'm sure I have a standard ("ford explorer or similar") listed as 7, went back and double checked it.  I've seen it a couple of other times for one of the companies looking at Oahu and Kauai.


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## sjsharkie (Jul 3, 2018)

Dean said:


> It kills me how rental car companies have redefined car size/names for their own gain.  We have a Ford Eclipse this week, I was hoping for a Rav4 instead but I knew it was likely to be an eclipse (Budget).  I specifically wanted to try out the size planning for our next vehicle purchase in a couple of years.



Do you mean Ford Escape?  I've never seen an Eclipse but I don't rent a lot from Avis anymore due to corporate rental contract.

Yes, the multitude of car classes is crazy versus 10 years ago.  But it was bound to happen given the heavy demand in the SUV and crossover space.  Anything to better monetize and charge upgrade fees for ... it would be nice if they could keep the classes across co-owned companies - thrifty/dollar, avis/budget, enterprise/alamo/national.

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## sjsharkie (Jul 3, 2018)

Dean said:


> I'm sure I have a standard ("ford explorer or similar") listed as 7, went back and double checked it.  I've seen it a couple of other times for one of the companies looking at Oahu and Kauai.


I believe Ford Explorer is part of the newer Standard Elite SUV category because it seats 7.  The Ford Edge is what would be the Ford offering in the Standard SUV category.  You can view it on Avis or Budget - at least they have kept their categories consistent between brands.

Again. More categories means more upgrade fee opportunities for the rental companies.

Ryan

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## Dean (Jul 3, 2018)

sjsharkie said:


> Do you mean Ford Escape?  I've never seen an Eclipse but I don't rent a lot from Avis anymore due to corporate rental contract.
> 
> Yes, the multitude of car classes is crazy versus 10 years ago.  But it was bound to happen given the heavy demand in the SUV and crossover space.  Anything to better monetize and charge upgrade fees for ... it would be nice if they could keep the classes across co-owned companies - thrifty/dollar, avis/budget, enterprise/alamo/national.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk


yes sorry, the 6 hour adjustment to the time here is messing with my sleep.


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## Dean (Jul 3, 2018)

sjsharkie said:


> I believe Ford Explorer is part of the newer Standard Elite SUV category because it seats 7.  The Ford Edge is what would be the Ford offering in the Standard SUV category.  You can view it on Avis or Budget - at least they have kept their categories consistent between brands.
> 
> Again. More categories means more upgrade fee opportunities for the rental companies.
> 
> ...


There were no other categories listed on Costco but they might condense them there.


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## sjsharkie (Jul 3, 2018)

Dean said:


> There were no other categories listed on Costco but they might condense them there.


Costco only lists categories the "previously standard" categories that are similar across all the carriers they contract with.

You can go directly to the car rental company's website to see their (ridiculously) numerous car classes they have to offer.  For example, Avis:
https://www.avis.com/en/cars/vehicles/us

If you book directly with them, they will list every single category.  Travel agencies with front end systems of their own -- YMMV.

-ryan


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## Luanne (Jul 3, 2018)

A couple of years ago we reserved a mid-size SUV on Maui.  I don't remember which rental company it was with.  We were given a Mazda 9, which by NO ONE's definition is a mid-size. For the two of us it was overkill.  Looking back we should have refused it and asked for a smaller vehicle.  I think we were just so excited to get a Mazda we overlooked the size....and gas consumption.


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