From: pas@cc.gatech.edu (Paulo Santos)
Subject: Re: How to make reservations for Alamo Rent a Car from outside the US?
Reply-To: pas@cc.gatech.edu (Paulo Santos)
Organization: College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 13:39:44 GMT

In article <1993Jan9.011536.24098@pony.Ingres.COM> cmorris@Ingres.COM (Colin Morris) writes:
>In article <1il6vtINNn4c@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) writes:
>>In article <1993Jan8.153504.11080@cc.gatech.edu> pas@cc.gatech.edu (Paulo Santos) writes:
>>>
>>>You can call them from overseas at +1-305-5220000.
>>>Good luck.  Be careful with Alamo's possible tricks at the rental counter.
>>>
>>
>>Can you elaborate on this please?
>>I was going to use Alamo when I pop over to FLorida this summer.
>>I'd be very interested in Alamo's tricks, or any other tricks other
>>rental places use for that matter.
>>Thanks!
>>
>>Thomas.
>
>They'll do their utmost to convince you that you that the car you
>reserved won't satisfy your needs, and that you _really_ need a
>bigger car that just happens to cost more money. And if you take the
>bigger car, they'll ask you to sign a little form saying you weren't
>coerced into taking it... Just stick to your guns and tell 'em to push
>off and you should have no problems hiring from them.

True.  I have witnessed a sad story at an Alamo rental counter.  A poor
soul was there with a reservation for a midget Geo Metro.  They tried to
coerce her into paying for an upgrade (possibly to something grandious like
a Geo Prizm!).  She refused.  They had no Geo Metros available.  So they
made her wait until they finished cleaning one that had just come in.
I would have walked out the same minute if that had happened with me.

They will also try very hard to sell you their overpriced insurance.
They will stress over and over that you are responsible for the full value
of the car.  They have told me that my credit card did not provide coverage,
as if they knew my credit card better than I do.  If you refuse their
insurance till the end, they will make you sign an intimidating form
where you state that you are aware of your liability for the full value
of the car.

Another thing about Alamo is their extra charges.  They will charge you
an extra fee of about $3.50/day for each additional driver -- your spouse
included.  Every other major rental company that I have come across does
not charge an additional driver fee for spouses or co-workers.  Not so
with Alamo.  And at $3.50 a day this can make a difference.

Another thing with Alamo is that they don;t have to have as stron a notion
of "car belongs to xxx location" as other companies do.  Often with
Alamo you get cars with out of state plates -- much more often than with
other companies, it seems.  This may be a disavantage because it becomes
more obvious that you are a visitor.  More obvious to police, more
obvious to car thieves.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Paulo Santos                         Internet: pas@cc.gatech.edu
   Georgia Tech, College of Computing       uucp: ...!gatech!cc!pas
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Newsgroups: rec.travel