First thing you need to know is that they get ranked on how many people rent compared to last year, and it's always in the manager's best interest to get you into a car. They have a huge system in place to track how they are doing compared to last year's month and managers are ranked for it. They are also ranked for customer service scores, so it's in their best interest to make you happy.
Tip #1. If you don't care about size of the vehicle, book the cheapest car around noon time. Usually they won't have that car in general and you'll be getting some sweet upgrades, unless of course you don't want a bigger car, call them and let them know.
- A play off of this tip is to actually pretend you wanted a smaller car for gas reasons. "I actually wanted an economy car because it saves on gas." Hear them out, usually they'll comp the gas. But don't let them get off easy. "Thanks, can you help me out on the car rate as well because I'll be filling up the tank more than once" Many times i've just offered $5-$20 off the rate depending on the base rate.
Tip #2. Be nice. Don't be grumpy else we're not gonna help you. Hell we'll probably not even rent you a car. Yes we can do that. Be nice, joke around with us. We're usually college kids who don't really care about the bottom line *excluding management. Ask for free gas, try to make a personal connection and offer them something. I've had many times when people would slip me a $2 tip and I'd just go the extra mile for them ;)
Tip #3. Ask for a free upgrade. What????? There's something that the general population doesn't know. Sometimes we want to get rid of something. Let's say a surburban that was sitting around for 3 weeks. I'd pull up the rates and play hard ball. It's going for like $150/day, but I can do it for $120. Right there you know they're trying to get rid of it. Play with the numbers. I've given away BMWs for $40 before just because I liked the customer and I could usually tell my managers that we had no other cars or some other bull :)
And of course, do your research of their competitors. They'll usually match the rate, unless you're in a super busy location and they have no cars.
March 12, 2017 at 03:57PM
