Car hire -different price for the same hire

daheff

Ok, so I need to rent a car for my holidays. I've gone to one of the larger better known companies to get quote -which I have a member card for.


So I've noticed the following
1- Its more expensive logging in first and getting a quote than getting the quote and then logging in
2- If I change my origin country (say from Ireland to UK or Greece) the price of the EXACT SAME rental can be quite a bit cheaper.

I've queried this with the car hire co and they are basically saying its all due to demand & seasonality. But to me, the demand in the destination country is the same...regardless of where its coming from. I'd be bordering on saying that its a policy that could be construed as discriminatory

LowKeyReturn

daheff wrote: »

I'd be bordering on saying that its a policy that could be construed as discriminatory

Probably in the same way insurance companies where discriminating against men. Thanks to the crusade against that women are now paying the same as men and the insurance companies and rubbing their hands together in glee.

dudara

daheff wrote: »

So I've noticed the following
1- Its more expensive logging in first and getting a quote than getting the quote and then logging in
2- If I change my origin country (say from Ireland to UK or Greece) the price of the EXACT SAME rental can be quite a bit cheaper.

In relation to Point 1 - I noticed the exact same recently with Hertz. It was cheaper to get a quote without being logged in as a gold member. Thought it was very weird, but I cleared all my cookies and booked without logging in. Then I logged it and saved it.

In relation to Point 2 - this may be related to driving on the left hand side of the road, as we do here, and the fact that the majority of the world drives on the right hand side.

daheff

dudara wrote: »

In relation to Point 1 - I noticed the exact same recently with Hertz. It was cheaper to get a quote without being logged in as a gold member. Thought it was very weird, but I cleared all my cookies and booked without logging in. Then I logged it and saved it.

In relation to Point 2 - this may be related to driving on the left hand side of the road, as we do here, and the fact that the majority of the world drives on the right hand side.

I havent noticed it with Hertz... Not sure that its related to left hand side driving...Being from Greece or UK would be cheaper than being from Ireland.

Below is the response i got from them for my query

car rental co wrote:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your email.
The rate differences you may observe depend on a various number of factors. These factors are influenced by the supply perspective on the destination market, as well as the demand perspective on the source market.

Seasonality (holiday periods in different source markets), promotions, local conditions on both source and destination markets are among the main factors which may influence the price quoted.

keithclancy

daheff wrote: »

I havent noticed it with Hertz... Not sure that its related to left hand side driving...Being from Greece or UK would be cheaper than being from Ireland.

Below is the response i got from them for my query

I've noticed it with all of them, normally I'll booked through hertz.de and its usually cheaper for a rental originating in the Netherlands.

daheff

keithclancy wrote: »

I've noticed it with all of them, normally I'll booked through hertz.de and its usually cheaper for a rental originating in the Netherlands.

Do you have an address in the Netherlands?


I tried to change to look like I'm in greece, but their credit card validation software would not accept my card with an address from greece (I'm assuming the BIN doesnt match the country).

keithclancy

daheff wrote: »

Do you have an address in the Netherlands?


I tried to change to look like I'm in greece, but their credit card validation software would not accept my card with an address from greece (I'm assuming the BIN doesnt match the country).

Yes I do

Why not use a broker such as :
www.autoeurope.ie
www.cardelmar.de
http://www.carhire3000.ie/

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

Del2005

Melendez wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I found the opposite recently. Checked a few comparison sites and found the cheapest price, then went direct and got it a bit cheaper.

daheff

keithclancy wrote: »

Yes I do

Why not use a broker such as :
www.autoeurope.ie
www.cardelmar.de
http://www.carhire3000.ie/

I generally dont use brokers for one of a couple of reasons

cant book child seats through them
more expensive (or at worst same price)...and if you book direct you are more likely to upgrade you than a person who booked through a broker
cant see who the actual rental company is until after booking ...some are more reputable than others. the less reputable are more likely to have shady/sharp practices


although having said that the autoeurope website looks good

L1011

How big is the prices difference between being logged in and not?

I've noticed in some cases in the past with Hertz that a few of the prices given are not discountable with a CDP due to a promotion, e.g. the AA one; so if its pretty close to 10% it could be that. Still making a huge assumption that their regular customers have access to a CDP to get those prices.

keithclancy

daheff wrote: »

I generally dont use brokers for one of a couple of reasons

cant book child seats through them
more expensive (or at worst same price)...and if you book direct you are more likely to upgrade you than a person who booked through a broker
cant see who the actual rental company is until after booking ...some are more reputable than others. the less reputable are more likely to have shady/sharp practices


although having said that the Autoeurope website looks good

I've used Autoeurope around 15-20 times in Germany, Holland, Ireland, Greece, the UK and the US to name a few.

Also used cardelmar without any problems, end of the day you just turn up at whatever rental company with a voucher.

Autoeurope you can book the stuff that you've mentioned.

daheff

MYOB wrote: »

How big is the prices difference between being logged in and not?

I've noticed in some cases in the past with Hertz that a few of the prices given are not discountable with a CDP due to a promotion, e.g. the AA one; so if its pretty close to 10% it could be that. Still making a huge assumption that their regular customers have access to a CDP to get those prices.

It goes from being 667 to 705 (give or take). So its not even 10%. It kinda looks like I can pay immediately (667) or later(705) with not being logged in and just later (705) when logged in.

strange one.