John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints


Car Rental in the USA and Canada - Upgrades

An upgrade is the purchasing of a higher grade car than that reserved, or for which you have a pre-payment voucher.

If you are paying for American or Canadian car rental in advance in Britain, always decide what size of car you need at that stage. Doing so is always less expensive than buying an upgrade directly from the car rental company in the USA or Canada.

If you are purchasing car rental as part of a fly/drive package then you will be allocated a size of car depending on the number of people in your party. If you wish then you can upgrade when booking to a larger car, or one with four doors instead of two. Again, this is always a less expensive option than buying an upgrade directly from the car rental company in the USA or Canada.

Upgrades and unnecessary insurance options are how car rental companies enhance their profits and how their sales clerks make their commissions. You will almost certainly be subjected to a hard sell of both, which should be resisted firmly but politely - not always easy after a long flight.

If a car rental depot does not have the grade of car you have reserved then they have to supply you with the next higher grade at no extra cost. This hardly ever happens.


Car Rental

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As with all the other pages on this personal web site, all the information on this page is solely the opinion of the author, who has no connection whatsoever with any of the companies and organisations mentioned other than as an actual or potential customer.
About this personal web site JohnCletheroe

EMail me Please note that I am not in the car rental business or the travel trade and I cannot provide any more information on car rental other than that presented here. Nor can I process any requests for quotations or reservations for car rental - these should be directed to car rental companies or travel agents.

Most recently modified 9-Jul-99; minor revisions 10-Jan-00