My husband just told me something that might be the cause of not having a car available for some: He was traveling a lot last year, which qualified him for some kind of executive level for rental cars - which meant he didn’t even go to the desk to check out a car. He would have made a reservation ahead of time but he got to just go to the lot and pick out anything he wanted and they handled the transaction as he was leaving the lot.
Yeah, my company has a deal with Budget and we all get that treatment. If it’s available at the location, that is.
Whenever I go to Houston, I just go to the area for my size car and pick what I want.
Regardless, I still need a reservation. That shouldn’t affect the number of cars they have. I am sure they run like the airlines do — they count on a certain percentage of people not showing up for whatever reason and overbook.
xshub has done that before, but not routinely, maybe it depends on the car rental agency. Like, he’s “mr big” on some airlines and a nobody on others, depending on which he flies on most frequently. I think i mentioned that karim sat in first class on the way to JAX, while his wife, kids and parents sat back with us in regular coach. xshub said, i could have done that too, and i replied: YOU KNEW BETTER!