Traveling has always come with complications. Our By The Way Concierge column will take your travel dilemmas to the experts to help you navigate the unexpected. Want to see your question answered? Submit it
“I haven’t done much car renting, and for a vacation I need a rental agency that is reliable in terms of definitely having the car there when I arrive so I’m not stuck waiting. Are certain agencies more dependable than others?” — Elliot S., Washington, D.C.1. Sign up for a rental car company’s rewards program.I also took your question to a few travel experts who echoed the same suggestions, plus added a few other thoughts.
It doesn’t hurt to give the rental location a call ahead of your pickup date to see if there have been any spikes in demand that could derail your reservation. By The Way editor Gabe Hiatt has been burned too many times to feel completely confident in any of these fail-safes. He’s seen people do everything right and still get bounced around to several locations before they could get a car.
That’s why Vlitas also suggests using a company like his to find a travel agent to deal with the car rental for you, arguing that because travel advisers book a large volume of rental cars on a regular basis, they “hold a lot of sway with the rental car companies,” he said. Plus if something does go wrong, you’ll have a professional ready to advocate on your behalf.“These businesses want to make sure the advisor continues to work with them and treats their clients as VIPs,” he continued.