How to get Car Rental Upgrades

There is no real strategy to getting car rental upgrades if you don’t rent a car very often. Like airlines, car rental companies like to treat their most frequent and loyal customers with perks such as an upgraded vehicle.

Don’t set your hopes on getting a Mercedes Benz, Porsche, or BMW when you’ve booked a Ford. A car rental upgrade can mean you’re bumped up from a midsize vehicle to a full size or sometimes even an SUV. Though it all depends on what’s on the lot.

Rent Often, Be Loyal

The best way to get a car rental upgrade is to join a loyalty program. Most car rental companies will sign you up for free, but don’t expect that upgrade just for becoming a member. Unlike airlines, though, chances of getting a better car than the one you booked are higher than scoring a business class seat on your next flight when you’ve booked economy.

National probably has one of the best upgrade schemes we’ve experienced, where members of the Emerald Club can pick any car on the lot (in a designated area) and go, at a growing number of locations. This approach often means that there’s a wide variety of cars available in all categories. I think our ‘best’ upgrade form a mid-size was a Mercedes-Benz C300 or a BMW X5, but these are rare. Expect to have your pick of some Full-Size cars.

Why do we get Car Rental Upgrades?

It’s all about supply and demand. An airline knows how many of what kind of seat it will have on a flight, and it knows at what time the passengers should be showing up. Rental Car companies, though they ask you for an arrival time, don’t know what time you and all their other customers will show up exactly. So it’s up to them to balance the cars they have (which may have to be driven into that location from an outside lot) with the people they expect to turn up.

That might mean that during a busy period there are only SUV’s left on the lot and that’s what they’ll give you. For some this might be fun car rental upgrade but if you’re conscious about fuel consumption not so much. If you’re not happy with the vehicle you’ve been assigned, ask what else they have available. If nothing, then you should ask when they expect to have a more suitable vehicle available. Most companies will let you swap your ride without asking any questions. Just remember to fill up the tank before you return any vehicle.