Late Alamo drop off

[Disneye]

Virgin have pushed my flight back a couple of hours which means I’m likely to be late dropping off the car we’ve hired. Alamo state that there is an hourly fee for the first two hours but won’t tell me what this is. Does anyone have any experience of how much this might cost? We’ve hired a standard SUV.

I’ve tried modifying the booking to reflect the new time but it then recalculates the entire trip based on today’s price which is over £100 more than what we have paid.

[toonarmani]

How does it line up to your pick up time as it’s usually charged by the 24hr.

[Lola]

We're in the same boat. Virgin have changed the time to quite a bit later meaning we have to pay an extra day's car hire. As far as I can find out the late drop off with Alamo is a set amount plus an hourly admin charge.

[KeithOP]

Have you phoned them? they're usually quite helpful (surprisingly).

I was 2hrs early for a 4pm pickup. They said ok no problem that's fine.

My paperwork said "2pm early charged waived" and the drop off time was still 4pm. I read on here that drop off time was definitely 24hr blocks after pick up time.


I phoned again and said, I'm being told I have to drop off the car at 2pm not 4pm? Nope. 4pm they said!

As it happened, there was a crash on the i4 and we didn't drop it off until 5:15pm (gulp) I explained and they basically laughed at me for worrying and said dont worry about it.

I keep looking out for charges on my CC but nothing at all.

In other words, although I accept it may be who you speak to and luck, but I've had success just talking to them

[Disneye]

Their official line is 29 minutes grace but then after this you are charged by the hour for the first 2 hours then after this time it’s the daily rate.

I’ve contacted them on twitter and they cannot disclose this “hourly rate”. I will call them and ask.

I cannot add a day onto the booking online without recalculating the entire cost for a significantly higher rate.

I guess the late fee might depend on what kind of day the person you deal with when you drop the car off is having.

[mick]

All that really counts is the time that you drive out of the barrier and the time that you return the car. For most bookings with Alamo you get 29 minutes grace free then an hourly charge for 2 hours late then an extra day's charge. Booking through Virgin however you get 2 hours grace.

I guess it gets a bit tight when you fly out on the first VS flight but return on the second one.

About a month ago a Dibber was moved to the second flight home as VS consolidated the flights. She rang Virgin and they agreed in those circumstances to add an extra day free.

Mick

[Disneye]

Yeah that’s now my situation, out on the early and have been moved to a later departure. Unless we want to wait in the airport for 5 hours (no thanks) we will likely be returning later than we went through the barrier initially.

I’ll call Alamo and see what they say. Thanks.

[KeithOP]

Originally Posted by mick

. Booking through Virgin however you get 2 hours grace.

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just to add to my story... my booking was indeed through Virgin

[mick]

Originally Posted by Disneye

Yeah that’s now my situation, out on the early and have been moved to a later departure. Unless we want to wait in the airport for 5 hours (no thanks) we will likely be returning later than we went through the barrier initially.

I’ll call Alamo and see what they say. Thanks.

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The lady Dibber I referred to earlier had booked the car hire as part of a VH holiday or fly-drive so it was Virgin that extended the hire period for her.

Assume you have booked Alamo through Brits or a broker? Good luck.

Mick

[Disneye]

Originally Posted by mick

The lady Dibber I referred to earlier had booked the car hire as part of a VH holiday or fly-drive so it was Virgin that extended the hire period for her.

Assume you have booked Alamo through Brits or a broker? Good luck.

Mick

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To be honest I’m happy to pay a bit extra but wish Alamo would tell you up front what this would be or make it easier to add an extra day onto an existing booking.

My post here is just to see if others have had experience of the late fees they charge.