Rental Car Prices

I paid $190 for a 9 day rental on the island of Maui. I received a Pontiac Grand Am as their "Standard" class of rental car. The $190 was inclusive of taxes, fees, and daily rental cost.

This was really a fantastic deal. I had reserved an economy car for the price of $190 which in Hawaii was a great deal to begin. But then when I arrived at the car company they no longer had any economy cars available so they simply gave me a standard class car. The car was very clean, performed well, and we really enjoyed having the extra space as it was considerably larger than the economy we were supposed to have. The people at the rental counter were very professional and really made the experience of renting a car (which I really don't enjoy) a pleasant one.

This was the second time that this occurrence of being upgraded from one class to another has happened to me. Both times it happened when I arrived at the airport later in the day. It seems that rental car companies, like airlines, overbook their inventory planning on some people never showing up. And by getting there late in the day, often times their inventory is low as people have been arriving all day and you may have a better chance of being upgraded.