One of the most frustrating things for traveling, at least on this end … is the dreaded Car Rental check in line…
In late 2019, a nice lady at the nationally known Car rental place in an airport that I had frequented literally three times in four weeks looked at me with recognition and a smile as said the following
“Sir, take the 5-10 minutes to pre-check electronically by creating an account and if you have a corporate account all the better, add your information, Credit Card and desired parameters and while I will miss seeing you, your car keys will be in the car and you can just walk to the car and be on your way!”
Like many of you, the funny “Fast Check In” commercials had resonated through my head, but given an employee telling me to do this, the sign up was on…. Not only was the sign up on, but two major companies were added (not all national car companies are available in all locations, but with the two I have yet to not be able to find a car) AND, both companies were added via a corporate account, which took some time to validate and prove, but has definitely saved additional cost, not to mention the time…
Literally, the next trip to the repeated airport, a waive to the nice lady at the check in garnered a smile, a thumbs up from my perch and a nice “Told You So” wave from her as the line was at least an hour long with some type of huge group all checking in at the same time…. NICE!
Important Note: Doing Fast Check sets an expected time of arrival, if your flight is late, let the company know… if you are too late, your car will be gone… personal experience on this one!
Savings Tip: Don’t just take the first suggested “Match Box” car when reserving … frequently larger, full size or even luxury cars may be cheaper if there is an abundance of inventory.. BUT you must scroll down to the bottom of the page and even to a second or third page… yes you will pass some very expensive rentals, but there may be a gold nugget in there somewhere too!
Had planned on also repeating the favorite travel organizer app…but this post, like some may say of my video’s or in person meetings … ran long.. ha
Have a Great “Rental Car Pro” Day!
John A. Kvale CFA, CFP
Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
