It seems simple enough – you want to rent a car in Rwanda for a thrilling wildlife trip or anything else, you see the picture online, so you book the model you want. But when you turn up, you’re given a completely different car. Why? Often when you rent a car, you’re given a completely different model to the one you booked. Find out why.
How rental cars are booked:
You might notice when you book a car that it says ‘or similar’ next to the model. This is because when you hire a car, you’re actually booking a car that matches a set of characteristics, not booking a specific model. Cars are booked by a four-letter code called an ACRISS (Association of Car Rental Industry Systems Standards) code. This defines the type of car, number of doors, type of gears, what the fuel is and whether the car has air conditioning.
Booking a rental car is a little like when you book a table in a restaurant. You can book the time and the number of people, and you can specify any requirements you have, but at the moment (technology will probably change this soon for car rental and restaurants) you don’t usually get to choose the exact table.
Why you might get a different car:
Rental companies rarely know the exact vehicles they’ll have in stock from one day to the next. Sometimes cars are in for repairs or in high demand. And the actual cars change frequently too – so a rental company’s whole stock may change between your booking and picking up your car. This high turnaround of vehicles means it’s difficult to guarantee an exact match.
Also, car makes and models vary around the world. So while you may want to book the same type of car as you have at home to make driving abroad more familiar, they simply may not have that type of car in the country you’re visiting.
Sometimes the variation can work in your favor – you might get an ‘upgrade’ if the type of car you want isn’t available. Your car hire company should always upgrade you to a bigger, better car in this situation.
Tips for getting the car you want:
You can’t always guarantee you’ll get that Chevy, but there are ways to increase the chances of getting your ideal ride.
1) Book early to give yourself the best chance of getting the rental car you want. Leaving it late means you’ll likely just be given whatever the rental company has left.
2) Choose a big rental company. You’ll have a better chance of getting the car you want at the big rental agencies where they have lots of cars.
3) Choose an unusual or luxury car as this should increase your chances of getting the exact model – although you’ll probably have to pay a big deposit upfront for a luxury car, not to mention higher rental charges of course.
4) Pay extra for a guarantee from a specific car rental company. A few car rental companies can guarantee to get you the exact model you want, but you may have to commit to using just that company, and you’ll pay a hefty fee for the privilege.
So for most of us, it’s all about booking early, hoping for the best and being ready for a little surprise when we turn up to collect the car.
