How many of you received a free Hawaii car rental award last week from Thrifty only to have it pulled the next day? It happened to us at Beat of Hawaii. We’ve been one of their Blue Chip Rewards members for a number of years but haven’t tracked our rental days. When the reward came for a free day anywhere it left a positive impression and we thought about using Thrifty again on an upcoming mainland or inter-island trip. The honeymoon ended the next day with a notice cancelling the offer.
You’ve earned a free day turns into Oops, there’s been a slight mistake.
Quite literally, that was the title of the email below which followed the next day. To my dismay, the offer had been rescinded without any real explanation.
Dear Valued Customer,
This morning you received an email from us offering you a coupon for a free rental day through Blue Chip Rewards. Unfortunately, this offer is not valid. You will not be able to book this offer online and you will not be receiving a coupon in the mail. Please disregard the email you received. We’re very sorry for any confusion our eagerness may have caused.
If you have any questions regarding this email, please contact Customer Service at [email protected]. We sincerely appreciate your understanding in this matter. We value you as a customer and we look forward to saving you money down the road.
Thank you for choosing Thrifty.
Travel loyalty comes and goes, but rarely this fast.
Quite suddenly, I’d been transformed and was definitely not thinking Thrifty for my next car rental. It just seems like it should have been handled differently. And now, all things being equal, I’ll probably be avoiding Thrifty et al. when possible. Aloha, Thrifty!
Photo taken last weekend at Larsen’s Beach on Kauai.
Glad Beat of Hawaii broke this story. Now it is all over the net. What we have here friends is a case of travel related companies getting larger. Should you choose to walk past the Thrifty counter, you’ll have to walk past Dollar and Hertz too, because they’re all one big company.
Discount Hawaii and Costco are a couple of good sources for a better rate, but they use these suppliers.
If you have discount codes, say from Island Air, AAA, AARP, or another source, try pricing the car with and without those codes. Also know that changing the date, or even time of day you pick up a car can affect your rate. I changed my arrival date for a ten day trip last summer when Thrifty’s rez system gave me an $89/week rate on day, and hundreds more for a pick up the next day.
At the end of the day these huge mergers of suppliers benefit the shareholders of the companies involved, but rarely the traveler. Add car rentals to the list of the big getting bigger. How are all those airline mergers working out for you?
I immediately became curious as to why Thrifty would do this. It is so bad that it seemed like a joke. I hope they provide an explanation.
Got the same email. So what? Nobody at Beat off Hawaii has ever made a mistake. You should be boycotted when you do? I don’t think so.
The threats of never using Thrifty again ring hollow and silly. The next time they are the cheapest, I’m sure you’ll all be using Thrifty.
I’ve had problems with all of the budget rental companies, and even the big ones like Hertz and Alamo! As such, for the last 15 years I have been exclusively using AVIS. I have yet to be made the fool by renting from AVIS. Of course, I only vacation in the Hawaiian islands and I am quite familiar with the island offerings!
Last year on a visit to Maui, after chatting up the woman for 15 minutes, she upgraded my compact to a Cadillac SUV! Talk about your cushy ride!
I received the same email and then cancellation. So much for loyalty rewards. : )
Me three. Thanks for nothinʻ Thrifty, Iʻll wave as I walk past your rental counter hereinout!
I got the same emails. I used Thrifty last time we were in Oahu a few mos ago and it was fine, but that sanfu really turned me off. Time to use discounthawaii for all future trips or Costco rental car service if you have a membership!