Two plus two equals …?

Now I’m no genius when it comes to math — in fact, during my junior year in high school, I actually needed extra help with the coursework (which is why my university major had NOTHING to do with math or science)  – but I’m no dummy either. Still I can’t quite seem to wrap my head around the math behind recent experiences with Budget Rent a Car (a.k.a. @BudgetRAC)

Twice in the last three weeks I rented a vehicle from them – both vehicles from the Buffalo airport.

The first time I reserved an economy car for a five-day period for the price of about $191.00 (which is about $38 per day).

The second time I reserved an economy car for a 24-hour period for about $71.00

Seemed a bit off to me, but as I was on urgent family business, I didn’t have a lot of time to really think about it.

When I arrived in Buffalo the second time, the Budget rep informed me they were bumping me up to a higher class vehicle – the midsize SUV — for no charge. And don’t get me wrong … the vehicle was quite nice, as was the rep, the service and ease of pick-up/drop-off.

But when I got back home and had a moment to review my receipts and online reservations, it occurred to me that the price Budget quoted when I reserved my ECONOMY vehicle, WAS the price of the midsize SUV. So they didn’t really bump me up to anything …. They had reserved me into the higher priced vehicle. At least that’s how it seems to me.

Now I may have my math wrong here, or be missing something – maybe the standard in car rentals is that all vehicle classes are the same price for a 24-hour rental. But it just doesn’t seem right …. And I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth ….

Guess next time I’ll go with Hertz ….