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2008-02-05
Another Rental Experience
Enterprise is my car rental company of choice, due to its below average price with frequently above average discounts. The service is always satisfactory, albeit sometimes a bit slow.
I used them again the past weekend. The best strategy to get a free upgrade is always to arrive late on a Friday evening, when they run out of small cars. I didn't really mean to get an upgrade, but because of the schedule I arrived late on Friday anyway. Of course, they ran out of cars, especially small cars, to the extend they needed to move walk-in customers to other neighborhood locations.
Anyway, I was asked if I wanted to get a truck instead of my reserved economy. Worried about gas prices, I declined. Guess what I was given instead. An SUV. Not just any SUV, but a Ford Escape Hybrid. These babies go for $50 per day even on the cheapest Fox Rent-a-car, but I was able to rent one at the economy rate of $16.42 per day.
The driving experience is excellent. It was a very comfortable car, as it was the largest car I have ever driven. As a hybrid, it can go long distance without turning on the engine, and that is where the fun begins, trying to drive in a reasonable speed with the traffic without activating the engine. And I only used a little bit of gas, despite driving for long distances.
Of course, there are some downsides too. I needed to parallel park this baby a few times, on both sides of the road. And man, it wasn't easy. Anyway, I guess I have improved my parallel parking skill.
Another fun fact is that even though I have driven only a very small percentage of the car's mileage when it was returned, I have improved its mile per gallon by almost 10%, from 26.4 mpg to 28.8 mpg. I guess this makes me a damn good hybrid driver. Now if only I could afford one myself...
I used them again the past weekend. The best strategy to get a free upgrade is always to arrive late on a Friday evening, when they run out of small cars. I didn't really mean to get an upgrade, but because of the schedule I arrived late on Friday anyway. Of course, they ran out of cars, especially small cars, to the extend they needed to move walk-in customers to other neighborhood locations.
Anyway, I was asked if I wanted to get a truck instead of my reserved economy. Worried about gas prices, I declined. Guess what I was given instead. An SUV. Not just any SUV, but a Ford Escape Hybrid. These babies go for $50 per day even on the cheapest Fox Rent-a-car, but I was able to rent one at the economy rate of $16.42 per day.
The driving experience is excellent. It was a very comfortable car, as it was the largest car I have ever driven. As a hybrid, it can go long distance without turning on the engine, and that is where the fun begins, trying to drive in a reasonable speed with the traffic without activating the engine. And I only used a little bit of gas, despite driving for long distances.
Of course, there are some downsides too. I needed to parallel park this baby a few times, on both sides of the road. And man, it wasn't easy. Anyway, I guess I have improved my parallel parking skill.
Another fun fact is that even though I have driven only a very small percentage of the car's mileage when it was returned, I have improved its mile per gallon by almost 10%, from 26.4 mpg to 28.8 mpg. I guess this makes me a damn good hybrid driver. Now if only I could afford one myself...
Labels: travel
