Halp! Anyone landing at Madrid Airport between now and Aug. 6th?!

What is the rental car company?

And that’s the issue when reserving (flights, cars) through a third party, like Expedia. If there are any issues they need to be resolved through the third party.

If you’re a Costco member check prices on its site, and check other companies websites. You may find a price close to what you already have.

Whichever rental company you reserved through should have a record of the reservation. Contact it and see if you can change the pickup time. On Expedia, seems like there should be a place to modify a reservation where you can change the pickup time.

If everything fails, keep the reservation and pick up a vehicle upon arrival in Madrid. When making the reservation you probably had to put in your flight number. If the rental company looks that up, it will see the actual arrival time. At that time of night there shouldn’t be an issue getting a vehicle as long as the rental counter is open.

Finally, León is a 3.5 hours minimum drive from Madrid’s airport. Even though the roads are fine that’s not a drive one should make that time of day/night after an long flight.

In 2024 our flight from and U.S. and the connecting flight in London departed late so we arrived in Madrid a number of hours after the scheduled arrival time. There was no trouble getting the vehicle. I did need to drive to Toledo in the dark which was what I tried to avoid. Worse, I was given a vehicle that was literally on empty. After going about 3 miles the low fuel light came on and fortunately I was by an exit where there was a fuel station.

A tip: check the fuel gauge before leaving. I’ve picked up vehicles on a couple occasions in Madrid that didn’t have a full tank. The contract stated it correctly, so that wasn’t an issue. Take a photo of the instrument panel before departing as it will show mileage at pick up and the fuel gauge. If you return it will more fuel than you it had at pick up, you should get a credit.

Even if not a costco member, check their travel website for car rentals and compare prices. I only have a membership because of travel savings.
I would not expect a company to keep a car for 13 hours in the height of summer.
I know you said 50 calls already, but have you thought to call or visit your local car rental branch of the Madridcompany you reserved? If something like Hertz, or Avis, they may be able to change the pick up time (if they have the same international system)

Hi all,

Thank you for replying. Emily: Record Go Rentals. I looked them up and the reviews are no Bueno! But when you book thru Expedia, it doesn't give you the name of the co. initially, (or if it does, I didn't see it until they're was an issue).

Jaime, I've done all of that. Called and emailed throughout the week. Last night alone, I called 4 different customer service numbers over and over, for 2.5 hours straight. And sent my 4th email. No luck. Expedia says they can't do anything except cancel it. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ I booked this month's in advance to save money, but if I cancel, my new current rate of $275 jumps to $891 if I'm lucky. I have a hotel booked at the airport for the night I land. And initially that was fine, because the vfirst Expedia guy said, "They should hold it for 24 hrs." But after reading the bad reviews, I looked deeper on the site and found a caveat: We may release your car if you're not there within 6 hours of your original booking." This is the second time Expedia has left me hanging. Never using them again. I'll look into Costco for sure!

Maria, I have a Costco membership, I'll check it out right now. Unfortunately, the Co. is restricted to southern Europe and the UK.... but I did find a UK number, which I called over and over as well. No answer. I'm freaking out a bit.... I've got hotels and Airbnbs booked throughout northern spain, and if the girlfriend I'm road tripping with drove, I'd ask her to go from Leon, but she and her hubby don't drive anymore. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Gah!

Costco says: "Warning For the time and/or date searched, all locations are either closed or all cars are sold out. Please revise your search and try again."

are your calls timed so they fall in the normal working hours in Madrid local time?

I’m guessing the vehicles are sold out due to an influx of people going to Spain for the ecplise on the 12th. Both the Avis and Enterprise websites say the same thing. The demand is possibly why the price is so much more if you need to change the reservation.

Taking the train to León might be a better option. If vehicles are indeed sold out due to influx of people for the eclipse, my guess is the rental company will not hold your vehicle any longer than it has to.

Yours is a good example of why I use a major chain and never reserve via a third party site.

Nigel

Yes. I've tried everything from 10a to 10p Madrid time. The reviews for this Co. are not good!

Jaime,
Yeah. Lesson learned for sure. I've been to Europe and back 5 times and I've never used the big sites, always did the legwork myself. So, now I know why.

Also, I forgot about the Eclipse! Even though the friend is thrilled about it. We have hotels and stays throughout northern Spain and Portugal, Leon just happens to be where she is. The rental ends on the 12th but that might be an idea! Maybe if I set the drop off time earlier, or even on the 11th, the rates will be normal again. Thanks for bringing that up!

Thanks for the feedback and the ideas!

J

What happens if I don’t arrive on time to collect the vehicle?

If you have booked through our website, you have 24 hours from the scheduled pick-up time to collect the vehicle from the office. After these 24 hours, the booking will be considered a “no show”. This condition will always be subject to vehicle availability.
In the event of a flight delay, if you have not provided your flight number before the start of the rental, we cannot guarantee the pick-up service outside office hours. If you have notified us, you will have 60 minutes to arrive at the office from your booking time.
If the booking was made through an intermediary, the deadline for collecting the vehicle is 6 working hours from the scheduled collection time.
https://www.recordrentacar.com/en/recordgo-faqs/have-booking/pickup-and-return/vehicle-pick-up-delay/

What is the cost to change to an earlier flight?