If the substantial increase in rental car rates within the past couple of months was not enough, another concern may be something called class creep — which is not what fellow students crown someone who is detestable and behaves obsequiously.
Watch For Class Creep With Rental Car Companies 2021?
Rather, class creep is similar to when a hotel or resort property changes award category in a frequent guest loyalty program: it describes the practice of a rental car company to promote a vehicle to the next higher class.
“So 2021 is not looking good in the US. Retail rates are now approximately $100 USD/day for any car…even when booked weekly”, FlyerTalk member Nitehawk warned in this discussion. “Another serious issue is the LCAR class creep. The National website now lists the LCAR as a Chrysler 300 or similar… The 300 hasn’t been redesigned in a long long time, it wasn’t even a great PCAR, and now it’s an LCAR?!??! This has the potential to be a major devaluation for Executive and Executive Elite members.”
I decided to find out for myself whether this is true: as an example, I checked on the location of National Car Rental at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area; and I chose the random date of Thursday, June 24, 2021 to rent a vehicle for the week…
…and sure enough, a Chrysler 300 was used as an example of a luxury car to rent for the grand total of $1,057.65 — including all taxes and fees — for a week in Atlanta.
The class creep allows for a rental car company to charge even more for a car by elevating the class in which it is considered — as if renting a vehicle was not expensive enough these days.
Summary
Perhaps I am mistaken; but when I think of a luxury car, I think more of the high-end vehicles of Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Cadillac, or Lincoln. I do not think of a Chrysler 300. Shall we score this as another casualty as a result of the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic?
What marques come to your mind when you think of a luxury vehicle? Have you noticed class creep with the company from which you rent vehicles?
As for what can you do to mitigate the financial pain of paying more to rent a vehicle, consider the 15 ways you can rent vehicles for less money — which can be combined — in this article.
Source: Stellantis North America.
