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Pants on Fire
Err Travel · July 11, 2000

For what they were worth, two weeks ago I collected "official" answers to the question, "Why are we asked where we will be staying when we rent a car?" For the most part, car rental companies responded with something like, "In case there is some problem, we will be able to contact you."

Fair enough, but my guess is that this is only half -- if that much -- of the real reason to know of our whereabouts while we are tooling around in cars that don't belong to us. The unstated answer more than likely has to do with the companies finding their cars if they are not returned when promised. (If I were in the car rental biz, I'd sure want to keep tabs on my property. Wouldn't you?)

Regardless of the reason for asking, what's the best way to answer a rental agent's inquiry? Essentially there are only two options: the truth or a lie.

Always a viable option, let's consider the consequences of telling the truth. Besides making your mom proud, there are other reasons to tell the truth. There may be a legitimate need for the car rental company to contact you (e.g., you left something behind at the counter, the return location has changed, the car has been found to have a defect). An even better reason to tell the company where you will be staying is in case you should disappear during your trip. When you fail to return the car, the authorities will be notified and will have a place to start looking for you.

But there's another side of being forthcoming with accurate information when asked where you will be staying. Suppose your answer is overheard by others at the counter or the counter agent tells his buddies. Now these people, who were able to size up you and your property at the counter, know where to find the car and where to find you for the next couple of days. And if there is an "inside job" planned, they may have a set of keys to your car.

Even if criminal activity is not a concern, there may be other reasons to give, for instance, a local address no matter where you are actually staying. Consider what happened to Texas resident Bill Green when he was picking up an Avis car recently in New Orleans.

"When I filled in the info about where I could be reached (in Mississippi), the agent picked up the keys and told me they couldn't rent to me if I was taking the car to MS, reportedly because they didn't have vehicle towing/recovery service there. I calmly explained that I had told the reservations agent where I was going when I reserved the car weeks before. No soap. Asked to see the station supervisor. Resistance. Demanded to see the supervisor. Explained situation to her. Still no go. . . .

"Time to elevate. Asked for the station manager. Explained the situation; he didn't budge. Explained that one of my duties was the corporate travel function and that the following month, the worldwide car rental account was up for grabs. If he didn't give me my car, I could guarantee that Avis would lose the preferred provider position with my Fortune 100 company. He may not have been sure if I was blowing smoke (okay, maybe I was), but he gave me the keys."

Quick thinking, Bill, and thanks for sharing your experience. It offers yet another reason to consider the non-truth option.

So what should you do when asked where you will be staying? I'm not advising you to lie, but before you answer, consider a remark I recently heard from a clinical colleague: "We don't lie. We just validate an alternative reality."

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.