Store
Budget Rentals
Franklin Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9203 4844
I recently went on a weekend getaway to Apollo Bay, and Great Ocean Road (which was fantastic, thanks for asking! ;-)) and hired a Budget car. I have hired numerous times with Budget, and always have done it through their website. I took advantage of the 30c off per litre fuel voucher they are currently promoting, through the use of Servo Saver petrol stations. The deal is that you get 1 voucher which entitles you to 30c per litre off fuel (1st 30 litres only) at a participating Servo Saver fuel station. So you save approximately $9.00 per tank of fuel.
The service
I have hired cars from smaller rentals before namely Rent a Bomb etc, but the best thing about hiring from Budget (or any of the major rental companies for that matter) is the ease at which they upgrade you to better cars. Words of wisdom: If you want a bigger car, then hire the size just below it so you will most likely get upgraded, particularly during weekends or holiday seasons. Why? The cars you want will almost certainly be booked out (or being cleaned, or not available). That’s exactly what I have done before, and did this time with Budget. I paid for a Hyundai Getz (automatic), got a Corolla (automatic, 4 door sedan with cruise control etc).
Anyway, it would have been good to have been told that I was going to be upgraded. The lady never told me at Franklin Street until I walked out to inspect the car.
The 30c per litre off voucher
Budget has partnered with Servo Savers, and give you a voucher which entitles you to 30c per litre of fuel (1st 30 litres only) when you next fill up. That’s a good saving, approximately $9 bucks. This is a new offer, and sounded good. The total rental cost me about $130 bucks + the voucher saving (so approximately: $121). The disappointing thing is, when I tried to use the voucher two of the stations refused. Obviously the partnership between Budget and Servo Savers had not filtered down to the service station attendant level. So I reluctantly filled up at premium price ($1.49 per litre), and then complained to Budget.
The lady at Budget was kind enough to give me a $30 credit on the price, so I only ended up paying about $100. How awesome is that! I hired a Corolla for $100 bucks for 3 full days.
Inside tip: 1) Hire the size of car just below the one you want for a likely upgrade (note: this may not always work, buy its well worth the risk if you don’t need the extra space), 2) You can return cars to the airport free of charge (i.e.: hire at one place, and return at airport - advantage being the airport centre is open until midnight, while other centres are not).
Summary
So thank you to Budget who provided me with that discount after my hassles with the discount voucher. Certainly worth the money, and the car was nice too.
