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Very hesitant to use SWA preferred rental car partner in Cancun, terrible reviews

lakerat789
Explorer C

Wife and I regularly fly into Cancun (4+ times a year) and rent a car to head way south past Tulum and down to some real hidden vacation gems in southern Mexico. In the past we've used a Mexican rental car company based just outside the airport and they have been perfect every time. Our trip however over the Christmas period in December is longer than usual and with it being high season, promotions are extremely thin on the ground and as a result the car (which is vital for us) is going to be really pricey for 12 days.

I opted to give the Budget Rental Car coupon code that popped upon the SWA page a spin after booking my flight and although not "too good to be true" cheap, it was significantly cheaper then our regular company (after the discount code was applied) but after I completed the rental car reservation the reviews we read on multiple sites for the Budget location at the Cancun airport were appauling and seemingly have been so for a few years. I'm curious why SWA would partner up and promote a location that has such a bad reputation for ripping customers off? - The reviews are consistent over several years and from seemingly non-fake accounts.  I don't feel comfortable at all proceeding with the car rental and even though it's going to cost us $500 extra, I'd rather return to our existing rental company. 

Sorry SWA - y'all can handle the flying part of our trip, but I'm not trusting who you are promoting for the ground transportation, maybe a bit more vetting is in order?. 

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Very hesitant to use SWA preferred rental car partner in Cancun, terrible reviews

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@lakerat789 wrote:

Sorry SWA - y'all can handle the flying part of our trip, but I'm not trusting who you are promoting for the ground transportation, maybe a bit more vetting is in order?. 


I think it is a little unfair for you to say this on the forum when your only data is online reviews and not personal experience or any context of number of happy customers, percent complaints, etc.

 

A better approach for helping other travelers would be to say where your favorite place is and how you've enjoyed their equipment and service personally - that's good data. Also how you get there from the airport if they aren't on-site. 

 

The fact is that Southwest allies themselves with Rapid Reward partners, and that's going to include the major domestic car rental agencies (and a few of the second tier), and will tend to include their international locations as well. If you or anyone actually rents from Budget there, and then has a problem, feel free to let Southwest know. Certainly I'd read the reviews and choose accordingly. 

 

I've seen similar firsthand experience mentioned on this community before for domestic locations, I'm sure there are better and worse places to rent cars both domestically and internationally, and often there will be a risk/reward trade-off among rental car companies for the price they charge.

 

Personally I had rented from either Budget or Avis there once and everything was fine.

 

I like your idea, we also drove to Tulum and thought it was fantastic in that area, it would have been difficult without the car there. Posada Marguerita was an amazing restaurant.

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Very hesitant to use SWA preferred rental car partner in Cancun, terrible reviews

dfwskier
Aviator A

As David said, Southwest partners with a bunch of rent car companies and all locations those companies offer. 

 

If you really feel uncomfort able renting from Budget, then why are you doing it? You can cancel and rent from someone else - includiing your old standby.