Minivan rental - How to rent an 8-seater (as opposed to 7 seater Minivan)

[David61]

Any tips on how to reserve a minivan with 8 seats (Sienna/Odyssey) as opposed to one with 7 seats?
Looking to lock this reservation in early, while inventory is still widely available.
Which chains rent out the 8-seat vans?
Suburban's have 8 seats, but prices are almost 50% higher.

[David61]

bump

[chookshook]

Turo?

[Mimo]

bump

I spoke to an agent recently, he told me that only in florida there is an option to reserve an 8 seat minivan or 7 seat everywere else you only have an option to reserve a 7 seat minivan

[David61]

What about with getting status with a rental company and being able to choose from a whole selection of available vehicles.
Is that a viable strategy (given that I am picking up at a larger airport)?
which rental company has the best odds of having 8-seater minivans?
Which status would I need?
How do I get that without many rentals?

TIA

[ExGingi]

I've rented from Enterprise in Brooklyn and got an 8 seat Sienna (just reserved a minivan, without requesting 8 seats in advance).

[David61]

My strategy was to book a couple of bookings at large rental agencies in the airport.

Then I called and ask to confirm an 8-seater. The offshore customer support said they will do that and make a note on the reservation.

My experience was that although there was no 8-seater minivan on the lot upon arrival, they readily upgraded me to another 8-seater vehicle (large SUV - Almada) when they saw that note on the reservation.