Our National rental experience

[lillykat]

Alright overall I would give national a very good rating. We would have given them an excellent rating except for a small problem we had at return.
When we reserved our car online using EA it printed out counter service. We were concerned we would have a problem with having to wait at the counter. They told us over the phone not to worry about it and just go pick out the car we wanted from EA. Well my boyfriend didn't want to have a problem when we tried to check out the car so since there wasn't a line we went directly to the counter and they told us just go directly to Full size and pick out any car we wanted. This was fine the cars on the EA were only full size and intermediate so we didn't lose out. We got a very clean car that still had that new car smell to it...We were very pleased with it. It took us 5 mins to check out and we were on our way to AKL.
Check out would have been VERY quick had the receipt been accurate. We pulled up they handed us a receipt and that was it 2 mins and your done. We had to stop by the counter for 10 mins though b/c they decided to charge us 209$ instead of 163$ for the 8 day full size rental. BIG DIFFERENCE. They charged us for insurance even though we had declined it in on our EA profile. We had a print out of our profile so we simply showed it to them along with our printed confirmation that showed we had declined insurance. They quickly fixed it - and somehow it was 2$ cheaper then our confirmation price.
Except for that - the car had very few miles on it, it was VERY clean, no spills, no dirt and it still smelled new.

[Pluto4President]

glad to hear that it was overall a good experience.

[ducklite]

We also had a good experience with National 1/3-8. EA members but reserved a compact. Chose the ugliest colored car we could find. It was rust colored, and it stood out like a sore thumb in parking lots :-) I took to calling it "Ugly Car". It also had a bunch of dings in it, but the interior was clean so we didn't care. (If you take a dinged car, always make sure it's noted on the rental agreement so you don't get blamed!!)

Anne

[DMRick]

Ducklite..I didn't realize you could get a compact and still do EA..you didn't have to go to the counter? Really, a ompact is all we need.

Our experience this time around wasn't as good as Jan (when we got the Sebring convertable). EA had lots if intermediates and a truck. We picked form the full size instead (which we had reserved). The Impala we got was a great car (and an odd color..easy to spot)..except my seat belt strap stunk with perfume. I have lots of allergies, and very soon it was obvious, we had to exchange the car (they said it woudl take overnight for the cleaner they used to air out). We went over to the Disney area National, and they had a little bit of trouble exchanging it, but finally we were on our way. This car was no where as "fancy" as the Impala, with nice electric seats, etc (forget what kind), but very doable. The trouble came when we went to turn it in, and they had no record of it. We had to go to the counter, and they were having a very tough time figuring out what to do. I finally told them to just give me a receipt and I would deal with it over the phone (my hubby is presurgery, and there was no where for him to sit, and it had already been 20 minutes)..and we needed to get to our flight. They over charged by $40, but when I called from home, it was immediately taken care of. So not a really bad experience, just more a pain in the neck. I did see the LM right next door, and thik I will try it the next time.

[lawgs]

hiya pluto.....just got back from vegas and the emerald aisle there...

when we got there.....there were no cars at all ( ces show in las vegas)....and they just kept bringing them in one by one.....could have had a convertible but did not like the feel of it....so took an alero....alas had to return the alero on the friday evening since it was "rumbling" ( wheel noise ) in the front end.....but they had plenty of cars to exchange to....so tried out a galant....very nice but simple vehicle....


a good experience there even though u have to take a short shuttle ride to get the car......they treated us very kindly....

so how have things been here.....


our flights out there were on southwest......very good service too...

good to be back perusing the boards....

smilawgs

[GAIL HAYDEN]

You can't reserve a compact via EA, you can, however be EC members and reserve a compact, you either have to go to the counter or opt for the other feature (which escapes me at this moment).
I believe Anne stated that they are "EA members BUT reserved a compact".

[ducklite]

Originally posted by GAIL HAYDEN
You can't reserve a compact via EA, you can, however be EC members and reserve a compact, you either have to go to the counter or opt for the other feature (which escapes me at this moment).
I believe Anne stated that they are "EA members BUT reserved a compact".

Oops--Gail is right. I meant to say we are EC members, but got a compact. We didn't need to go to the counter though. Just to the compact aisle, pick up the car and be on our way as if it was EA.

Anne

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We also used Emerald Choice (last month). We got a Park Avenue (luxury car) with about 30,000 miles on it. Nice, though. Had no problems with National. All went very quickly. :)

[pbhunt]

Hi lawgs! The shuttle is not a problem in Las Vegas, because ALL of the rental car agencies are offsite. Glad you had a great experience, with the show going on, it must have been packed. :)

[DMRick]

Yes, I understood what you said : )

..that you were EA and got a compact..the part that I meant to say surprised me, was that you didn't have to go to the counter. We were told we would have to go to the counter if we wanted a compact (I called after I first made a ressie with compact through EA on line and counter showed up), and no other suggestions were made. Was there something special you had to do or say, when you went through the EA booth? We got the larger car, just to avoid the counter. If I could avoid the counter and get a compact when it's just the two of us, that would be great. Can you remember what the "other" feature is that Gail mentioned? I'd sure be grateful.

[DebbieB]

If you are an Emerald Club member, you can book other than intermediate or full size through Emerald Choice. You can skip the counter and go straight to the garage and pick out of the size aisle you reserved (not Emerald Aisle). It is only available at selected locations, Orlando is one of them.

[DMRick]

So even though your confirmation says counter, you can ignore that? I called when I saw that, and they told me I had to come to the counter first. Thanks..good to know. How do you know which places this can be done at?

[GAIL HAYDEN]

DMRICK,
The feature I forgot was Emerald Choice. When you make your ressies you will see the option on the left hand side of the screen. That will tell you if Choice, Aisle or Counter are available.

[cigar95]

I don't recall Emerald Choice coming up as an option when I've looked at compacts at MCO. I *do* see it for larger sizes, though.

Also - during my trip last September, I was looking for a section at National labelled "Compact", but couldn't find one. When I asked the "CM", she said "take one from 'Economy'." Sure enough, that's where the compacts were. Makes me wonder if I might save a few bucks by reserving an economy car, knowing that I would end up with a compact.

[pbhunt]

Counter is the default on national's website. You have to click on the "counter" box for the Aisle/Choice selections to appear. Baffled me the first time I reserved w/National:)

[lillykat]

We specifically checked EA on our online ressie but when we printed it there was a problem it came up counter. When we first called person #1 said oh we have EA in our computer for you we will send you a new confirm - but they never did. Next person told us - no- it says counter b/c full size is not included on EA only intermediate - obviously that person doesn't know what they were talking about. Person #3 told us -since we used a coupon you can NEVER use EA. Finally the last person told us not to worry and to simply use EA since that was what was showing in their computer system.
Go figure.

[Pluto4President]

lillykat...just use EA as normal. They will take your coupons and credentials at the booth upon checkout!

[lillykat]

That was what we were going to do...but we ended up just going to Full size and picking a car - which worked out better since there was only one full size on the EA

[erikthewise]

Lillykat,

So what model did you end up with for your full-size rental?!!!

[lillykat]

Pontiac Grand Prix - Red - poor color choice couldn't tell you how many times we had 3 identical cars parked next to us. It was a fun car to drive though. It was very clean and had only a handful of miles on it.

[WienerDog]

I have to disagree on the Emerald Choice with a Compact car.

The only option for a compact car is Counter. Perhaps they changed it. So are we stuck going to the counter?

[lillykat]

I wouldn't worry about it they ended up telling us to go directly to the Full size aisle and pick any car.

[cigar95]

I have to agree with WeinerDog. (How often do you get a chance to say that?) When looking at a compact for last week, for several months the compact came up with Counter as the only choice. (We ended up paying the extra for an intermediate just to get the EA service.)

[safetymom]

When my ressie came up with counter, I just called and they switched it to Aisle. Couldn't you do the same for a compact?

[WienerDog]

You can't get Emerald Aisle service because that means you can take any car on the Emerald Aisle. That would mean you could pay for a compact and get a full size if it is available.

They used to offer Emeral Choice, but maybe that was too confusing to people. Maybe they had people reserver a compact and choose Emerald Choice thinking that they get to pick a car from the Emerald Aisle, so they discontinued Emerald Choice on compacts. It is probably worth checking out, because maybe we can still get Emerald Choice by calling in. Let me know if anyone tries this, I'm not traveling until the end of March (ya I know, peak season :o).

[zurgswife]

Glad to hear most have been satisfied lately. Our last experience with National and EA was 911 and it was incredible service:) So, Our trip in March will be our real first experience with
EA without a national crisis. Hope there is a choice of cars.....