Dollar v. Alamo

[Mommy Poppins]

Can you pick your own vehicle at both places? Any preferences of one over the other.

We are renting from 9/7 - 9/12 and the recent price drop has put them within .03 of each other. That is with no coupons. I have a National reservation but it is $20 more and hasn't budged in weeks.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

We recently booked a full size through Alamo and had a great experience. We got to pick our car(Toyota Camry) and it was in excellent condition. It had around 14,000 miles and was spotless inside. Alamo is on the first floor of the ramp so pick up and drop off is easy. No dragging your luggage up the escalator and searching for the car.

I recommend checking Hotwire or Priceline for the best rates. We booked the Camry through Priceline for $19/day plus taxes.

 

[gmeh1]

Can you pick your own vehicle at both places? Any preferences of one over the other.

We are renting from 9/7 - 9/12 and the recent price drop has put them within .03 of each other. That is with no coupons. I have a National reservation but it is $20 more and hasn't budged in weeks.

Enterprise owns Alamo and National. They share the cars.
they have a much larger selection of cars than Dollar has. I know you can select your own car at Alamo and I think you can at Dollar.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I rent almost 100% of the time from National/Alamo. YOu pick your car. I rented once from Dollar. I was assigned a car, but attendant said if I did not like the car, I could pick a different. I did.

I much prefer National/Alamo.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

With dollar you can pick your own car. We did it this past Feb.

OP if your price is within three cents without a coupon have you looked for any Alamo coupons? Usually there are some pretty good Alamo coupons listed on the Transporation boards here on the DIS.

Dollar does not usually have a lot of coupons but Dollar does have those city special rates that are sometimes a good deal. You can find city special rates under the list of cars to chose from when you are looking at rental rate. Just click on the the yellow "city special" link.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Dollar has the reputation for strictly charging an extra driver fee for all additional drivers, even if that driver is a spouse....to the tune of $11 a day. There are many ways to get an additional driver for free with Alamo, such as joining their loyalty club.

 

[sarmat1]

Can you pick your own vehicle at both places? Any preferences of one over the other.

We are renting from 9/7 - 9/12 and the recent price drop has put them within .03 of each other. That is with no coupons. I have a National reservation but it is $20 more and hasn't budged in weeks.

You can pick your own car with either. Having rented from both, if price was identical I would go with Dollar. Much easier to check in. Others will tell you to use a kiosk to get around the long lines with Alamo, but if the kiosk craps out on you, you're stuck in long lines since Alamo seems to always be short staffed at MCO. Be sure to check AAA rates at Dollar (if you're a member) as well as their City specials. Our AAA rate this month was $180 all in for 10 days.

If you need a second driver, however, ignore everything I said since Dollar will charge you for one and Alamo won't.

 

[NC State Tigger]

Dollar has the reputation for strictly charging an extra driver fee for all additional drivers, even if that driver is a spouse....to the tune of $11 a day. There are many ways to get an additional driver for free with Alamo, such as joining their loyalty club.

Is there any way to get more than one additional driver at no cost with Alamo? We have a minivan booked with Alamo (best rate by far) for our trip to Aulani in October. The group has 5 adults ( ranging in age from 26-60+). I think we will leave the resort often, but not necessarily the whole group each time. It would be great if we could have more than 2 drivers. ( I'm too frugal to pay )

 

[gmeh1]

You can pick your own car with either. Having rented from both, if price was identical I would go with Dollar. Much easier to check in. Others will tell you to use a kiosk to get around the long lines with Alamo, but if the kiosk craps out on you, you're stuck in long lines since Alamo seems to always be short staffed at MCO. Be sure to check AAA rates at Dollar (if you're a member) as well as their City specials. Our AAA rate this month was $180 all in for 10 days.

If you need a second driver, however, ignore everything I said since Dollar will charge you for one and Alamo won't.

Alamo will charge for and additional driver unless you are an Insider's member or have a code that gives you add.driver at no charge.
You also have the option of online checkin with Alamo, so, you can avoid the counter that way. It is rare that the kiosks (there are at least 4 on each side of MCO) crap out on you.

 

[gmeh1]

Is there any way to get more than one additional driver at no cost with Alamo? We have a minivan booked with Alamo (best rate by far) for our trip to Aulani in October. The group has 5 adults ( ranging in age from 26-60+). I think we will leave the resort often, but not necessarily the whole group each time. It would be great if we could have more than 2 drivers. ( I'm too frugal to pay )

No, only one free additional driver with Alamo and this is only IF you are an insider's member or have a code that allows an additional driver for free.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Alamo will charge for and additional driver unless you are an Insider's member or have a code that gives you add.driver at no charge.
You also have the option of online checkin with Alamo, so, you can avoid the counter that way. It is rare that the kiosks (there are at least 4 on each side of MCO) crap out on you.

I have never had an issue with using the MCO kiosk. Very easy and quick to use. Takes about 5 minutes to check in at the kiosk.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Alamo will charge for and additional driver unless you are an Insider's member or have a code that gives you add.driver at no charge.
You also have the option of online checkin with Alamo, so, you can avoid the counter that way. It is rare that the kiosks (there are at least 4 on each side of MCO) crap out on you.

I rented a car with Alamo in August with pick up/drop off at Dolphin. The agent insisted that the Insiders Club no longer included free additional driver. He said it change a "long" time ago. I rented a car from Alamo last Aug but that was in California which mandates free spouse. I've looked on Alamo site but can't find that it says Insiders get free additional driver.

 

[gmeh1]

I rented a car with Alamo in August with pick up/drop off at Dolphin. The agent insisted that the Insiders Club no longer included free additional driver. He said it change a "long" time ago. I rented a car from Alamo last Aug but that was in California which mandates free spouse. I've looked on Alamo site but can't find that it says Insiders get free additional driver.

He was wrong. It is under "contact us" on the Alamo site.
Here is what it says as of today.
I really get annoyed when agents lie to make money. I would write them and tell them of this.

Alamo Additional Driver Fee



Is there always an additional driver daily fee? How much is it?

Any additional driver (including a spouse or domestic partner) will pay a daily fee of approximately $10 per day.

Fees are waived for additional drivers who are:

· Members of Alamo Insiders Program; which allows for one additional driver to be added at no cost.
Please Note: When booking via a third party; the relationship is with the Tour Operator and not Alamo directly. As a result Alamo Insiders benefits will not apply.

· Corporate Contracts in the United States are allowed the following additional drivers at no charge:

· Commercial (corporate) rentals

· The renter's business partner

· Employer or fellow associate, who has a signed corporate contract with Alamo and drives the car for business purposes and who meet normal renter requirements.

All other additional authorized driver situations are subject to a daily charge.

An additional driver may only be added to the contract at a rental location and may be added or removed in the middle of the contract. When adding an additional driver in the middle of the contract both the renter and the additional driver must be present at the location.

The system will calculate the charges based on the dates the additional driver was listed on the rental.

Exception states that allow the spouse to be an "Automatic" Authorized Driver under all circumstances are; California, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, and Wisconsin. There is no additional fee for the spouse to drive the vehicle in these states.

 

[jeff968]

I'm not a big Dollar fan as they have so many fees that they try and get you with. You have to always watch them. That said, I usually go with them because their prices are always the best and I'm on a budget for the family vacations. They let you pick your car.

 

[lovesdumbo]

He was wrong. It is under "contact us" on the Alamo site.
Here is what it says as of today.
I really get annoyed when agents lie to make money. I would write them and tell them of this.

Thank you! When I get home and can find my rental agreement I am going to email them. I really pushed back on him. I asked him when the change was made, why I wouldn't have been notified of the change in the program, ect... and he insisted it was a "long" time ago that the change was made. I was the only customer there and there was another agent there who didn't speak up to tell him he was wrong. He told me the only way to get a free additional driver was to belong to National's Emerald Club.

I told him DH wouldn't drive but the first contract he tried to get me to sign still had the additional $70 on it.

 

[gmeh1]

Thank you! When I get home and can find my rental agreement I am going to email them. I really pushed back on him. I asked him when the change was made, why I wouldn't have been notified of the change in the program, ect... and he insisted it was a "long" time ago that the change was made. I was the only customer there and there was another agent there who didn't speak up to tell him he was wrong. He told me the only way to get a free additional driver was to belong to National's Emerald Club.

I told him DH wouldn't drive but the first contract he tried to get me to sign still had the additional $70 on it.

I am glad you are going to write Alamo. Lying to people is not a good way to do business and I can tell you the company does not tolerate that stuff. Not surprised the other agent kept quiet, would not surprise me to find that they both run the same scam.
The agent was correct about one thing, National's Emerald Club does allow an additional driver for free, but, the rules for them are different and not as liberal as Alamo's.
Let me know how you make out. Ok? We folks from Mass. have to stand together. We are wicked tough.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I am glad you are going to write Alamo. Lying to people is not a good way to do business and I can tell you the company does not tolerate that stuff. Not surprised the other agent kept quiet, would not surprise me to find that they both run the same scam.
The agent was correct about one thing, National's Emerald Club does allow an additional driver for free, but, the rules for them are different and not as liberal as Alamo's.
Let me know how you make out. Ok? We folks from Mass. have to stand together. We are wicked tough.

I just called Alamo. They offered me 2 free days. I told them that didn't impress me too much as that just means I can't use any other coupon. So the agent asked if I wanted to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor issued a $75 credit and will have the manager for that location give me a call.

 

[gmeh1]

I just called Alamo. They offered me 2 free days. I told them that didn't impress me too much as that just means I can't use any other coupon. So the agent asked if I wanted to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor issued a $75 credit and will have the manager for that location give me a call.

AWESOME!!!! I am glad you took the time to report this incident. They cannot fix what they don't know is broken. Good on you!!!