2009's What have you've seen on the Emerald Aisle?

[Gales4Goofy]

We rented from the aisle on 4/22. They had a good mix of midsizes and full sizes, but nothing else. Mostly Sebrings and Chargers, with an Altima and a Mazda 3. We took a Charger and it was a great car for the 5 of us. All the bags fit great in the trunk with room to spare and 3 kids fit in the back seat with little complaining.

 

[n2mm]

We pick up this Sunday. We only managed a full size from the Executive Aisle this past January, so don't really expect too much this trip. We did have a Ford Tauras and it was loaded, so we enjoyed it. We are still Executive members, so at least we get to choose from either aisle. It's just too bad the price never really dropped again this trip.

 

[melk]

We rented from the aisle on 4/22. They had a good mix of midsizes and full sizes, but nothing else. Mostly Sebrings and Chargers, with an Altima and a Mazda 3. We took a Charger and it was a great car for the 5 of us. All the bags fit great in the trunk with room to spare and 3 kids fit in the back seat with little complaining.

This was the same experience we had on 4/21. We ended up taking a silver Dodge Avenger. It fit the 5 of us fine, with plenty of room in the trunk. It was an 'okay' car, nothing great but it served its purpose for us.

 

[Morganw42]

bump

 

[mkymouse4ever]

 

[E-P-C-O-T]

Picked up on Apr 30th at 7p off the A side, lots of Altimas, Chargers, Impalas, Hyundai (Sonata?), Chargers and G6s. Picked up an Altima with 1000 miles on it loaded our bags, stroller and installed the car seat only to find out that the side mirrow button was missing. We ended up with another Altima with 3000 miles. No Minivans or Suvs on the Emerald or Executive side.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Starting to sound very, standard. Guess, people where right that enterprise was going to change things. Oh well, still like the hunt and picking out what we get. I am wondering, how they compare to the regular emerald reserve standard / midsize aisle? Does EA get the newer crop, or "finer" amenities?

mky

 

[rlduvall]

I'm so glad I popped into this thread. For May 30 - June 9, I have reserved a mid-sized vehicle for a total of $250. and this thread jogged my memory that I am Executive Level, so I took it up to a fullsize for the same price. I love the dis.

And I wouldn't be Executive Level if it wasn't for dis'ers last year mentioning that Mousesavers posted we could get it - a limited promotion, I think.

 

[n2mm]

We picked up from Side A at 11:00AM on Sunday 5/3/09. Executive Aisle had only full size cars and Emerald Aisle had only Intermedite cars. We got a Ford Taurus from the Executive Aisle, but it was considered premium because it was loaded.

On Tuesday 5/5/09 at 9:00AM we had to switch our car for a minivan for when the family arrived later. (It was cheaper switching at the airport vs the ccc.) We then picked up from side B. The aisles were only half full, but we did notice some smaller SUVs on the Emerald Aisle side and also a minivan. We noticed lots of larger vechicles on the Executive Side too. This was very early (8:30AM-9:00AM) mid week (Tuesday). Since we had a reserved minivan we were not using the aisle (Murphy's law). We went to the minivan and got a T&C touring minivan w/all of the whistles. It was a nice car. So there are some bigger vechicles out there, but they are hard to come by and weekends seem to have the worse selection. We rented in January and had slim pickings and now May too. (Guess I'll post again after my July trip in 8 weeks.)

 

[ColoradoDis]

bump

 

[DebbieB]

This isn't MCO, but I picked up a car at Dulles last week. Pickings were slim - Avenger, Caliper, HHR. There was an Altima on the Executive Aisle, we talked the attendent into an upgrade (we asked if we could pay for an upgrade and she gave it to us for free).

 

[n2mm]

This isn't MCO, but I picked up a car at Dulles last week. Pickings were slim - Avenger, Caliper, HHR. There was an Altima on the Executive Aisle, we talked the attendent into an upgrade (we asked if we could pay for an upgrade and she gave it to us for free).

Small world! We got in late Saturday night Dulles and had to rent a car to drive home as we didn't want anyone to come get us. We also used National/Executive Aisle and drove an Altima home. We have rented from Executive Aisle at Dulles several times and there is never really anything to write home about. For us, it's just a quick way home and saves us a ton of money parking (esp. since we were gone for 14 days).

 

[puffkin]

Nothing

We got into MCO late the night of 5/8 and there were no cars in the garage in the Emerald Aisle lane and only a handful in the garage. It was ridiculous. The booth attendant told me to take the car parked a few rows over (it was a full size). I walked over and there was already a family loading into it.....they were hidden behind a pylon so we couldn't see them from the booth. Flagged down a manager type sort that was hurrying by and he looked perplexed. There were about 6-7 parties trying to get cars and nothing there. He asked us how many in our party and then told us not to move and radioed in for a car. One pulled up about a minute later and it was a Dodge Journey SUV. I would think it was a mid-size SUV. We didn't particularly like the car after the week was over, but were thrilled for all the extra room!!!!

 

[ColoradoDis]

Anything from this weekend?

 

[mkymouse4ever]

 

[torquelover]

Nothing

We didn't particularly like the car after the week was over, but were thrilled for all the extra room!!!!

What didn't you like about it?

 

[puffkin]

What didn't you like about it?

I drive a Ford Escape IRL, so used to this size vehicle. It was very boxy and cumbersome to drive and it felt huge compared to my Escape. However we had less room for luggage (about the same for passengers) as my Escape. The seats were very uncomfortable and not contoured correctly or something. We also hated the console controls. It took us forever to figure out the controls. Never had any difficulty with a rental before. We just thought it was a poorly designed vehicle and very boxy and uncomfortable....but we did appreciate the upgrade!

 

[mkymouse4ever]

 

[DebbieB]

Picked up on A side this afternoon around 3:00. There were about 20 cars, they were all sedans, same as those previously mentioned.

 

[Niagara2]

After so many years of great upgrades on the Emerald Aisle (and we all got spoiled by it) I see by all these posts that it is the rare occurance now.

My guess is that we used to get those SUV;s and minivans as there were just so many in stock in Orlando as the family demographic makes up their biggest marketshare.

I also think that with ME, the car rentals have taken a large hit, and have by now adjusted their inventory, so less minivans and Suv's to overflow into the Emerald Aisle.

Over the years, my expereince with Emerald Aisle in other cities throughout the country was never as good as MCO was. Basically you got to chose and if you ever got a full size, that was a big upgrade. I say that MCO has also started to run its MCO operation like that also. Maybe it could be a new station manager - who knows.

I know we are now booking on price and will lose our executive level this year as we feel that we will not be able to get lucky with a big upgrade on the aisle. We didn;t mind paying a bit more for a 75% chance of a bigger SUV or Minivan. I would say from reading the posts, that this chance went down to about 10%. As I said before, National spoiled us for years but it made us loyal.

So - did priceline for our upcoming trip. We will miss the convenience, but save so much on the larger car/van that we need.