Alamo empty asile??

[wings91]

My last rental with Alamo, like they all have, went fine. However, because you get to grab whatever car you want out of your class asile, there isn't necessarily a car reserved and waiting for you. I took the last SUV in my class leaving a long empty row.

Three questions:
1) Do Alamo and National share the same asiles, I swear the signs say both names
2) If they do not, because the companies are the same, can you grab a similar class from the National asile?
3) What if there are no cars in your reserved class? Are you allowed to self upgrade? Do you have to hunt down an attendant?

Thanks.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

My last rental with Alamo, like they all have, went fine. However, because you get to grab whatever car you want out of your class asile, there isn't necessarily a car reserved and waiting for you. I took the last SUV in my class leaving a long empty row.
Three questions:
1) Do Alamo and National share the same asiles, I swear the signs say both names
2) If they do not, because the companies are the same, can you grab a similar class from the National asile?
3) What if there are no cars in your reserved class? Are you allowed to self upgrade? Do you have to hunt down an attendant?
Thanks.

At Orlando, Alamo and National have separate locations in the parking garage but they are close to each other. The fleet is shared. A car rented from Alamo gets washed when it is returned by a renter and may end up on the Alamo side again or it could end up on the National side. Thus, you can choose your vehicle from either side. And in most cases, if the type of car you rented has zero inventory you get a free upgrade. I always make a point of flagging down an attendant and the answer is always to find something from one class up. No one at the check-out booth has ever even made a comment about it. You could also walk over to the other company and see if they have a car in your category. I do the latter quite often. If I rent a compact and I don't see a car that I like, I walk over to the other company's inventory to see if there is anything more to my liking. (like satellite radio that is actually working!)

Please note that you can only do this "company switching" at airports where Alamo-National are corporate-owned, cars are near each other and they let you choose your car. I've done this too at Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Kansas City. At Buffalo and Jacksonville they preselect a car for you and hand you the keys at the counter. At Pensacola I think both Alamo and National were separately owned franchises and thus different fleets.

BobK/Orlando

BobK/Orlando

 

[gmeh1]

My last rental with Alamo, like they all have, went fine. However, because you get to grab whatever car you want out of your class asile, there isn't necessarily a car reserved and waiting for you. I took the last SUV in my class leaving a long empty row.

Three questions:
1) Do Alamo and National share the same asiles, I swear the signs say both names
2) If they do not, because the companies are the same, can you grab a similar class from the National asile?
3) What if there are no cars in your reserved class? Are you allowed to self upgrade? Do you have to hunt down an attendant?

Thanks.

We don't share the same "aisles", we are separate locations within the same garage. Alamo is blue, National is green in their signage.
It is best you find an attendant before going to find a vehicle in another "company". IE: if your row is empty in National, see someone before you float over to Alamo. Often we can find a car and bring it to you. There are attendants at the Alamo kiosk in the garage, we help both Alamo and National. There are attendants at National, if we are not present when you arrive, be patient, we are probably helping another customer and will be back quickly.
No, you cannot self upgrade. We will however upgrade you if there is nothing in your reserved class. Lately it has been very busy, so, we have been doing a lot of upgrades and putting mini vans everywhere.

 

[gmeh1]

At Orlando, Alamo and National have separate locations in the parking garage but they are close to each other. The fleet is shared. A car rented from Alamo gets washed when it is returned by a renter and may end up on the Alamo side again or it could end up on the National side. Thus, you can choose your vehicle from either side. And in most cases, if the type of car you rented has zero inventory you get a free upgrade. I always make a point of flagging down an attendant and the answer is always to find something from one class up. No one at the check-out booth has ever even made a comment about it. You could also walk over to the other company and see if they have a car in your category. I do the latter quite often. If I rent a compact and I don't see a car that I like, I walk over to the other company's inventory to see if there is anything more to my liking. (like satellite radio that is actually working!)

Please note that you can only do this "company switching" at airports where Alamo-National are corporate-owned, cars are near each other and they let you choose your car. I've done this too at Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Kansas City. At Buffalo and Jacksonville they preselect a car for you and hand you the keys at the counter. At Pensacola I think both Alamo and National were separately owned franchises and thus different fleets.

BobK/Orlando

BobK/Orlando

We don't subscribe our vehicles to Satellite radio so when the intro subscription expires, that's it. Also, in the garage, often the concrete of 4 levels prevents the satellite from connecting, same thing with GPS.
It is preferable to contact an employee before you cross over to the other side, as it were. We are there to help and make your experience pleasurable. Often we can bring a vehicle to you. Just let us know what you want.