Changed: ? on National EA & mid size SUV

[VAgal76]

I was going to rent a vehicle through National (cancelling my Alamo - time is of the essence). I'm a EC member, but I've never used it. If I rent a SUV and go out to EA to find there are none. What happens then?

 

[CarolA]

If you rent using your EA number and pick SUV you won't get EA. You will get Emerald Reserve which is pretty much the same thing. You just go to the SUV aisle and pick an SUV. The only way to use EA is to reserve a midsize.

 

[n2mm]

Just like Carol said. I see the OP is going in February and understand what they are saying we are Executive Aisle, but choose the mid-size SUV too because it's much cheaper than the price of an intermediate car (required for using EA & ExA). There is a $30 different to rent the smaller car and able to choose. So in this case for us, money talks and we plan to use Emerald Reserve/mid-size SUV. For the OP, make sure you indeed take only a mid-size SUV (as indicated on the hang tag) or you will be charged for taking an upgrade. So far the Equinox is listed as a mid-size SUV, but I'm curious if that is the only one. Knowing national they will probably have mid-size, standard-size and larger SUVs all parked together just to make us nuts. In December we had a minivan Emerald Reserve and when we returned it, the bill was $100 more than my estimate. We spent 30 minutes at the counter arguing that we had what we booked (an uplander) and they tried to say we were charged for an upgraded minivan. The counter person agreed that an uplander was not a larger van, but it took her and a manager forever to override the system and credit my credit card, which was never exactly correct and was still charged about $15 more than my original estimate, but at that point we just wanted to go. I have used National for many years, averaging 5 trips to WDW a year, but just recently there seems to be more issues occurring--prior to this one, I booked a car, but when I went into the website and checked on my trip info, the price on my receipt was higher than what I agreed on. I email National about 4 times, and they told me they would honor the price, but I would have to go to the counter. Was such a huge hassle, I canceled my ressie and tried to get a price similar to what I originally had--actually that was the minivan I rented in December, and still ended up at the counter. Oh well.

 

[VAgal76]

Thank you for clarifying that. DH can fit into an Equinox so I'll go that route.

 

[seashoreCM]

If they don't have the car you reserved they should give you something larger at no extra charge. At any rate the car should be able to legally carry the number of people you reserved for and not break the rental company's rules regarding overloading which means having at least that many seat belts and probably more than a three cylinder engine.

When booking on line, always do a print screen (it's more than just pressing the print screen button,) so you can bring your reservation informatin in writing to the counter.

Doesn't the paperwork you get at the counter before you take the car show the exact price not including extra gasoline or hours?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/

 

[Alexander]

Doesn't the paperwork you get at the counter before you take the car show the exact price not including extra gasoline or hours?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/

Not if you use Emerald Aisle or Emerald Reserve. You don't go to the counter at all, you just go to the garage and select a vehicle. You drive to the booth, they verify everything (reservation, car class, credit card) and you go. I have never gotten a print-out from the booth attendant showing the rate. I do however, give them a copy of the print-out from home and they usually initial that and indicate that was my rate.

 

[VAgal76]

I want to make sure I'm totally clear now after reading the later posts. If I rent the mid size SUV then it'll be on EA though it'll be with other SUV's and I can bypass the counter. Right? I really don't mean to be so dense. Where is the SUV aisle?

He he he....it's just making me even happier after I found another discount coupon and now I'm only paying $131 total for 5 days on this vehicle type. I have a gas guzzler at home, a Chevy Silverado 1500 p/u. I consider the Equinox gas friendly compared to it. Plus, we looked at buying one of these and I know for sure my 6'5 husband can fit into one. If it were any smaller, it'd be a no go.

 

[jultomzach]

You can not reserve an SUV when your rental is Emerald Isle. Emerald Isle only means that you can bypass the counter, go directly to the garage and pick from the area marked Emerald Isle. You are only guarenteed a mid-size car (an SUV is not a midsize). If you look on the National website, it will give you an idea of typical mid-size cars. However, sometimes there are cars other than mid-size on the Isle. Lately there has been some SUVS on the Emerald Isle. This is not a promise however. If there are midsize cars on the Isle, you must pick from the Isle. If there are NO cars on the Isle, you will be redirected to another area again no promise of anything larger than a mid-size. People have been LUCKY and been directed to areas other than mid-size but do not count on it!