Confused about Emerald Aisle

[TonyS20]

I am thinking of joining Emerald Aisle with National. I have looked through mousesavers.com and National's website, but am still confused. There was a thread regarding this a while back and that is where my confusion comes in.

If I'm an Emerald Aisle person, I can reserve an intermediate and go directly to the Emerald Aisle and choose ANY car from that row. Do I have to designate on my reservation that this is what I intend to do or is that already assumed?

What are the chances that there will be cars that are a higher class than an intermediate? We typically reserve what National considers to be a standard or full-size. It is just DH and I; however, he likes to drive a larger vehicle.

Any advice would be appreciate!

 

[Disneefun]

If you're an emeral club member and you book using that designation (either by logging in on the website as such or calling the special number and giving membership details) and reserve an intermediate, you just go directly to the Emerald Aisle and pick whatever car you want from that row and then drive it to the checkout stand where they take your Emerald card, credit card, driver's license, any coupons, etc. All of that is already in the computer, as you must give the info. to join the club, they just verify and send you on your way. It is assumed as this is the basic function of the Emeral Club. If you rent something other than an intermediate, that is also designated on your reservation and you would proceed to that row to choose your car. But you pay the rate for whatever you rent (full size, etc.)

In the past you have been able to score upgrades on the aisle when available. I think we've almost always gotten full sizes here in Raleigh. But in April the club got revamped a little with the addition of "elite" levels that you can reach once you rent so much in a given year. This entitles you to rent, say, a full size but pay intermediate rate. So with the addition of this new plan, it is unclear whether anything other than intermediates will be on the aisle from now on. Natl's web site has some language that leads me to believe that the days of upgraded cars on the aisle are gone, but it may depend on time of year, what's available and whether or not a given location "got the memo." I'm going in a few days and will check it out.

If you absolutely cannot be happy in an intermediate, I would advise you to rent what you do need. Because even if upgrades haven't been discontinued in policy, there just might not be any available when you show up. So I wouldn't count on it.

 

[TonyS20]

Originally posted by Disneefun
If you absolutely cannot be happy in an intermediate, I would advise you to rent what you do need. Because even if upgrades haven't been discontinued in policy, there just might not be any available when you show up. So I wouldn't count on it.

Disneefun - Thank you for the quick response! You're reply is what I interpreted from the website.

We would be happy with an intermediate. I'm always on the lookout for a better deal with a bigger vehicle. Last year we had an SUV from budget for 50% off. We really enjoyed the space. I'm trying to get organized for our trip and wanted to make sure I understood the rules regarding Emerald Aisle. I would be interested to hear your report after your trip! Have a great time!