Do you really prefer one car rental company to another?

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

I have used budget for the last couple of years. And I have always got the best rates from them. This time for my may 05 trip I am getting a rate of 108 plus tax for an intermediate size car. (May 22-029, 2005) I booked it in sept of 04. After receiving this rate I have not seen it since. But I have seen a rate of 98 dollars plus tax for a compact just two days ago.


Budget is a great company to rent from because it is on site at the airport. Budget also gives you the opportunity to sign up for the fast break program. This program allows you to skip the counter and go strait to the parking garage to pick up your car and go.


I have always been pleased with my vehicle that I have been given..

Something to mention as well you can use a credit card or a debit card to rent a car. And generally Budget only asks for the cost of the rental plus 25 percent as a securement or 200 dollars which ever is greater.


Kimberly

 

[HappyLawyer]

i think it is all based on experience, you try one company then another, we will never have good experiences and bad one, if one person has a good exp, the next person might not it is like trial and error, i am trying alamo for the first time, they have the lowest rate that i have found, if it does not work out then i will not try them again

 

[SueM in MN]

Since the Unofficial Guide still has Alamo listed as being off-site, I think their rating is very suspect. I would wonder if they acutally updated their rating. Many people in the past gave low ratings to Alamo just because it was off-site. We have used Alamo a number of times and have had no problems with them. Also, a lot of an individuals experience at a particular counter depends on timing. If you get there right after a jumbo jet full of people who had a flight plus car deal that involved that car rental place, you will have a long wait and picked over vehicles no matter how effecient and wonderful the rental place normally is. Also, keep in mind that people who felt they had a bad experience are more likely to answer a survey than people who were satisfied, but not particularly wowwed.

We do pay the extra (if we have to) and reserve a Grand Caravan/Voyager since it's what we are familiar with and we can get the wheelchair into the back without folding or taking it apart. I believe (but I can't guarantee) that all the Caravans at Alamo and National are Grand Caravans.

We also have a wheelchair and lots of luggage to contend with, but we prefer to use Alamo or National where we can pick out our vehicle. (And, yes, we do schlepp DD in her wheelchair to pick it out.) The reason we prefer to do this is that we want one that doesn't smell of smoke (even if it says "Non Smoking" some have obviously been smoked in. Also, we have sometimes been given a Chevy van when they had Caravans available. This was hard for us because it meant a big step up for FIL with bad hips and knees and an almost impossible lift for me to get DD into the van. So, I definately want to see what's available.
An alternative that someone else mentioned is to have one of your party take some of the luggage and pick out the vehicle and then drive back to the terminal to pick everyone else up.

 

[zulaya]

We prefer National. Alamo will NEVER get our business again and I won't go into the long story and get angry about it again.

Everytime we have rented from National, there has been nothing but pleasant service and no problems with the cars. I am an Emerald Club member so I always bypass the counter.

I toyed with renting from Dollar, but we always get a minivan as we seem to always be travelling with 6 people and the luggage associated with 6 people. Since Dollar can't guarantee me a long wheel base without also not charging me extra for it, National gets my business. Everytime I have been to the minivan aisle, there have been Grand Caravans or other long wheel base equivalents.

Alamo's poor opinion from me had nothing to do with the shuttle ride or it being off site. It was purely with the way the operate their business and how they treat their customers.

 

[hannahryan]

We love NATIONAL! We are in and out within just a couple of minutes with Emerald Aisle. The cars are new and their prices are competitive. I would never chance it with another company. Use codes from mousesavers.com to save $.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by SueM in MN
...We do pay the extra (if we have to) and reserve a Grand Caravan/Voyager since it's what we are familiar with and we can get the wheelchair into the back without folding or taking it apart. I believe (but I can't guarantee) that all the Caravans at Alamo and National are Grand Caravans.
...An alternative that someone else mentioned is to have one of your party take some of the luggage and pick out the vehicle and then drive back to the terminal to pick everyone else up.

SueM in MN, you are a jewel! Thx for the very to-the-point advice here, esp on particularities of getting wheelchairs in an out. Perhaps we need to do the schlep to the lot and choose the car ourselves, as DW is also sensitive to smoke residue. I am not too worried about Chevy vs Dodge, as DS is just turning 7, so his chair is still pretty portable.

Great information from all. Thx very much.

One more question tho. How do I manage to select the car myself. Do I need to do something like join Emerald Aisle or something?

 

[Beast fan]

I'll preface this post by saying we've never rented a car out of MCO.

That said, DW and I have used 2 rental companies in the past 10 years...... National and Alamo.

More recently, we've been using Alamo (out of SAV and PBI), with good success. The Alamo staff at SAV were very friendly and courteous, while at PBI they were just above average.
For me, the bottom line is price and frequent flyer miles/points. If I can get a good deal on both, then that company gets my business.

Good luck!

Dave

 

[mrsstats]

My husband prefers National. He likes to choose his own car due to back problems. However, price is what makes the final choice for us. It we can save $25. or more, we go with a cheaper one. We do, however, stick with onsite companies.

 

[OKW Lover]

Originally posted by safetymom


I chuckle when people insist on in terminal rentals. I can be on the bus and driving away much qucker than I did when I rented from National or Alamo.

I am glad that not everyone knows that off site rentals can be fast too.

I wouldn't go back to using them unless there was a very large discount.

BTW, Hertz also offers programs that allow you to bypass the counter and walk right to your car. I haven't seen a Hertz desk in years.

For the best of both worlds, try Avis and their Prefered service. In airport AND no counter.

 

[erikthewise]

I have had four good experiences with National, so why change? I'd be willing to try Dollar or Hertz if they could beat National's rates, but it hasn't happened yet.

Actually I don't place a lot of emphasis on rates. The company's reputation, my experiences, and recommendations of others are more important. There are so many things that could go wrong with a car rental that are well worth paying an extra $50 or so to avoid.