Emerald Aisle-Better in AM or Late Afternoon?????

[pixie dust gal!]

Does anyone know if it is to our advatange to p/u a car at 5pm or 11am? We are looking for a good time where the selection is best?

Any ideas/strategies?

Thanks!

 

[mi2kdz]

I'd like to know this also. My flight doesn't arrive until 5:40pm, just wondering if the Emerald Aisle will be empty.

 

[BigDave]

I am no expert, but I would think it all depends on what day of the week you are travelling and what time of year.

We arrived at 5 pm on a Saturday at the end of February and there really weren't lots of cars to choose from.

When we returned our car the following Saturday, the person at the counter said that hundreds of cars were being turned in that morning.

Glad to see you posting again pixie dust gal. With your help last year we became Emerald club members and paid $132 for a cadillac for a week!!

BigDave

 

[RLMS56]

I picked up our car the day before Good Friday around 5pm and they barely had any cars left. However, my teenaged son spotted a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero XL which we drove away in!

 

[pixie dust gal!]

Big Dave - That was a great deal( luxury car for $132) last year, wasn't it? I am glad it worked out and am honored that you remembered all that!

I can just see me hanging around the garage waiting for a car................. kind of defeats the whole Emerald Aisle benefit, doesn't it?

Anyone else have any experience with this lately?

 

[pbhunt]

April 28, 5PM. NO CARS. The were ONLY 2 Intermediates on the aisle. National said they had no other cars to bring. They offered an SUV and we accepted. I would recommend an AM arrival for more choices if you have that option.

 

[FriendsOfEeyore]

We are arriving this coming Saturday and have a FS EC ressie. Our plane gets in at 11:30am. I am hoping for a LARGE selection. We are not exactly sure what we want, but this is our 1st EC ressie, will make the Pick of the Aisle. (Secretly hoping for either a caddy or a convertible)

I will report back as to what was available when we return (Sun, May 20th)

 

[pbhunt]

There were no cars on the aisle, and the National Rep. offered an SUV; We told her we would prefer a convertible, she wouldn't go for it, and was pretty firm about the SUV offer. The Mitsubishi Spyder was out for service anyway (Tag on steering wheel). We chose a Montero Sport SUV. It turns out the convertible would have been a poor choice anyway, lovebugs are swarming, scattered showers every day, and it poured down rain all afternoon/evening on May 3 (Bad for vacation, Good for Florida).

 

[pixie dust gal!]

Gee, this is not looking good for us is it? Don't have a choice any longer as earlier flight sold out.

I will go and change my ressies to Full size so that we can at least all fit into the vehicle w/ luggage.

Thank you all for forecast. Very dissapointing!

 

[mi2kdz]

I changed my reservation to a full size from an intermediate for the exact same reason. Guess what? The price was only $5.00 more. Well worth it. I used the dc coupons. Total for a EA full size was $137.90 for the week!

 

[TinkerbellTracy]

We arrived 4/27 10 a.m. all that was on EA Full size was 3 Pont Grand Prix, which is the same as one of our cars at home, so slightly dissapointed. Asked if we could take a Caddy or a Minivan and they told us no-we had to take a Grand Prix. Going again in Dec. and will need a Van or a Larger car like a Bonneville/Cad. Is there a special way to make sure you can get one--do you pay more than full size?

By the way we had mega problems turning in our car at National EA. They kept charging me more than my reservation and I had to argue with them to get my rate--also no one outside had to go inside--almost missed our flight

 

[mi2kdz]

I just called National and asked the representative this question. He told me that if they change the cars out the way they are suppose to, that is, bring in a new fleet at 5:00pm, we late comers should get a good selection. Also don't trust your confirmation from the computer, call them to find out exactly what their computer says the bottom line is. I have done this twice now and neither time did my total estimate match theirs. Mine was lower. I just faxed a copy of my confirmation to them and they should be getting back to me about it. I will let you know what happens.

 

[CarolA]

If you must have a Caddy and/or a minivan please be sure to reserve the car class you need. There is NO gurantee that these will be on the aisle and National will NOT have to give you one. They only have to give you your car class or the next avaiable car class. For example if you rent a midsize they can give you a midsize or any other car except a compact.

Usually the coupons for upgrades are also based on having cars available so if you go sometime like President's Day weekend you might not get your upgrade.

It really worries me to hear about people who reserve a EA car when they need a mini van. You may get lucky, but you are playing russian roulette with your car!

 

[pixie dust gal!]

TinkTracy,

We actually got a caddy by booking one at the WDW Car Care Center. I play with the codes at both places to see which come up better. They do not have EA service there, just counter service, but you still get an EA discount in addition to coupons, etc. It was actually cheaper to book a luxury car than an intermediate there, at that time. I shared this with others on this board and several people jumped right on it too - Big Dave being one of them.

CarolA is right, though, if you NEED a big car/van, then book it! Don't leave it to luck - it will ruin the beginning of your vacation. Make a ressie with the minimum you can live with full size or better and then the rest will be a BONUS.

Try playing with the p/u location codes. You can still drop it off at the airport w/ no additional charges.

Hope this helps.

 

[woody62798]

For those of you who have gone, can you please clear something up for me?

When I go to the National WEB page to make a res/get a quote, the site alwasy says that Emerald Choice is not available, but Emerald Aisle or counter service is? I get this when I select the airport as the PU/drop off location.

For those who have used the CAr Care center.... how do you get there to pick up a car?

Thanks

 

[pats]

if you just tried this today, that may be teh problem. It happened to me earlier tonight and then there site went down for repair. I would go on and try it again and see. It just worked for me with the Ea.