Horrendous lines at Alamo?

[luvmick]

We have a car booked at Alamo on March 16th. We usually do Nationlal with emerald club,but they were to expensive this trip and we got a pretty good deal with Alamo. I am afraid of the lines at the counter though,I heard that they can be bad. We have to go to the counter because we have a coupon. Anyone have any recent experiances with the counters at Alamo? TIA

 

[karrit2000]

Just imagine you are waiting in line for your favorite ride. I've never found the Alamo lines to be that horrible since the moved into the airport but there are certain times they get more crowded. Some people just don't like to wait.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Enroll in the Quick Silver program, you should be able to use a kiosk in the garage from what I have read here.

 

[KerriMc]

We waited an hour and a half when we used them in Feb.2004. They only had two people working ... and we ended up with a pushy woman who sold us ALL the insurance ... we ended up getting it refunded after a letter to Alamo ... but she was sure darn insistent and with an almost 3 yr old getting restless and an 8 mos old wanting to nurse, we were a little harried to say the least. We both had to be in line because we were both drivers. My parents were trying to look after them, but after an hour they basically lost it We kept wondering why there weren't any line-ups anywhere else ... so we tried National last year and we waited about five minutes. Much better, although I hear it is hit and miss depending on time of year, etc.
Good luck ...
Kerri

 

[mareed]

We're members of pretty much every rental car company, but my Mom isn't and she had to get a car last Thanksgiving. I made reservations at both Alamo & National, and didn't have to leave a credit card # since she wasn't a member. National was slightly more. When we saw HUGE lines at Alamo and obviously unhappy people at the counter, we gladly paid the extra and went on over to National where we were helped right away.

Good luck if you stick with Alamo. I think they're now the "official" car rental company with Disney, so they're just more crowded. We have rented from them ourselves and have been able to go to the desk outside since we're members, and also used a coupon and it's been pretty quick.

 

[n2mm]

We just used Alamo LAST WEEK for our Feb. 2-10 vacation. We arrived at 3:30PM, picked up our luggage and went downstairs (expecting the worse), and to my surprise there were about 5 people in line. It took us exactly 10 minutes to go from the back of the line to the counter and on our way to the garage. We were pleasantly surprised, because we had heard all of the "last year when I rented...comments". There were about 8 stations open and people where moving people very quickly. We too signed up for QS, but since it was the first time using it, we had to go to the counter to sign our contract agreement in person. We plan to use them in April. Until our trip last week, we were diehard National Executive Aisle members and used only National. Considering you had to rent from National 40 days a year in order to be at the Executive level--we have been at that level for 2 years, so we used National alot. We are not happy with their new website and their new extremely high prices. We were very pleased with Alamo last week. Drop off is even easier, since the Alamo and National drops are combined, so that part is very familiar.

 

[mattman2k]

Can't you use the online check-in and go right to the garage and pick out your car? I know this doesn't work if you're using coupons but sounds to me to be well worth a $25 coupon. Anyone with experience doing this?

 

[twinmomto3boys]

We checked in online - I think we did it right before we left for the airport. We arrived at MCO, got our bags and went straight to the garage. All of the minivans had keys in them. You choose which one you want and leave! They check your paperwork on the way out. The only line I could think of that would be possibly be long is the line to leave the garage, but in our case there was not. This was Thanksgiving Day 2005. Good luck.

 

[betterlatethannever]

... We too signed up for QS, but since it was the first time using it, we had to go to the counter to sign our contract agreement in person. ...

Is that right?

I learn something new every day. I am a member of many car rental company programs, but I never had togo to the counter even the first time.

Ed

 

[Chuck S]

I used QS for the first time in December with no problem, I didn't have to sign the contract "in person" at the main counter. They mailed it to me, and I returned it by mail. I was able to bypass the main counter and go directly to the garage counter, even with a coupon. Prior to that I had always used National EA.

 

[MrsNick]

Hi, wondering how you sign up for Quick Silver? Thanks, from a rookie

 

[Figment1964]

Hi, wondering how you sign up for Quick Silver? Thanks, from a rookie

Click on "Membership" on the www.alamo.com site. It'll give you a place to "Sign Me Up Now".

 

[TDC Nala]

This was not exactly recent, but the one time I ever rented from Alamo in Orlando, the time I spent in line there was longer than my flight.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Was that at the airport, or was it before they merged with National and moved onsite? Or am I thinking of an entirely different city?

 

[momrek06]

Click on "Membership" on the www.alamo.com site. It'll give you a place to "Sign Me Up Now".

Sign up for it NOW!! They will EMAIL you a *********** #! Use that on your current ressie by going online and hitting MODIFY RESERVATION! It you get a better price AWESOME, if not then you will just keep the current ressie you have!! Go onto MOUSESAVERS.COM and look for Transportation. They will list numerous ID and RATE coupons for ALAMO under Car Rentals. Fool around with all of them. Before you even start, COPY your current ressie IN CASE anything happens to your ressie online while you are fooling around you will still have a copy of it. ALSO, I noticed you are going in March. Most likely you will not have your official *********** card by the time you leave. Copy the Alamo letter stating you are not a *********** member. They asked for my letter as I signed up right before we left. I got FABULOUS discounts with the coupons/codes/rates from Mousesavers. GOOD LUCK. It does work.

 

[n2mm]

I used QS for the first time in December with no problem, I didn't have to sign the contract "in person" at the main counter. They mailed it to me, and I returned it by mail. I was able to bypass the main counter and go directly to the garage counter, even with a coupon. Prior to that I had always used National EA.

I registered for QS the NIGHT BEFORE my flight, so I didn't have time to get the mailed contract first. When we returned, the paperwork was at home waiting for me (so I signed that one too and faxed it in).

 

[In a hurry]

Alamo is evil. Horrid line, rude counter person, high preasure, threw map at us when we wouldn't buy all of the extra insurance with threat of exagerated costs if "anything" happens to the car.

I won't priceline again even though I had an awesome rate for dread of Alamo.

 

[TDC Nala]

Was that at the airport, or was it before they merged with National and moved onsite? Or am I thinking of an entirely different city?

They were at the airport. I have a two hour flight from DC. I was in the Alamo airport line for two hours and fifteen minutes. I know it's not always going to be like that...but I have not rented from Alamo again.

 

[wdwfan1]

The last time I used Alamo, we were also in the line longer than our flight from NY. It was well after midnight--the hotel called my home to see if we were coming!

I cant believe I am trying them again for my upcoming trip.

 

[wdwfan1]

How long does it take to get your email regarding Q.S.? Thanks.