Minivan rental from Dollar or Alamo?

[toystorymom]

This is our first time renting a car and I feel a little lost.

I was able to get a base price of $199 for a week in November from both Alamo and Dollar. Is this a good rate?

Also, which one would you go with? Any advantages to either Dollar or Alamo?

Thanks!

 

[HeatherC]

Hi - I don't have any experience with Alamo, but Dollar has been great for us. It is right in the airport...which means you take the escalator downstairs...check in at the counter...walk right out the door and there is the car!! Very easy to rent and return!!! We have always found a rate of $199 per week with Dollar. Check out Mousesavers.com for the list of current codes. But be sure to try them all as well as no code at all. I just used code DOL39 for November. HOpe this helps!

Happy planning!
Heather C

P.S. Plus both times we have gotten a Chrysler Town and Country with integrated car seats...just FYI ...and we didn't pay extra for it.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by toystorymom
This is our first time renting a car and I feel a little lost.

I was able to get a base price of $199 for a week in November from both Alamo and Dollar. Is this a good rate?

Also, which one would you go with? Any advantages to either Dollar or Alamo?

Thanks!

Both, IMHO, are good agencies. I just don't like the fact that Dollar puts a large hold on your credit card. It is the total amount plus 200.00. Alamo does not do this, they charge you the actual rental price at the time of rental. Both allow you to use a debit card with a visa/mc logo, BUT, Dollar does a credit check first, IMHO, that is none of their business. Alamo does not do a credit check.

Another option is to check National. They are running a similar rate (not sure when it expires) BUT, with National if you are a member of Sam's or BJ's and you have a coupon from them, you can combine their rate with someone else's coupon. It might save you some money if there is a coupon for a van.

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

I am facing this decision as well for our trip in December. My first choice is National because of the great way you can combine coupons etc. plus we are Emerald Club members which makes it that much easier to rent with them. However, I have not been able to come anywhere near the $199/wk price I have with both Alamo & Dollar. I do plan to keep on checking in hopes that I can get a similar rate with National but for now I am expecting it will be one of the other two. Luckily for our trip next May I have already secured a great rate on a minivan with National.

I think for us we may go with Alamo because we can select our own vehicle. I just prefer doing it this way as opposed to having the car assigned to you. I also like that Alamo does not put a big hold on your card (as Gail mentioned above) like Dollar does.

We have rented from Dollar in the past and I was happy enough with them especially since initially I could not match their price anywhere else I liked. But since we now have a choice, I think we will probably go with Alamo.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by akasleepingbeauty
I am facing this decision as well for our trip in December. My first choice is National because of the great way you can combine coupons etc. plus we are Emerald Club members which makes it that much easier to rent with them. However, I have not been able to come anywhere near the $199/wk price I have with both Alamo & Dollar. I do plan to keep on checking in hopes that I can get a similar rate with National but for now I am expecting it will be one of the other two. Luckily for our trip next May I have already secured a great rate on a minivan with National.

I think for us we may go with Alamo because we can select our own vehicle. I just prefer doing it this way as opposed to having the car assigned to you. I also like that Alamo does not put a big hold on your card (as Gail mentioned above) like Dollar does.

We have rented from Dollar in the past and I was happy enough with them especially since initially I could not match their price anywhere else I liked. But since we now have a choice, I think we will probably go with Alamo.

National has a rate of 209.00 per week expiring 12/15, you must pick it up Sun-Thurs to qualify. Not sure what your dates are, but, this might help.

 

[jcanary]

When we went down in July I had one reservation with Alamo and one with National. Well we picked out the car at the same place. They were different styles but same area. All of the markings are national/alamo. If you are getting a better rate at Alamo, why not take it? We had our choice of vans. We arrived at 11 am Wednesday and there were all types, including the large ones. We got a new Montana that sat 8. I would not fret with going with Alamo, the wait at counter may be long, but is 20 minutes worth the price difference?? that's up to you.

 

[toystorymom]

Thanks everyone. It seems I can't really go wrong with either of these companies. I think I will end up with Alamo. Being able to pick our own van is a definite plus. We're a family of 5 so a larger van would be great.

Gail - the National code just doesn't seem to work although our dates/times fit the criteria. The price there comes out to well over $500. Don't know if anyone else has had luck with it?

Thanks again for the input!

 

[nuthut]

The worst car rental company with the worst employees....

 

[mcnuss]

Be advised when using any rental company to look at both the general and specific policies before you decide. I just went and looked at Dollar (I am a pretty loyal Hertz girl, and a not-as-loyal Avis girl) bc these rates seemed much better than either of these companies. However, Dollar charges $5/day for your spouse or life partner to drive the car, neither Hertz nor Avis do this. On a week's rental, that fee ate up $35 of the $45 savings! I won't switch for $10!

 

[dorisdvu]

I reserved my mini van rental (UNLIMITED MILES) through Starwood Vacations (Budget) from 3-20-04 - 3-27-04 for $369.99 + surcharges & tax. The quote from Hertz was $450 with 700 free miles $.29 per extra mile. I looked at Avis, Dollar and others and didn't see any better deal.

 

[jcanary]

don't know when nuthut was there, but we were there last month and they were great. We rented a van from alamo and a convertible(convertible was only one day) from National and both were good. I am not sure if Alamo could see that I was an Emerald club member for National but I had my pick of the litter. We had to wait in line for alamo but the rate and vans that we got were worth it. When it got busy, the national counter was also taking the alamo people and all of their uniforms say alamo/national. So keep that in mind, if you liked National before you will probably be dealing with the same people you did before if you use alamo.
And BTW there was no charge for spouse to drive and unlimited mileage.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by jcanary
don't know when nuthut was there, but we were there last month and they were great. We rented a van from alamo and a convertible(convertible was only one day) from National and both were good. I am not sure if Alamo could see that I was an Emerald club member for National but I had my pick of the litter. We had to wait in line for alamo but the rate and vans that we got were worth it. When it got busy, the national counter was also taking the alamo people and all of their uniforms say alamo/national. So keep that in mind, if you liked National before you will probably be dealing with the same people you did before if you use alamo.
And BTW there was no charge for spouse to drive and unlimited mileage.

I like Alamo also and have never really had a problem with them (at least none to rant about constantly).