National or Budget car rental?

[MrsMud]

Hi. I have been shopping around for the best price for a full size in Oct. I have tried all combinations of coupons/ codes with the exception of DC and Entertainment C, neither of which I am a member. So far Budget comes up the cheapest (not by much). I know everyone on these boards seems to love National. I am an Emerald club member, but will not be able to use Emerald Aisle for our Disney trip, as we are renting carseats. Is there any other reason to choose National? Has anyone used National counter service, how was it? How does it compare with Budget? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[sgtdisney]

If Budget is offering you a better price than National, I would take it. Both are located in the airport so you don't need to take a shuttle bus and from my experiences both of their counter level services are comparable. The big plus for National is the Emerald Aisle service. If you aren't or can't use it. Then National and Budget are very comparable.

 

[Ityldu]

I've used both and found them very comparable. My only word of warning is if you get a price on the internet, make sure you print it out and bring it with you. Two times they had me booked for triple the price I had online. Once I showed them the printout, they corrected it immediately.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I think that the Disney Club discounts have typically been the best deal for National. Sometimes, the discount for a single rental is sufficient to justify the annual membership fee ($30 or $40 depending on whether or not you qualify for a corporate discount). Right now, the DC discounts have been extended through 12/31/01: 1 free day with a 3-day or longer "weekend" rental (actually, a Sat night keep is required) and what is identified on the coupon as 10% on the base rate but which actually comes up with a 20% discount every time I use it. You do need the DC card and a copy of the "one-day" coupon when you go but this can be printed out at the DC web site. Another benefit of the DC membership is the discount on admissions media for the parks if you are buying multi-day (or annual) passes. For example, there is a 4% discount on the base price of a 4-day hopper and a 5% discount on the base price of an annual pass. This adds up quickly if you purchase a number of passes. We saved nearly $40 in these discounts alone, not to mention the car rental discounts (2 so far and at least 2 more before our membership year is up).

Ralph

 

[ballgame]

I have used both Budget and National and find them both to be fine companies. I actually normally use Budget, but they just couldn't beat National's price with the DC discount. Budget actually has a similar program to EA, called FastBreak (which I think is actually cheaper. One thing I have noticed however, is that National is more likely to "Nickel and dime" you, whereas Budget seems to be more easygoing.

 

[MrsMud]

Thanks everyone for your replies! Ballgame, I will check out Fastbreak. Thanks!