National vs. Dollar

[vellamint]

Now I dont know what to do .... I currently am holding 2 reservations...one for each.....

I am NOT reading good things about National recently.

I was happy with Dollar in the past.

National is $100 cheaper than Dollar.

Help me someone!!!!!!

 

[MELSMICE]

Is National on-site or off? We always go with Dollar because it is on-site & more convenient. We tried a company that was off-site used the shuttle once. It was more of a hassle & took a lot of time. JMO.

 

[beattyfamily]

Wow, for me that would be a no-brainer! $100 cheaper?? That's wonderful!

We have always used National and have had NO problems whatsoever. In the end, they have always had the lowest price too!

I know it's hard when you are loyal to one company to try another but now is the time to do it if you are saving that much.

I know there was a "National Nightmare" thread going but many people here have had wonderful, stress-free experiences with National including me!

What kind of service do you have with National? Because depending on what kind of reservation you made with National, you may also be able to bypass the counter. With Emerald Club or even with Quick Rent.

Good luck!

 

[sgtdisney]

National is located at the airport like Dollar. I would definately go with National, especially if it is 100.00 cheaper. If you look hard enough you can find negative comments about all the Rental agencies. Every once in a while someone has a bad experience, I think it happens in any business. However for every bad experience posted here there are 100s of positive rentals that people didn't post about.

Personally, I have used National and Dollar a number of times and have never had a major issue with either.

 

[DebbieB]

Both are onsite. We were there last week and Dollar's counter had a huge line while National had none. I think this is because alot of National's customers are Emerald Club or Quick Rent and go straight to the garage. I've used National several times with no problems. On this trip, I got a surprise at the end, my bill was only $110 instead of $122 on my reservation (including tax). That was an incredible rate for a full size for a week (Disney Club, Entertainment coupon).

 

[zulaya]

I have used National 4 times in the past couple years - each time at MCO - and have had ZERO problems. I am an Emerald Club member so I just make my ressie, walk to the lot and pick out the car I want. The check out is simple.

Try to remember that the people who are on this board are in the minority in terms of the visitors to Orlando. If National wasn't a good company on the whole, they wouldn't be in business.

And for $100 cheaper! Even more reason. I have paid slightly more to go with National because I am treated with respect there. Other places I have had the high pressure insurance sales pitch and that makes me mad. I don't need that crap on vacation.

 

[EdDome]

I usually use Dollar but this trip I got a much better deal reserving with National. I've used National before, Emerald Club, and never had any problems. I'll have to admit I had some second thoughts when I read the comments about National.

 

[PugLover]

I almost always use Dollar. That being said yesterday I called both Dollar and National (I have never used National) for some quotes. For a mid-size car (Grand Prix or the like) for a full week - 09/07 - 09/14 Dollar wanted 406.00. That did include all taxes and fees and my AAA discount was applied. I was floored.

National gave me a rate of 186.00 (including taxes and fees), I can get my Delta miles and they let me combine my AAA discount with a coupon from my Entertainment Book. The phone rep was super nice.

We did reserve National, they didnt even require a credit card and the rate is good until 09/07. The rep said once we decide just to call back and give a credit card and they can referance it via our confirm number.

We want a car from a rental company right at the airport and this is by far the best price I could get. I plan to call every few weeks to see if I can get a better deal (at either National or Dollar) but for a mid-size I guess 26.57 per day is decent.

If you have some time like we do I would think waiting a few weeks and calling around again might be best. I think pre-Memorial Day all travel prices are inflated. The industry takes advantage of the people that are make last minute summer vacation plans and feel they have to pay premium dollar to get a car, hotel and/or airfare.

Also, I know there was some discussion on another thread. National said it would be 5.00 per day to add another driver. My husband is usually the driver in the family (I loathe it) so we will probably save ourselves the 35.00 and just make him the primary driver. We are renting the car mostly to go from resort to resort to eat. For the parks we most probably will use the resort bus but not 100% sure on that yet.

 

[TedL]

I just came back last Wednesday from WDW. I had two reservations, just like you. One for Alamo, the other for National($25.00 dollars more). When I retrieved the luggage and went down to get the rental car, there were about 40 people in the Alamo line and one person in the National line. It was worth the extra $25 to not wait in line. I had a Buick Century that was spotless. When returning to the airport on departure day, there again were about 40 people in the Alamo line and a couple in the National line.