Rate the car rental companies

[diskids2]

We have never rented a car during any one of our 5 trips to WDW. This time we are thinking of doing so because of two off site trips (Universal and Kennedy). In terms of SERVICE ONLY, please rate the car rental companies you have used in the past on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 being extremely poor I would never use them again even if it were for free and 5 being I would pay just about anything to rent from them again. They were terrific.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[diskids2]

 

[crazyforpooh]

 

[dvc_john]

Just my own opinion:

National: 5 on-site and good prices
Hertz: 4 off-site but not too far, always have shuttles waiting
Alamo: 2 way off-site, crowded buses, long lines, if you use them, get their quicksilver (is that the name??) card

 

[Disnydad]

Alamo is offsite, used twice......Never again. 1
Hertz is offsite, used twice.......No more, hate the bus ride and lines. 3
National is onsite, used twice......would use again. 5
Budget is onsite, used once......would use again. 5
Dollar is onsite, used once......would use again. 5

Basically we use the low bid from an onsite agency now.

 

[gm]

AVIS is best. No long lines and amounts on discounts match by the penny and easy checkout and friendly service and upgrades.

ALAMO-long lines and out of the airport.

NATIONAL- A lot of errors on billing.

 

[n2mm]

We only use Dollar and National (both in the terminal). We have had great service from both, so no need to look at any of the others.

 

[AllanJ]

Strangely ehough I would give Alamo in Orlando a 4 based on my experiences so far. I have rented in Orlando four times from four different agencies and they all seemed about the same, National was the only one I used with in-airport pickup so they get an extra point, makes 5, for that.

The longest wait I suffered was from Dollar (Hilo, HI), one and a half hours to register for a car at the airport counter and then take the shuttle to the headquarters and lot. I forgot to try to take the shuttle first and see if there was a shorter line at the headquarters counter.

More Disney tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

9/65 Disneyland
3/75 (World Inn* off I4 near DD)
4/85 (Kon-Tiki* on 192)
'80s Disneyland once or twice
7/94 PORiv (DxL)
9/97 ASMu
11/98 ASMu
12/98 (Knights Inn on 192)
9/99 ASMo
12/00 ASSp
11/01 ASSp planned
*no longer exists

 

[Beverly Lynn]

I have rented from alamo over 13 times and have never had any problems and they are no further off site than hertz is. they are pretty much right next to each other.

I have used national once now and I did have a problem returning the vehicle in they didn;'t want to give me credit for the coupon I used even thos they accepted it at tiem of rental but it was easily fixed in 5 min.

used budget once last may and they had run of our pickups and they upgraded me to an explorer for nothing!

I have a rental with national in august and Ihope its an easy experience and in sep I have a rental with dollar since they gave the best price. I would have no problems using any of these. I did like the convenience of the EA with national....now fi they could just work out thr quirks.......

 

[diskids2]

Thank you all so much for this information it is going to very useful in making our decision!

 

[dvc_john]

Don't mean to nitpick Beverly Lynn, but Alamo and Hertz are NOT 'pretty much next to each other'. Alamo is at least 4 to 5 miles east of Hertz on the Beeline.

 

[tinaluis]

We have only used Alamo (5 trips) and have only had a long wait (45mins.) once during President's Week. All other times it was a breeze. Their rates are SO much lower than the others that they've earned our business even if it means an occasional long line. Because we have small children and a lot of luggage (and other vacationers are very pushy at the shuttle bus line) we rent a luggage cart and I wait at the airport with luggage and one DD while my DH takes the other DD with him on the bus, gets the car and returns to the airport to pick us (and luggage) up. The shuttle bus drivers are more than happy to help with the luggage, but I don't feel it's worth it to be trampled by the others waiting for the shuttle.

 

[Jeff Schramm]

I always use Avis because it's at the airport and I have a Preferred membership, so I never have to go to the counter. The car is always ready & waiting and clean. I once got a two-class upgrade because they were out of the class I rented.

I book online through their website and check the rate often. I cancel and rebook whenever the rate drops.

 

[loveswdw]

I would give Alamo a total 0. They are the worst rental company we've dealt with anywhere. Waited over 2 hours & computers went down. Customer Service guy was totally rude & overcharged us tremendously. $400 for a 4-door Chevy Cavalier that we drove for 100 miles total. My husband demanded money back when we turned in the car & they gave us half back. I would never ever rent from them again.

We used Dollar last time & I would give them a 5. No waiting. We had a free upgrade coupon but no cars were available (compact to intermediate). They offered us a full size for half price. We took it & ended up with a brand new Chrysler Concorde (which is now ranked in the premium class). We walked to the lot, got in our car and drove away! Needless to say we have already made our reservations w/Dollar for our trip in Nov. $129 a week for full size. I didn't think that was bad at all.