Recent Thrifty/Dollar MCO pickup experiences

[Pinnochio]

Sorry! Walked straight to the garage and my name was on the board - same as always!

glad to hear this....thanks for the post!

 

[Song of the South]

YES! In June we rented through the Dollar website and were sent back to the line inside. Had I not prepaid I would have absolutely not have stood in the line. We were told that was a permanent change for Dollar. That, as of May, all customers have to go inside to the line.
It stinks.
SotS

 

[snowwite]

Just curious if anybody has rented a car from Thrifty or Dollar in the last 2 months and what is the pickup experience for Blue Chip or Dollar Express? We got so used to going to the outdoor garage counter for Thrifty/Dollar but back in May they sent us inside, into the long long long and slow terminal line with everybody else and it was HORRIBLE. I vowed never again but I'm wondering if anybody has been in the last few weeks/months and has been able to do the garage counter for either of these companies. If they are still sending you inside the terminal, giving no advantage at all to their Blue Chip or Express members, then I'm going to use Alamo which does have skip the line, even though it will cost me more.

This has happened to us twice with Dollar. We are trying Budget this time.

 

[snowwite]

YES! In June we rented through the Dollar website and were sent back to the line inside. Had I not prepaid I would have absolutely not have stood in the line. We were told that was a permanent change for Dollar. That, as of May, all customers have to go inside to the line.
It stinks.
SotS

Oh that stinks

 

[EACarlson]

This has happened to us twice with Dollar. We are trying Budget this time.

You might want to rethink that. Many reports of Budget doing the same thing. They no longer have the contracts in the garage, everyone has to get them from the counter.

 

[Pinnochio]

YES! In June we rented through the Dollar website and were sent back to the line inside. Had I not prepaid I would have absolutely not have stood in the line. We were told that was a permanent change for Dollar. That, as of May, all customers have to go inside to the line.
It stinks.
SotS

 

[Pinnochio]

I have a full size SUV rented from 10/28 - 11/3 with Dollar....reading how i can't use Express anymore makes me want to switch but i have a $353 tax and all total that can't be beat so i guess it's off to the Counter for me ....argh!

 

[kittylady1972]

This has happened to us twice with Dollar. We are trying Budget this time.

Oh Budget was the WORST for us the one time we used them but we used a pre-paid reservation and they wouldn't let me add our Budget FastBreak to the reservation. Good luck!

I have a full size SUV rented from 10/28 - 11/3 with Dollar....reading how i can't use Express anymore makes me want to switch but i have a $353 tax and all total that can't be beat so i guess it's off to the Counter for me ....argh!

Yeah I'm all about the savings but that time in the airport is just a no bueno for me as I want to get my vacation started as soon as I step off the plane! Good luck!

 

[snowwite]

Oh Budget was the WORST for us the one time we used them but we used a pre-paid reservation and they wouldn't let me add our Budget FastBreak to the reservation. Good luck!





Yeah I'm all about the savings but that time in the airport is just a no bueno for me as I want to get my vacation started as soon as I step off the plane! Good luck!

Oh no! We booked it with fast break

 

[snowwite]

You might want to rethink that. Many reports of Budget doing the same thing. They no longer have the contracts in the garage, everyone has to get them from the counter.

Unfortunately hubs already paid

 

[kittylady1972]

I've stalked my Alamo rental for October down a little more using some of their discount codes. So far for my Wed to Mon rental I have a Compact SUV down to $385 and a 7 passenger crossover down to $460. It's not the greatest rate but it's down from over $500 at some point. The skip the counter option is just worth it for us, especially with an arrival after 10pm.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Just back. Did a 4-day rental from Thrifty with a manager’s special because I was really going for price and this was the cheapest on-site option (and all the off site reviews scared me). Arrived sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. Even that late there were 5 or 6 agents between Dollar and Thrifty, so the line moved reasonably quickly. Waited maybe 15 minutes for my turn at the counter.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just back. Did a 4-day rental from Thrifty with a manager’s special because I was really going for price and this was the cheapest on-site option (and all the off site reviews scared me). Arrived sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. Even that late there were 5 or 6 agents between Dollar and Thrifty, so the line moved reasonably quickly. Waited maybe 15 minutes for my turn at the counter.

Thanks for the report back...this gives some others here hope that that indoor terminal line isn't ALWAYS bad. I still prefer the convenience of the outdoor garage and am willing to pay a little more for that.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Just got back from a trip. Have previously rented with Dollar, have an express ID, so they have our info in their system. Did the early check-in. Still had to go to the regular counter in the terminal. The line was very short, but it was still annoying that they are advertising that you can "skip the counter" with express when you in fact cannot skip the counter.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just got back from a trip. Have previously rented with Dollar, have an express ID, so they have our info in their system. Did the early check-in. Still had to go to the regular counter in the terminal. The line was very short, but it was still annoying that they are advertising that you can "skip the counter" with express when you in fact cannot skip the counter.

Do they at least have a different lane inside for the Dollar Express people? I seemed to see they had something for Thrifty people, but they weren't using it at all. That may take some of the sting away if they gave you SOME kind of advantage.

 

[Pinnochio]

Yeah I'm all about the savings but that time in the airport is just a no bueno for me as I want to get my vacation started as soon as I step off the plane! Good luck!

I hear ya....hope i don't regret it...i'll let you know....

 

[Pinnochio]

Just back. Did a 4-day rental from Thrifty with a manager’s special because I was really going for price and this was the cheapest on-site option (and all the off site reviews scared me). Arrived sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. Even that late there were 5 or 6 agents between Dollar and Thrifty, so the line moved reasonably quickly. Waited maybe 15 minutes for my turn at the counter.

Yes!!!!!!.....hope i have the same luck!

 

[Pinnochio]

Do they at least have a different lane inside for the Dollar Express people? I seemed to see they had something for Thrifty people, but they weren't using it at all. That may take some of the sting away if they gave you SOME kind of advantage.

i'll check....i'll be there on the 28th....

 

[ClapYourHands]

Do they at least have a different lane inside for the Dollar Express people? I seemed to see they had something for Thrifty people, but they weren't using it at all. That may take some of the sting away if they gave you SOME kind of advantage.

Last week there was only one line that fed into both the Dollar and Thrifty counters. No special line at either. But this was a Thursday at nearly 11pm, so maybe they have something to expedite the process at times that are expected to be busier.

 

[Syndrome]

This might be a Dollar / Thrifty changeover company wide . Had a recent Dollar rental in Nashville (BNA) , and since I am a Dollar express member , naturally I walked straight out to the garage . It was a HAUL , if anyone knows BNA . Arrived to the garage only to find the Dollar Booth , and the Thrifty booth , completely closed / shut down , and look they have been for quite some time . Went over to Hertz for some help (parent company for Dollar and Thrifty) , and the agent let me wait in the pretty long garage booth line at the Hertz booth. They got me all set-up after about a 1/2 hour wait , but at least I didnt have to walk back to the terminal Dollar booth (might have been faster to just wait in the Dollar line had I known the garage booth was closed) . There were NO signs saying the garage booths were closed, btw.
Have another Dollar rental Thursday , but this time its in Sanford so I am not too worried about that one (small airport compared to MCO ) . There is no Express , lol . So will keep the reservation .
Dollar has always been great for us , but now I am not so sure. I like being able to walk out to the garage and pick our own car . If thats not a thing anymore , might have to switch rental companies.
Matter of fact , we have a trip to Disneyland in January , and have an Alamo reservation at LAX now because of this .