Rent via Costco or National executive

[Princess Disney Mom]

Hi,
I have a Costco rental for March and have been very happy with the rentals via Costco.

I just was able to get the Executive level with National via a credit card. I have never rented with National before.

Does anyone have experience with National executive to help me decide? They are both full size cars. National is $50 more but I do get to choose any executive car. Costco allows for a second driver free but the second person never drives.

Ideas?

 

[Bullseye]

I've never had Executive level, but there is usually some pretty nice cars there. I use National for business travel and I always get a very good rental. For a standard rental they have given me Jeeps, Mustangs, nice sedans, and even a pickup truck once. I'm using them in April for our WDW trip. They have been very accommodating.

National MCO Apr - 22

 

[sj3mark]

I also have Executive level with National and as a result pretty much exclusively rent with either Enterprise (since you can use your National account to earn credit and receive discounts with them) or National, depending on who's cheaper. I've never had an issue and for the most part have always gotten what I've paid for, most times, even more. I think the biggest benefit is being able to bypass the counter and walk straight to the garage. After you pick a vehicle from the Executive area, they verify your license and everything as you leave the garage. The last time I rented from MCO (in Sept.), they had a relatively large selection of full size cars, small SUVs, and even a couple large SUVs/minivans. In our instance, we booked a full size car and ended up picking a Toyota Rav4 (small SUV) for the same price. I'm not sure how long your rental period would be or what your plans are, but if it were me, I'd most likely be willing to spend the extra money to go with National.

 

[EACarlson]

Costco rental with which company? The National aisles are usually pretty well stocked and the Executive almost always has some very nice cars. The last few times I've rented from either Enterprise or National I've been able to walk straight to the garage, find a vehicle and take off immediately. That is worth something to me, how much, I'm not sure. I'd have to see what the price difference was before making that decision.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Alamo, Enterprise, and National are all part of the Enterprise group. Booking with Costco for Alamo or Enterprise gets you an Alamo or Enterprise confirmation code that you can associate with your Alamo or Enterprise affinity program to take advantage of those benefits. I usually choose Alamo when booking with Costco so I can use my Alamo Insider account to check in and skip the counter. This can be a similar benefit to the National Executive level if you are able to book the same level of vehicle. I would compare pricing on this basis if I wanted a particular size car/SUV/etc. My normal choice is a “full size” sedan (in rental car sizing, so usually a Toyota Camry or similar size car), soI don’t have any experience in upgrading above that level. I have heard that the National fleet tends to be newer/lower mileage than the Alamo fleet on average, but I have never had an Alamo car that I thought was not in good shape. In fact, the only time we ever had a problem with a rental car (defective windshield wipers; had to pull off the road until rain stopped, then drive back to airport to exchange car) was when I routinely rented from National using their Emerald Aisle. That was more than 20 years back, and fortunately never had a repeat of the experience.