What is on National's Emerald Aisle? *2011*

[bumbershoot]

The bolded line concerns me. We have a mid sized SUV reserved for this Tuesday and it seems that people have been reporting that there have not been any SUVs on the EA. If there aren't any mid sized SUVs, are they going to try to stick us with a full size?

If you reserved a SUV, don't go to the regular Emerald Aisle. Go straight to the SUV aisle.

Exactly. Reserving a "mid-size" and getting Emerald Aisle refers to reserving a mid-size CAR and either getting that or whatever else above that that they have in the EA area.

If you've specifically reserved that mid-sized SUV, that's completely different. Don't go to the EA at all. Wrong spot for you.



ETA, I noticed cinmell's post from page 14, using the phrase "EA member". We're Emerald CLUB members, and by renting a mid-size from certain airports, we become eligible for Emerald Aisle service (which means picking out whatever car is on the Emerald Aisle). They must have taken their naming scheme from Disney, since they made it so much more complicated than they should have....

 

[cinmell]

Exactly. Reserving a "mid-size" and getting Emerald Aisle refers to reserving a mid-size CAR and either getting that or whatever else above that that they have in the EA area.

If you've specifically reserved that mid-sized SUV, that's completely different. Don't go to the EA at all. Wrong spot for you.



ETA, I noticed cinmell's post from page 14, using the phrase "EA member". We're Emerald CLUB members, and by renting a mid-size from certain airports, we become eligible for Emerald Aisle service (which means picking out whatever car is on the Emerald Aisle). They must have taken their naming scheme from Disney, since they made it so much more complicated than they should have....

I just double checked. My membership card says National Emerald Club member. On the back is says this card entitles the user exclusive access to the Emerald Club Aisle.
The level of service listed on my reservation is Emerald Reserve.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Just a heads up to check your rates...we are going weds and I just checked the last minute specials and scored big time! A midsize plus a $35 coupon code from mousesavers brought my car down to $119.68. Hopefully there will be a minivan, but if not, oh well, it's still a good price.

 

[vandort]

What are the standard size vehicles at National/Alamo? They are suppose to be bigger than a mid-size but smaller than a fullize.

Thanks!

 

[keishashadow]

n2mm;42320390 congratsgreat to hear! We always feel it's worth spending a bit extra in MCO as the service is so swift and polite w/National (although it's difficult to justify when the price difference is near $100 for a week!)

Nice to see they stepped up for you, even though we had asked ExA attendent end of July re possiblity of securing a van or SUV re luggage issues but told none available. I'm going to try again in October, maybe i'll get lucky too. enjoy ur trip

bumbershoot i've seen EA & ExA here but I believe the following is current info

Emerald Club is the basic level for people who rent 1-11 times or 1-39 days in a calendar year.
Executive is the "mid tier" for people who rent 12-24 times or 40-84 days in a calendar year.
Executive Elite is the "top tier" for people who rent 25+ times or 85+ days in a calendar year.


EC - Emerald Club
CE - Emerald Club Executive
EE - Executive Elite

I'm told there's a VIP status by invitation only, sure wouldn't apply to my family as we struggle to maintain the executive status that was bestowed upon us via promotion a few years ago.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think I'm being misunderstood. The other person posted that she's an Emerald Aisle Member on page 14. I'm saying that being Emerald Club member gives access to the Aisle (and if you are beyond the basic level, then you get access to more). That there's no such thing as Emerald Aisle *member*.

Her reservation is Emerald Reserve, so she doesn't need to worry about the EA, because that's not where she's going. So this whole thread isn't relevant to her b/c it's all about the Emerald Aisle.

I was just trying to help ease confusion, not cause more of it.

 

[keishashadow]

lol we should all be on the same aisle now

 

[corster]

What are the standard size vehicles at National/Alamo? They are suppose to be bigger than a mid-size but smaller than a fullize.

Thanks!

Ford Fusion, VW Jetta, Chevy Malibu, iirc.

 

[disneymom1]

Arrived at 3:00 pm on 8/14. Went to A side. Nothing but Sedans. 1 Sonata, 2 Malibus, 2 small volvos (with very small back seat) and about 8 or 10 Impalas.

Executive Aisle had nothing but sedans as well. Lots of Camrys and several other models, but definately all sedans.

 

[n2mm]

Arrived at 3:00 pm on 8/14. Went to A side. Nothing but Sedans. 1 Sonata, 2 Malibus, 2 small volvos (with very small back seat) and about 8 or 10 Impalas.

Executive Aisle had nothing but sedans as well. Lots of Camrys and several other models, but definately all sedans.

That sounds like what we found on Side A on 8/12 @ 6:30PM. Also took a peek on 8/19 @ noon on Side A and saw the same set-up. I never made it to Side B, so don't know if that was any different.

 

[gmeh1]

You will normally find cars with less than 20,000 miles on the Emerald Green aisle. You will find: camry, impala, and most full size cars. We sometimes put mini vans on the aisle and some SUV's. We NEVER put convertables there.
Emerald Gray(executive level) will produce cars with under 20,000 miles and they can consist of Impalas of a higher model (ie with spoilers on them) maximas and similar. Never convertables.
A side has more cars, B side is smaller, but the same system is followed on both sides.

You will always get at least a midsize car on Emerald Green and a full size on Emerald Gray (executive).

 

[n2mm]

You will normally find cars with less than 20,000 miles on the Emerald Green aisle. You will find: camry, impala, and most full size cars. We sometimes put mini vans on the aisle and some SUV's. We NEVER put convertables there.
Emerald Gray(executive level) will produce cars with under 20,000 miles and they can consist of Impalas of a higher model (ie with spoilers on them) maximas and similar. Never convertables.
A side has more cars, B side is smaller, but the same system is followed on both sides.

You will always get at least a midsize car on Emerald Green and a full size on Emerald Gray (executive).

Great info! We had a Suburban last week with lots of bells and whistles and only 5000 miles on it. It was a great vehicle! We are Executive Aisle members!

 

[gmeh1]

Great info! We had a Suburban last week with lots of bells and whistles and only 5000 miles on it. It was a great vehicle! We are Executive Aisle members!

We do try to keep our Emerald Club, Green or gray, members happy!!!

Just wait to see how happy you will be when you hit "VIP" level.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

You will normally find cars with less than 20,000 miles on the Emerald Green aisle. You will find: camry, impala, and most full size cars. We sometimes put mini vans on the aisle and some SUV's. We NEVER put convertables there.
Emerald Gray(executive level) will produce cars with under 20,000 miles and they can consist of Impalas of a higher model (ie with spoilers on them) maximas and similar. Never convertables.
A side has more cars, B side is smaller, but the same system is followed on both sides.

You will always get at least a midsize car on Emerald Green and a full size on Emerald Gray (executive).

Ooh for the old days . . . . . I rent a vw bug convertible. On EA about 3 yrs ago &h it was not the only one sitting there. When I took it.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

You will normally find cars with less than 20,000 miles on the Emerald Green aisle. You will find: camry, impala, and most full size cars. We sometimes put mini vans on the aisle and some SUV's. We NEVER put convertables there.
Emerald Gray(executive level) will produce cars with under 20,000 miles and they can consist of Impalas of a higher model (ie with spoilers on them) maximas and similar. Never convertables.
A side has more cars, B side is smaller, but the same system is followed on both sides.

You will always get at least a midsize car on Emerald Green and a full size on Emerald Gray (executive).

A couple of things from a National Executive level

"normally" is the key word. (AKA as "well we were out of low mileage cars so we put the 50K one on the aisle)

"Never convertibles" ummm... well I have gotten them off the Executive at Orlando so "never say never"

And remember YOUR idea of a Full size and National's idea are NOT always in agreement. Rental car companies, as a general rule, tend to scale up a little from the general public's view (Malibu is a prime example!)

(And while I don't doubt this staff member is trying to keep the customer happy, some of us are not so sure about National as whole )

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

DH and I split up to cover both A and B side upon arrival shortly after 4:30pm. On A-side I found a jam-packed EA; many full size, 2 Town&Country vans, a few mid-size SUV's. On B side DH also found many full size and a few mid-size SUVs. However, he arrived just in time to see a family pull out of EA in a Chevy Traverse. Nicely he asked the attendant if there were any more of those. The attendant said no, but he could choose any mini-van he liked. He quickly called me to come meet him on the B-side so we could leave in our fully loaded (leather, satelite radio, etc) Town&Country.

Mind you, this was a Wednesday early evening AND I am obligated to state not necessarily a common occurance.

That said... our vacation started with a bang! Couldn't have been happier. We rented, expecting to only get mid-sized. We needed a car to get DH from WDW to Tampa for Pat's game on 8/18; and we like having wheels at our disposal. We never expected to get a vehicle that could accommodate all 6 of us; but we enjoyed it nonetheless. I should mention the car wasn't cleaned well before being put on the aisle. It had just under 10K miles on it.

Since we expected to have to split up (some drive and some do DME), DH and middle DD went and boarded the bus so that we wouldn't experience an issue with expecting only luggage transfer. Fortunately our luck continued; they arrived at CSR at the exact time we did in the rental.

Upon return yesterday (8/25) at 5pm, I only noticed sedans on the aisle A-side but there were full-size available.

Good luck to all arriving in the near future. I hope your luck is as good as ours!

 

[lawgs]

We do try to keep our Emerald Club, Green or gray, members happy!!!

Just wait to see how happy you will be when you hit "VIP" level.

how happy will we be ( not with norfolk and its emerald booth and less than cared for autos ...full size listed as malibu....???), but we are on track to reach this level this year

smilawgs

 

[gmeh1]

A couple of things from a National Executive level

"normally" is the key word. (AKA as "well we were out of low mileage cars so we put the 50K one on the aisle)

"Never convertibles" ummm... well I have gotten them off the Executive at Orlando so "never say never"

And remember YOUR idea of a Full size and National's idea are NOT always in agreement. Rental car companies, as a general rule, tend to scale up a little from the general public's view (Malibu is a prime example!)

(And while I don't doubt this staff member is trying to keep the customer happy, some of us are not so sure about National as whole )

You are right, I should never say never. But, when I am assigning cars "B" side, I am told NEVER convertables for either "Green or Gray". Also, we are very very diligent about the 20K rule. I know before Enterprise took over, that rule was not really enforced and you could find convertables and there was only one Emerald Aisle, not two.
You are SOOOOOOOOO right about what my idea of full size and what car companies ideas are. I was told that they go by luggage capacity, which makes NO sense to me at all. IE: Volkswagon beetle on Mid size aisle. At any rate, I do try to make the customer happy and I do find the "game plan" from day to day very confusing and sometimes downright frustrating.

 

[gmeh1]

how happy will we be ( not with norfolk and its emerald booth and less than cared for autos ...full size listed as malibu....???), but we are on track to reach this level this year

smilawgs

Malibu's can be considered full size, they have the same seating and luggage capacity of an Impala. They can also be considered a Standard Car.

VIP level is by invitation only. It comes after Executive Elite level-25(or 85 paid rental days) rentals in one year. I am sure when you get your invitation you will be well pleased.

I cannot speak for Norfolk's vehicles, I just know that in Orlando they are serviced regularly and maintained well.

 

[lawgs]

Malibu's can be considered full size, they have the same seating and luggage capacity of an Impala. They can also be considered a Standard Car.

VIP level is by invitation only. It comes after Executive Elite level-25(or 85 paid rental days) rentals in one year. I am sure when you get your invitation you will be well pleased.

I cannot speak for Norfolk's vehicles, I just know that in Orlando they are serviced regularly and maintained well.

i agree completely with you about the quality we have received at Orlando ( volume probably helps ) as we had little selection at SNA last week when we were in California..we are probably spoiled by the service we have received in Orlando

we have always been pleased how we have been treated there especially when we have had "difficulties" with cars during our rental period, very good customer service

it is nice to see your posts here, thanks for contributing

smilawgs