What's the best rental car with good service?

[*Fantasia*]

This time I'm planning to rent a car. Which one should I go with? Does all rental place have shuttle bus. I wanna be able to drop the car off and they shuttle us back to the airport. Is one better than the other?

Please let me know your experience with that rental car company. Thanks.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I find National to be the best. They are onsite, as is, Budget, Dollar, Alamo, L&M and Avis. No shuttles, just cross the street to the garage (one floor down from baggage collection for the exit)

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thanks Gail. National is in the terminal bldg? And the others just across the street? Is it a long walk from across the street to the terminal? It's just me and my DD 4 and DS 7. I just want to make things easy for all of us. Thanks in advance.

 

[A1A1]

I have used National before without any problems. I recently tried Avis, and was very pleased with the car and the service. They, too, are right on site.

 

[safetymom]

I use Hertz. It is off site but there is never a wait for a shuttle. I am driving towards the resort in less than 10 mins.

I used to use National but prefer Hertz because of the service. I didn't find I saved any time by renting onsite.

This board will give you lots of info to help you make your decision.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by *Fantasia*
Thanks Gail. National is in the terminal bldg? And the others just across the street? Is it a long walk from across the street to the terminal? It's just me and my DD 4 and DS 7. I just want to make things easy for all of us. Thanks in advance.

all of the ones I mentioned have their counters in the terminal, the cars are across the street from the terminal, very short walk.
when I say street, I do mean a service type road, not a city street.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Just a 'hello', Telly!! Hope your trip is wonderful.

I have used National over 10 times there and have always been VERY pleased. Nothing could be easier. Read up here on the Emerald Aisle service, makes life SO very easy.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
I have used National over 10 times there and have always been VERY pleased. Nothing could be easier. Read up here on the Emerald Aisle service, makes life SO very easy.

I agree with Dan 100%. All we ever use is National's Emerald Aisle. We are usually in our rental car

10 minutes after landing. You can't beat the convenience of National compared to an off-site (Hertz).

 

[safetymom]

We use Hertz all the time and find them very fast. In fact we found them to be quicker than National.

People don't need to fear off site locations. I am on my way to WDW in less than 10 mins from an off site location. There is never a wait for a shuttle either.

After doing research everyone needs to decide what company they want to use. I am sharing our experience.

 

[DebbieB]

On personal trips, I have always used National. I love picking our own car. Our trip last week we had about 25 cars to choose from. Picked a Chevy Monte Carlo, very nice. I used the Disney Club discount and a $15 Entertainment coupon, paid $113 including tax for 6 days!

I used Avis on a business trip last month (company only allows Avis or Hertz). They assigned me a white Chevy Classic (Malibu), wasn't thrilled. Paid $88 for 2 days.

 

[n2mm]

National hands down. We have never been disappointed with them and use them about 5 trips per YEAR. (Probably over 30 times in the past 6 years out of MCO.) We love EA and picking out our own car. We love that we don't have to take the shuttle. Sometimes you get outstanding prices. However, I must admit that Dollar has always been our second choice and we have never had a problem with them either. When it comes to price, we will always choose National even if it's a couple of dollars more than Dollar, but will choose Dollar if the costs is huge.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We really like Avis. From our experience, they've had the vehicles in the best condition.

 

[DemoBri1]

I used Dollar's Fastlane on my last trip a couple of weeks ago. We rented a minivan and were assigned a Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. Very good condition and low miles. We were in and out in about 5-7 minutes.

Return was a breeze. Pulled into the garage, met the Dollar rep, and had our receipt in about 5 minutes. Took us longer to find a skycap to cart our luggage over to the terminal.

To me, when I was pricing, Dollar had better rates (with codes) then alot of the companies including National, Avis, and Alamo.

Brian

 

[coachYO & my 3 girls]

What codes did you use with Dollar? I'd like to get a mini-van but the $ may be a little more than I want. I signed up for the Dollar fast lane express membership and have a free one-class upgrade. I'd love to see what codes you have and how much you paid. Thanks, YO

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by coachYO & my 3 girls
What codes did you use with Dollar? I'd like to get a mini-van but the $ may be a little more than I want. I signed up for the Dollar fast lane express membership and have a free one-class upgrade. I'd love to see what codes you have and how much you paid. Thanks, YO

Dollar, as well as the other companies, tends to have codes throughout the year. The best place I have found to get the up to date codes is mousesavers.com. I think Dollar has a code now for a minivan for 229 a week which is pretty good. Sometimes you can find them from 199 a week but you have to luck out and get a good code.

Back to the OP. My votes would be for National and Dollar. I have to agree when the price is close I chose National because of the Emerald Aisle service, although even with regular service you can choose your own car at Orlando from what I understand. I have never had a problem with National or Dollar and they, in my experience, have always had the best price. I have also have had good luck with Avis, but lately their prices have not been in par with National or Dollar in my experiences. When in Orlando, I really prefer the on-airport location so I tend to not even try for the other companies that make you travel off site to get the car. Good Luck!

 

[inkkognito]

We do a lot of quickie weekends in Orlando and get rental cars via Priceline, so we've tried quite a few. We recently did Thrifty via Orbitz too. Here's a quick rundown of my experiences (we've done Avis and Alamo many times, and Hertz and Thrifty once each):
Avis: We get there late at night, so they give us the key at the rental counter and we don't have to wait in a second line in the garage. They assign you a specific car, and we're always gotten decent vehicles. We've gotten a couple one-class upgrades when there were no economies in stock, and we've never had a significant wait.
Alamo: We have to wait in a second line on the way out of the garage, and the last two times the counter wait has been bad. But we rented an SUV once and it was great being able to pick my own vehicle so I could make sure it was something I could handle! They tend to be out of economy cars, so we often get an upgrade...usually just one class, but once they gave us a Matrix.
Hertz: Offsite worried me, but the bus was right there waiting and there was no line at the office. They upgraded us to a RAV4, which I loved.
Thrifty: Also offsite, but bus was right there just like Hertz, and no wait at the office. Newer car in good shape.
Any of them might try to trick you into buying insurance, so just be firm. And they will offer to sell you an upgrade without telling you they are out of your car class before giving it to you for free.
Barb
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