Recent National rental report

[zulaya]

Needed a minivan this trip as we were bringing MIL and FIL so that made 6 of us. Was originally going to go with Dollar until I heard that they were going to charge extra for an extended van (ie Grand Caravan). Actually in the end, National turned out to be a good deal. Used the NHOL rate, old DC contract number and a coupon for $15 off a weekly rental and got a rate of $255.20 tax inclusive.

Arrived at the airport an hour late due to flight delays - around 12:30pm. Waited for luggage and walked out to National - they have moved the cars around since last time we were there, but I am sure that's because Alamo is now sharing rental space with them. Anyhow, I had EC so I just walked to the minivan aisle. There were probably 6-8 of them there - didn't really count. Most were white or silver-ish. Only 2 Grand Caravans so I grabbed one knowing that that would have the cargo space I needed for my group. It was very clean, no smoking odor and had around 12,000 miles on it.

Return was easy, same as always, drive up, get out, they do whatever it is they do with that hand held computer and print me a receipt, and it had exactly the charge I was quoted.

A very painless experience as expected.

 

[Chuck S]

I also had a good experience with National Dec 3 to 13, EA. We arrived about 11am, and since it was the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, they were a little behind getting the cars cleaned and prepped. There were about 4 cars on the EA, all mid-sized. I selected a Toyota Corolla with 600 miles on it. The interior had been sprayed with a freshener that really was too strong...fortunately the fragrance faded after a day or 2. The car was clean, and ran very well mechanically. Not the most "comfortable" model, but it was a good car. National's computers were down when I returned the car, so I wasn't able to get a receipt, and the charge was delayed in posting to my credit card. I kept my quote in case there was a problem with the "actual price" vs. the quoted price. The following monday the charge posted, and it was correct. I've actually only had one instance where the quoted price was different from what they wanted to charge, that was several years ago - and it was easily corrected.

 

[JoEllen]

My 13 yr old and I rented at National EA from 12/7 - 12/13 and were pleasantly surprised. A National employee came out and asked if he could help us. He proceeded to help us find a nice full size car and put our luggage in the trunk for us. I thanked him for his time and asked if he had been harmed by the Alamo merger. He laughed and said No, actually he was an Alamo employee!

This was a refreshing change from previous EA experiences where employees couldn't speak English and no cars were available in your rental catagory.

 

[inkkognito]

We had a recent experience with them from the Alamo side of things. Although we arrived around midnight, an apparently huge international flight had just come in, so there were tons of people in line for Alamo. They had almost all of the counters working so the wait was long but not unreasonable. Things were very disorganized with picking up the car...we could not find the subcompacts, and it took the worker a while to help us find one (there were only two left). The worst part was leaving...unlike Avis, where you are done once you get your car, you have check out at a booth with Alamo. Returning was much easier...just pull up and wait for the guy with the handheld computer. There were quite a few people returning, but the wait wasn't bad at all.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[DebbieB]

Barb,

Do you pick out your own car with Alamo? If yes, are they the same cars as National or does Alamo have a separate inventory? I've always used National but their rates for May are sky high ($320 for EA for 1 week with DC). Alamo is $213 (incl tax).

 

[inkkognito]

Yes, you pick out your own car, and they are separate from National. For some reason they were almost out of subcompacts, but there seemed to be a lot of other vehicle types. Most of the types are in labeled rows that are easy to find.
I suspect that some of the slowness with checkout might be because it was their first week in their new onsite location. It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't so late at night...all I wanted to do was hit the hay!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[DebbieB]

Barb,

Thanks for the info. I rented from National on 12/6 and the checkout was very slow. I think Alamo employees were learning National's system. I've always liked National's EA, I hope their rates come down for May, it's not worth $300+. I paid $156 with tax earlier this month.