Best/worst car rental company between Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Budget

[btfc]

Most Mastercards (and Amex) include rental car insurance.

[mattkime]

>Price is the main factor followed by customer service. I don't want to use the Internet for anything.

I believe those two options are in contradiction.

I always go with whomever is cheapest. Always works out but sometimes pickup and return is a bit of a pain. But thats the fun of traveling, right?

[ArtP]

freeradical wrote:
One thing I've noticed about Enterprise, is that they play this game where they don't rent you the car with a full tank of gas. When you're checking the car out, the agent will look at the fuel gauge and notate where he thinks the gas level is. You're supposed to return the car with the gas at the same level. This has always struck me as kind of sleazy.

I had to do an Enterprise rental last month and it is true about the gas thing. I THOUGHT I was being smart about it. It had 3/8 ths of a tank of gas at pick up but the Odometer said "90 miles to Empty".

Ok I'll note and put JUST enough gas in approximately to get it around 90 miles to empty.

Thing I didn't count on was the kid that drove to pick me up drove it like a race car and screwed up the fuel economy so ended up returning it with a more than half a tank....

I LOST....

Also Enterprise doesn't take non Bank issued Debit Cards or Cash Deposits.... AND they want to hold the FULL $250 deposit plus the WHOLE rental transaction UP FRONT.... at least in the hood.

Like mentioned above - they are individually owned and may have/PROBABLY different terms from location to location more than likely

[testcase]

Before I had a trailer for my Prius, I'd have Enterprise pick me up wherever my RV was. Enterprise usually had the best rate too.

[Dennis S]

I'll use the Internet for price estimates if they are available but not for reservations or going through Price Line or any of those companies.

[Gareth]

btfc wrote:
Most Mastercards (and Amex) include rental car insurance.

For property damage, but I've never seen a credit card that had liability insurance for car rentals (i.e. if you injure someone).

[anonymouse1]

Hertz for quality. Sometimes they're the cheapest, but only sometimes. I have a free Gold membership, which helps. And I have an association discount, which also helps.

Enterprise for the best combo of price and quality.

Avis often costs the most. Budget is usually not the lowest.

[jdc]

ArtP wrote:
Also Enterprise doesn't take non Bank issued Debit Cards or Cash Deposits.... AND they want to hold the FULL $250 deposit plus the WHOLE rental transaction UP FRONT.... at least in the hood.

99.9% sure thats true with any rental agency.

Sometimes the "bring it back empty" pre pay gas price is good -- it was cheaper than the actual stations when we were in maui recently -- but I never do this option.

Its just too hard to bring it back with zero and with your esitmated "range" of 700 miles, I would go with the bring it back full option.

Not sure why the whole "no internet" thing? We use costco. Login, pick your dates, shows the cars and 4 companies. Pick the one you want, reserve. No obligation. But if you show up with a standard car reservation and they dont have one, you get bumped up for no addtional cost. Walking up to the counter you are at their mercy. Sorry, that just seems foolish.

Heres 5 days, mid august with costco.

[mrbigstuff]

use Costco, they allow an extra driver for no charge, and some other bennies I am forgetting at the moment. no cheaper, though.

[August West]

Reading the thread, I was going to mention Costco also. I needed to make a long driving trip a couple months ago, and reserved a Budget, full sized, unlimited miles, 1 week for 169. Was very happy with the deal. It might have been a summer travel deal, I don't recall the details, but I will always check Costco from now on. Before that, I used Enterprise.