Why pay more? National, Alamo morph brand experience

National Car Rental has generally been considered one of the more premium car rental companies, along with Hertz, Avis, and maybe Budget. Whereas Alamo Rent A Car has generally been considered a discount operation. And not always in a positive way.

In fact, for years, I wouldn’t book Alamo Rent A Car because they used to be such a poor customer service experience. Their locations tended to be a long way from the airport, their cars tended to be old, and their agents were notorious for trying to push extras for an additional charge. The low point was when Alamo instituted a mandatory cleaning fee for cars in Hawaii. No matter how spotless those cars were when they were returned.

But now, National and Alamo are under the same ownership, in fact, they are actually owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. And lately, while National’s rates are usually at least a little more expensive, sometimes a lot more expensive, the experience seems about the same.

In fact, at most airport locations, National and Alamo share the same bus. And they go to the same or adjoining facilities. (Admittedly, at some airports, all “on-airport” companies are in the same building.)

For recent rentals at Los Angeles and Cincinnati, I chose Alamo to save money. At Los Angeles, the bus dropped off at a building where Alamo was downstairs, and National was upstairs. At Cincinnati the bus just made two stops on the same lot. Alamo had the same instant kiosks as National, and actually, now the same car selection process: simply walk to the aisle featuring the car type you reserved, and choose the one you want. Keys are in the ignition.

National does have “Emerald Aisle” to help avoid lines, but now Alamo has a “Quicksilver” program that has kiosks for a similar experience. (Personally, I think Hertz’s Number One program is still the gold standard.)

And while I have had clients pick National just for the “choose your car” option, that advantage is now gone. In fact, I have heard that in some locations employees have sent clients to the partner company to choose a vehicle when one is out of certain cars types.

I am certainly open to comments from Tripso readers on this one, and realize that many people who aren’t tied into corporate agreements choose their car rental company on the basis of “who messed me up last?” (And “messed me up” is not exactly the term they use.) But from my recent experience, if it’s between Alamo and National, they’re close enough that there’s little reason to make anything but price the deciding factor.

Tagged as: Add new tag, Alamo Rent A Car, car rental prices, car rentals, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, National Car Rental