National - Noob question

Good afternoon all,

I am new to this, so please bear with me. I will be flying into ONT next month for a business meeting then going to Sacramento 2 days later for another meeting. With nothing to do for those days, i figured " what the heck, why not drive".

Now here is my question, What are the chances (realistically) of being able to find ( on EA) either
A) Convertible anything
B) Jeep Wrangler
C) at the very least, something with a sunroof.

Thanks

1. Poor, and inversely proportional to the amount of sunshine in the forecast.

2. Very, very poor.

3. Not very good. National doesn't often dip into the option packages that bring sunroofs, and stand-alone options are very rare on the cars I rent. If you were reserving Premium at a big location, maybe 2 in 3. Much, much less on EA.

I can't speak specifically for ONT, but I've seen an uptick in sunroofs lately -- a lot of the Impalas are coming in with them, as are Camrys. Might make sense to use an upgrade coupon and take a chance.

Then again, for a lot of that drive, I'm not sure I'd want the sunroof open...

Good afternoon all,

I am new to this, so please bear with me. I will be flying into ONT next month for a business meeting then going to Sacramento 2 days later for another meeting. With nothing to do for those days, i figured " what the heck, why not drive".

Now here is my question, What are the chances (realistically) of being able to find ( on EA) either
A) Convertible anything
B) Jeep Wrangler
C) at the very least, something with a sunroof.

Thanks

Welcome to FlyerTalk whoseyurdaddy!

Answer to questions 1 through 3: Near 0.

If these features are important, spend the bucks and get the open top car. In some locations the Wrangler is a specific choice as well.

The Wrangler occasionally shows up on the aisle, but rarely. I have passed up convertibles, but they are rare, usually showing up in places like MSP in January. If you are a risk-taker, when you get there and you see what you want, start negotiating with the aisle agent (they get commissions for upgrades) for a change. Act like you do not really care and make a reasonable offer. Even if you do not see one, ask if one may be soon coming over from the wash.

Thank you all for your input. Just one more question. I have read on here that some people tend to get "crappier" cars on one way rentals. Is this normally the case?

Thank you all for your input. Just one more question. I have read on here that some people tend to get "crappier" cars on one way rentals. Is this normally the case?

If you are Emerald Club (and I think you are), ONT is (I believe) a corporate location - so you shouldn't have any problems - what you have read generally happens more at smaller franchise locations who want to "send away" the cars that they don't own.

I would tend to agree with the other members regarding convertibles / Wranglers. However, if you book a Premium, chances are much improved of getting something with a sunroof since National seems to be on a Toyota Avalon kick for Premiums and I think most of them come with sunroofs - even though they are kind of like land yachts.

Welcome to FT.

Convertibles and Wranglers are not unheard-of in the National fleet in my experience, but they are nowhere near as common as to be able to count on getting one.

If you don't want to reserve and pay for a convertible, which can be very expensive, my advice would be to at least reserve the highest class you can, provided that the difference between say full-size and premium/luxury is only a few dollars. Strategically speaking, you would have a much better negotiating position when talking to the attendant with a premium reservation (of which there will be a handful that day) as opposed to full-size (which is what most people have; it makes you blend in and there is less incentive for the attendant to accomodate you).

I am a regular Emerald Club member, with 1 total rental and I got a nice car with leather and a sunroof when I rented.

The aisle was picked slim but there was a nice Chevy Malibu LTZ.

This was at the SEA location.

I don't recall any other cars having a sunroof, maybe a Kia Soul did.