National - How does one way rental works with national?

I recently switched to Hertz from Thrifty but their one way rental is outrageous plus it isn't unlimited miles.

I see that National actually have unlimited miles even on one way rental. The price seem high. What happens if I just did a regular rental and then I had to return at a different location if something changes? Do they charge a drop fee or do they rewrite the entire contract?

This sounds like a very effective way to put yourself into an extremely expensive rental situation.

My suggestion would be to play around with various contract ID's (preferably ones you are entitled to) and keep in mind that some contract ID's will produce extremely low rates, but DO NOT have unlimited miles (it will be noted on the quote screen in this case).

A good code for one-ways in many cases seems to be the KLM/Air France Flying Blue FF program id code (can be found in the master thread). This code includes LDW, seems to have unlimited miles for one ways, and includes most taxes for a very low rate. It is open to all Flying Blue members (free to join).

Hope this helps.

All rental companies seem to have 2 options: Retail clubs/associations that give unlimited miles and higher daily rates for one-ways, or corporate contract rates that give the same daily rate as roundtrip, with a mileage charge. The corporate rate can be cheaper for short distance, long time. The retail rate will be cheaper for long distance, short time.

Compared to Hertz and Avis/Budget, one-ways with National's Emerald Club are unique in that:

1) Emerald Club is always free to join from National's website. By contrast, Hertz tends to run free Gold programs when they feel like it.

2) National free days work great, and are easier to earn than Hertz.

3) National Emerald Club has vehicle choice, whereas Hertz and Avis/Budget are likely to assign the undesirable car they want to get rid of for one-ways.

4) National has relatively few neighborhood stores, so you might have to plan your pickup and/or return timing more carefully, or agree to pay higher airport rates and taxes.

5) National's fewer locations also translate to faster sellouts and more frequent rate changes. So if you see a "good" rate you want to pay, grab it. You can change or cancel later, but once it's gone, chances are it will only increase.

I've always had good luck with Budget one ways

From what I have heard, if you keep a licensees own car on a one way you might end up paying to ship it back, they keep corporate cars around specifically for one ways.

I think this list represents some of the lic locations - http://www.wisconsin.edu/fadmin/fppp/differ.pdf - unless someone has a better list?

I've never rented with National before, but I have just reserved myself a one-way FLL-MSY rental as part of the Florida drive-out.

What I don't understand is how this works. As I understand it, National usually lets you pick up any car you like from the appropriate section and drive away in it... but for the Florida drive-out wouldn't they have a particular set of cars that they want to get rid of? Should I expect to have any choice in the matter when I show up?

For the price I'm paying I'm not too fussy ;)

As I understand it, National usually lets you pick up any car you like from the appropriate section and drive away in it... but for the Florida drive-out wouldn't they have a particular set of cars that they want to get rid of?

No, because both are corporate locations. They want to reduce the number of cars at some places, and increase the number at others. Which particular car or state of registration doesn't matter.

Ex, last May, when I was driving a National Challenger from LGA one-way to Maine, a Malibu with National rectangular barcode and GA plates went zooming past on I-95 near Kittery. I guessed someone chose it for the FL driveout.

From what I have heard, if you keep a licensees own car on a one way you might end up paying to ship it back, they keep corporate cars around specifically for one ways.

No, any re-positioning is manifested as either the one-way not being allowed, an extremely high daily rate, typically at least $200/day for an economy car, or a very high separate drop charge listed at the time of reservation. They can not surprise you when you pick up the car with extra charges not quoted and guaranteed on your confirmation.

Not all licensee stores have received corporate cars from inbound one-ways. If they don't have, they can't give. Some people here have mentioned they used National free days for a long distance one-way hundreds of miles from a licensee, and the franchisee was not pleased they had to give away their "own" cars.

The list is out of date, from 2007. An easy way to check is with the FL driveout. Airport return location accepts = corporate. Does not accept = franchise. (Neighborhood stores are usually corporate, but have space constraints, so don't allow the FL driveout, except Manhattan.) Most of the locations in the list do not accept. However, there have been changes. For instance, ILM accepts it, and is often part of the FL drivein at other parts of the year.

What I don't understand is how this works. As I understand it, National usually lets you pick up any car you like from the appropriate section and drive away in it... but for the Florida drive-out wouldn't they have a particular set of cars that they want to get rid of? Should I expect to have any choice in the matter when I show up?

It really depends on the location and even the mood of the managers/aisle employees to be honest. It'll always say on your confirmation that you have Aisle service if the location offers it, since the system isn't smart enough to flag one-way rentals separately. Sometimes you can just pick what you want from the aisle and go, like when I picked up at YYC to drop in Victoria, BC. I had a Standard SUV booked, they told me I could wait for a Grand Cherokee to be pulled up or take the Grand Caravan parked in a Fullsize stall. I took the van and they merely confirmed my drop location but said nothing else. In YVR, when I was getting into a minivan for my one-way to Toronto last summer, the agent came up and asked me if I had a van booked. When I said yes, he checked his sheet and correctly found me by name, I guess I had been flagged on the sheet, cause he then began trying to shoehorn me into a pre-selected 2010 model from Alberta. Eventually he relented and let me take the 2011 with 302 km on the clock that I'd chosen.

It's usually best not to "self-identify" if you want choice. Just go about your business picking a car like you're on a return trip and take it to the booth. Then if local policy prohibits a certain car being rented to you then you'll be redirected there. Sometimes though, it can be helpful to identify. In February I did a one way from YYZ to Chicago and because it was cross-border I knew they'd want to put me in a US-plated car. When I got there with my fullsize res they only had a few Impalas and mostly Chrysler 200s. So I told the lot agent I was one-waying to the US and scored a free upgrade to a FL-plated Chevy Traverse, perfect as I had a lot to take with me.

No, any re-positioning is manifested as either the one-way not being allowed, an extremely high daily rate, typically at least $200/day for an economy car, or a very high separate drop charge listed at the time of reservation. They can not surprise you when you pick up the car with extra charges not quoted and guaranteed on your confirmation.

You'd be surprised that they will try this. When I went in with my one-way reservation from YVR to YYZ (both corporate stores), I was told they had to give me an Alberta plated car. When I asked why I couldn't just take the beautiful Fusion Sport parked on the aisle, I was told that if I took a BC-plated car I'd be subject to a $250 drop charge. This was nowhere in my reservation and I was already paying a ~$225/day one-way rate. In retrospect I should've just climbed in and so "go ahead and charge me" knowing that either a) They'd relent knowing they had no right to do so and it's just a scare tactic or b) They'd charge it and I'd promptly get it removed either by Customer Service or a call to the BBB. Instead, I waited for my Alberta car, got a Kia Sorento with a broken rear diff, got switched into a smaller Dodge Avenger by Enterprise in Victoria (no corp stores on the island), and then had to switch AGAIN into an AB-plated Fusion for my actual one-way. Ironically I was told by the location that I'd be getting something nice since "They know they screwed up big time" and it was a base Fusion SE. So long story short, know your rights, and test drive anything you get for a long-distance trip to make sure you're COMPLETELY confident in it before setting off.

Not all licensee stores have received corporate cars from inbound one-ways. If they don't have, they can't give. Some people here have mentioned they used National free days for a long distance one-way hundreds of miles from a licensee, and the franchisee was not pleased they had to give away their "own" cars.

From what I understand, licensees have to ability to restrict what stores you can book to return at, if any. The local licensee here in Victoria only allows one-ways to their other licensee stores and YVR. So at worse, if a car goes out of "the system" it's only across the water at a corporate store that does many one-ways back onto the island. When I did a mini one-way from Victoria to YVR last week, I got one of the licensee's own Mazda3s. Wasn't a free day, but was on a corporate rate which charged per km. Thankfully, it's only 38 km from the Sidney branch near the ferry terminal to YVR, possibly one of the shortest non-intracity one-ways in the network.

Your suggested test isn't foolproof though. YYJ and the surrounding city locations will all accept one-ways from as far away as Toronto (farthest I've tried), despite all being franchise. From conversations with the local staff, when they accept a one-way car they just give it to Enterprise, who deals with getting it back to corporate or using it as their own.

You may have noticed I've ragged on YVR a fair bit in this post, but, well, they've earned it. They are notorious for giving ANYTHING but their own cars for one-ways. If you're going corporate-corporate you get a car belonging to another region. If you're going to the island, you get an island car, which is their "policy". Sometimes they don't even pay attention to what you've booked, like when they tried to give me an Elantra for a fullsize. When I protested, they managed to find a Subaru Forester, also belonging to the island.

To me, it seems cheap that they can charge $300+/day rates for one-ways when they don't even use their own cars. It's price gouging, plainly. The premium for a one-way, be it a km charge, drop charge, or inflated price, is meant to absorb some of the inherent costs of doing a one-way rental. In some cases, locations need to send a carrier truck to bring the fleet back, or use a driver-transporter service and pay out the ferry costs and what-not. Heck, in YVR's case, they can't even claim loss of revenue, as some locations will absorb incoming one-ways into their fleet and use them on roundtrip rentals until the time comes for them to go home. YVR literally accepts the car, leaves it to sit even if they're sold out on their own fleet, and then only sends it out on a $300-$400/day rental back to its home where it has to go eventually anyways. It should be outlawed.

Certain locations in Canada are indeed different. Many more franchises, apparently.

Within the US, cars from one-ways between corporate stores usually remain at the receiving facility for roundtrips, or get used for other one-ways to somewhere completely different. The cars rarely go "home," and don't need to, although it can sometimes happen by coincidence. (Ex Avis in downtown Albany NY had a lot of cars with NJ plates last May, so that was what we got for a one-way minivan south.) It seems they actively move stuff around for maintenance reasons (ex neighborhood store has a car with a check engine light, and no on-staff mechanic, but the airport 30 min away does), or because of size mismatches (ex neighborhood store took a reservation for a jumbo SUV 6 months ago, but doesn't have one today, so has to fetch one from the airport).

Also within the US, it has been reported here that Hertz and Avis like to give away the worst cars they have for one-ways. National's choice system is not immune, either. People for the FL driveout complain here that on the Aisle, they see a choice of several high mileage cars, as if the manager did that because they knew who was coming. Someone mentioned selecting a low mileage Charger for a one-way from south FL to JFK, and was initially rebuffed at the booth because they like to hog the low mileage and popular cars for themselves. And you mentioned Vancouver giving you a beat up Alberta car to go to Toronto. I might use free days in a few years for a one-way YVR to YYZ, after which we can compare experiences. :)

But that is location and region dependent. I took a NY-plated Challenger one-way out of LGA, and my brother got a Charger with FL plates from the Emerald Aisle at BOS. The LGA greeter was surprised when I asked to confirm there are no restrictions on my vehicle choice since it's a one-way, and replied no. I might have a one-way from either LGA or JFK National to HPN. HPN was also surprised when I called to confirm any restrictions on the car I can choose, and gave the same answer.

In fact, PWM had more cars from other states than those from ME. When I was at HPN picking up someone yesterday, I noticed an Impala with PA plates and the National barcode exiting the rental lot and picking up a family from the terminal.

interesting enough, I just booked a res. from pdx to sea with unlimited miles using

CDP Name : AAA WEB ID

I searched the forum and found a link to make a reservation through AAA website and that's what I did.

That's with Hertz. Play around with dates and locations and you can find some National deals, too.

Someone mentioned selecting a low mileage Charger for a one-way from south FL to JFK, and was initially rebuffed at the booth because they like to hog the low mileage and popular cars for themselves.

It was me you were thinking of :p

I should clarify the car wasn't exactly "beat-up". It did have working Sirius. What bothered me more was the fact that they'd promised "something really nice" to make amends and instead stuffed me into a base model car that didn't even belong to them. At least I did get significant compensation from corporate after my lengthy complaint.

I just finished a one-way rental with Hertz. It was an Arizona drive-out. They gave me a older vehicle but I was thankful since it had Sirius and cruise control, and I paid the rate for a compact. Not the best vehicle but I got extra features for the same price. Thanks Hz! I basically went to the counter and said, "what do you have available for me..?"

My goal was to get the cruise control, but I never expected satellite radio.

: )

Done two one-ways so far this year (picked up at LAX, returned at SAN, practically not a one-way with the way rentals move around SoCal; picked up at PWM, returned at BOS just this afternoon). Priced both as regular roundtrips with return to renting station, and no price difference. Perhaps it's a function of the locations and their relative closeness, perhaps it's because of my (valid) contract ID. At LAX I was able to take whatever vehicle (Executive Elite probably helped but regular Emerald Club had a good selection too). It could be that if I had no status or no contract ID that may include some kind of one-way benefit, then the one-way rate would be much, much higher.

At PWM they don't have the aisle but knowing that I was taking their car to Logan they still gave me a Maine-plated Charger with 412 miles on the odometer and Sirius. It was super and worked perfectly for the trip to be able to rent one-way. They got the car back with 956 miles on the odometer--at least another renter will get to enjoy taking the car out with a three-digit mileage!

As I was typing this, I realized that damn it, I left half a box of Cheez-Its in the back seat of that Charger! Sigh....

The no difference in price is probably a negotiated contract term for one-ways between certain cities or within a certain distance.

PWM told me they prefer to keep the ME cars for themselves, because those tend to be newer, fresher, and lower mileage. But sometimes that's all they have, especially in late fall during the FL drivein, and the plates don't matter.

You could theoretically call Boston and ask if the car cleaner found your snack. But unless they didn't already eat it, want to mail it to you, or you will come back to Boston soon, I'd guess its gone.

The no difference in price is probably a negotiated contract term for one-ways between certain cities or within a certain distance.

PWM told me they prefer to keep the ME cars for themselves, because those tend to be newer, fresher, and lower mileage. But sometimes that's all they have, especially in late fall during the FL drivein, and the plates don't matter.

You could theoretically call Boston and ask if the car cleaner found your snack. But unless they didn't already eat it, want to mail it to you, or you will come back to Boston soon, I'd guess its gone.

Yep--not going to any effort for the crackers. Easy come, easy go. :P

Reading upthread I noticed someone saying about being passed on I-95 in Kittery by an evident Florida driveout; on Wednesday on the way from downeast Maine to Manchester, NH via I-95, NH 33, and NH 101 (33 being included so as to pass gas stations and Market Basket, where Cheez-Its were purchased) I was passed by an identical big black Charger with National barcode stickers but MA plates, on I-95 southbound just north of Kittery! The woods are full of them!

Ha ha, that's funny! And yes, I was the one who had been passed by what I thought was a FL driveout Malibu from National with GA plates near Kittery last year. I had a perspective to draw upon: A few years before, when I did the FL driveout with a Hertz car from MIA to NY, several cars with Hertz barcodes, FL plates, and 50-60s ish couples in the front seats, zoomed past on I-95 each day.

Following up on myself: yep, I showed up for my Florida driveout rental and they didn't bat an eyelid or direct me to any particular vehicle. So I picked a nice shiny silver Charger with eight thousand miles on it. (As of this morning when I dropped it off at MSY it has close to eleven thousand miles on it ;) )

This was my first experience with National, by the way, and I'm impressed. I think I'll switch from Avis to National as my first choice. Picking my own darn car, plus the existence of big rear-wheel-drive sedans outside the "Premium" category, makes it a colossal win as far as I'm concerned.

Interesting they allowed a Charger, and a low mileage one, to leave. But it's good you got to enjoy it, and just in time, before the tropical storm hits.