National - Cars at MSY Emerald / Exec (New Orleans Airport)

I've benefitted greatly from the ride reports and indexes so I thought I would ry to begin returning the love.

Upon returning to the National lot I had a chance to notice what was available.

Exec: Loaded Taurus, an Altima (didn't see trim) new Maxima, 2 Impalas, a Dodge Nitro and the Malibu LTZ (V6 I assume since it had dual exhaust. Every option but Nav) I returned.

Emerald: Malibu base models at least 3, PT cruiser, a fusion and a couple base Impalas

Thanks fadeinblue! Every index location helps. :)

I can add my own recent experience picking up from this National location recently. I didn't really notice what was in the EA (a glance appeared to indicate a good selection of sedans and a few SUVs), but the ES was chock-a-block with great selection. Many new cars, lots of choice, and most of them seemed well-equipped (e.g. sunroof, leather). I saw examples of the Maxima, Avalon, new Taurus, Lucerne, Edge, Flex, new Malibu, and a couple of other models.

Plus, the service was really friendly all around.

^^

I can add my own recent experience picking up from this National location recently. I didn't really notice what was in the EA (a glance appeared to indicate a good selection of sedans and a few SUVs), but the ES was chock-a-block with great selection. Many new cars, lots of choice, and most of them seemed well-equipped (e.g. sunroof, leather). I saw examples of the Maxima, Avalon, new Taurus, Lucerne, Edge, Flex, new Malibu, and a couple of other models.

Plus, the service was really friendly all around.

^^

Well, when I rented there last month the cars in the EA were pretty disappointing and somewhat dirty.

I rented EA at MSY yesterday (12/26). There were *no* cars, even for people with reservations. We arrived at the rental location at 2pm, there were about 12 people on the waiting list ahead of us. 3 were waiting for SUVs or minivans, so we were able to jump ahead of them on line - we still waited about 45 minutes.

The counter people were trying to get cars from other Alamo & National locations (downtown, Slidell, Baton Rouge), but there were none to be had

The attendant told us this is happens more often than not. We met a friend in Lafayette who told us he had the same experience just before Thanksgiving.

(I also checked other agencies - there were no available cars at Avis, Hertz, or Budget. Enterprise had cars, but there were 40 people on line at the airport counter.)

I rent at MSY regularly - 6 rentals totaling 46 days since October 1.

All was well until Gustav and then Ike when MSY, as well as everyplace else along the coast was stripped of cars by Houston. It's been pretty slim pickings since then with high mileage (25k +) the norm.

Last week I needed a minivan and got a Dodge off the EA with 570 miles. As a regular renter, I know many of the employees and can tell you that they wish they had more and better as well.

MSY has been off the weekly special list since this year's storms and the cost of renting there has increased dramatically, although it's still the best buy.

Thread bump...

Going to be renting from MSY the first week of November (picking up on Sunday night @ 12AM).

Anyone have any recent ES experiences?

Oh, and do you really have to stop at the counter when picking up late at night?? It wouldn't give me ES since I'm picking up at midnight. :confused:

I rent at MSY once or twice a month, usually arriving Monday evenings. The selection has really been awful lately. Last trip, two weeks ago, I arrived to find a nice selection of Aveos, Cobalts, and a Yaris and Corolla or two in the Executive Aisle. I opted for the lone Sonata on the Executive Aisle, which after I started driving it, I realized they had marked the window that it had several maintenance concerns. I pulled into an empty space on the Emerald Aisle, got out, looked over a pretty blah selection of base model Impalas, an Amanti with a visibly low tire and locked doors, and picked another Sonata. This one had an XM antenna and sunroof, and I hoped it would have active XM, but like most other cars I've rented the last few months, it wasn't active.

Overall National's selection has really sucked lately, at all airports I regularly rent from (IAH, MSY, LAX). MSY has been the worst though. That station is particularly bad about having a lousy selection, and not taking good care of the cars.

Arrived October 26 about 9PM and there were a couple of trucks and several Chargers in the Executive Selection. I grabbed the lone Maxima (2009 with 18,000 miles on the clock).

Very nice ride for my drive to Baton Rouge and back.

Shuttle van was packed with people and all of the emerald/executive were stuffed in the back, the non-emeralds were standing and blocking the door - oblivious that the people in the back needed to get off......travel would not be so bad if it weren't for the people :D

Have done several rentals here; IMHO it's about the worst Nat'l lot in the system. My experience has been that you can choose from a variety of minivans, but unless you're timing is exceptional, you WILL leave in a minivan. The driver usually forgets to drop off executive/emeralds in the back, and when you go back there you'll see one or two nice cars that look tempting, but after you get your luggage in you'll see "no keys" scrawled somewhere non-obvious. If you're staying in the quarter you don't need a car anyway so just get a cab.

Anyone rent from MSY lately? Gonna be down there next week. Rented a full size - will have a few people with golf clubs so I am hoping some sort of SUV will be available.

Rented from MSY on March 17th. EE was full of SUV's. I took a Tahoe (3K miles), but they also had Pick Up Trucks, Minivans...pretty much anything that you wanted - if you like big cars

may be too late to post, but headed to MSY tomorrow. Any idea if these guys have gotten their acts together?

I'll report on what I see when I get there. Reserved a midsize, hope the EA has something good.

may be too late to post, but headed to MSY tomorrow. Any idea if these guys have gotten their acts together?

I'll report on what I see when I get there. Reserved a midsize, hope the EA has something good.

Last time I was there (in May), they had lots of different Fords (pickups, Focus, Taurus, MXK), brand new Jeep Cherokees, Dodge Challengers, Hyundais, and Kias. Time before that (Xmas) they also had some VW CCs and Tiguans, and Mercedes Cs. Biggest problem for me was I couldn't make up my mind.

Last time I was there (in May), they had lots of different Fords (pickups, Focus, Taurus, MXK), brand new Jeep Cherokees, Dodge Challengers, Hyundais, and Kias. Time before that (Xmas) they also had some VW CCs and Tiguans, and Mercedes Cs. Biggest problem for me was I couldn't make up my mind.

sounds like they've gotten better, now I'm excited!

Thursday, October 28 about 9pm.

EA was jam packed. Lots of pickups and Malibus/Impalas.

I took a loaded GMC Yukon XL with NC plates and about 12,000 miles. Was delivered in early June. Thing was like a tank but something different so I enjoyed it. Got about 16mpg, mostly highway driving (about 260 miles.)

Shuttle service was lacking compared to other locations. A little bit of a wait on both ends, so figure that in when returning.

Monday Nov 14th around 10:30

ES had the typical Impalas, a basic Escape, a Passat CC, a regular Passat, and an Eclipse. They also had an Avenger with ~200miles and a Chevy Express with an ES hang tag.
The EA had two Callibers, in orange, and a dented Sebring with a flat tire.

I'd reserved a premium, but the Premium Reserve had Caravans parked in it... I'd just started the Eclipse when they dropped a Tiguan into the ES, so I took that instead.

The staff were helpful, but they were out of gas for the pumps, so I only had 3/4 tank, but they did say they'd be lenient on return. For a shuttle location, I was pleasantly surprised, from and to the airport there was an empty bus waiting and they left as soon as I'd sat down.

12/12/2011 at about 2:30 pm:

ES: multiple Suburbans/Tahoes, Crown Vics, pick-ups

EA: multiple Caravans, one Jeep Grand Cherokee, one Ford Escape, multiple Impalas, one Nissan Altima, one Crown Vic, multiple pick-ups

Have folks being seening larger cars at MSY lately on EA and ES. I'm coming in Sunday night, and will need a large car and hoping I can get one from aisle and dont have to go inside and upgrade.

Or just I just make 2 reservations to be on the safe side? Is there a downside to having 2 reservations?

Sunday, July 1, about 9:00 PM, both EA and ES were fully stocked with sedans, minivans, SUVs, and pick-ups. Didn't notice much of a difference between the two either.