Want2Fly4ever

Rented from LGA a couple of weeks ago, Jan. 31st I believe. Exec had a number of 300's, a Mazda 6, and a Jeep Patriot with Sat that I grabbed.

Auto Enthusiast

I'll be renting a fullsize from National at LGA next week. I wonder what others have recently seen in the fullsize Emerald Reserve.

Also, the date I have my reservation for is now sold out, except for minivans. I wonder if/how that will impact things.

Auto Enthusiast

pickup 5/17 11 AM

EA:

a row of 2010 Toyota Sienna minivans, NY plates
2011 Dodge Avenger, NY plates
worn 2010 Dodge Journey, RI plates
Dodge Nitro, NC plates
Hyundai Santa Fe, AZ plates
several Ford Fusions, NY plates
2010 Dodge Challenger, NY plates

I took the Challenger, which the greeter said is a specialty fullsize. 11,600 mi. Surprisingly good 26 mpg.

xienon

LGA doesn't seem to have a separate EA/ES section.

Morning of 7/30:
Several Fusion SEL V6's
Several Chevy HHR
1 Chevy Equinox
1 VW Jetta SE, which I took
2 Mazda 5's
A few Malibus

This was my first time visiting this location - it was odd that none of the cars had NY plates. There was also a section next to EA/ES where 20+ cars were stored waiting for new plate stickers. Seems like poor fleet planning to me but none of those cars having NY plates might explain the expired stickers.

Auto Enthusiast

The cars not having NY plates are due to the fact that a lot of people come to visit the NY metropolitan area from all over the place. For a middle class family of 4 or 5 leisure travelers, a one-way car rental can be the most cost effective option, compared to buying several expensive airline, train, or bus tickets, or driving the family car and paying for several days of expensive parking. That's also the case for other destination cities. It's not strange at all. That's not poor fleet planning. It's just what happens over time. And that's a good thing, because it brings in a lot of revenue.

However, Hertz, and to a lesser extent Avis/Budget, usually have better retail paid one-way pricing, so it is more common for them than National to have almost the whole lot from somewhere else originally. But even with National it happens sometimes. By contrast, on the day I was at National LGA, most of their cars had NY plates.

The expired stickers also happen with Hertz, discussed in another thread. It means the car is older, and the original city has to mail new ones. And not all states have stickers on the license plate. NY does not, for instance.

I saw an Emerald Aisle area in the middle of the garage, a silver banner that said Executive Aisle on one side nearest the front, and a pile of SUVs parked near the entrance.

GreeNYC

Is anyone familiar with the Premium isle at LGA?

I have an upcoming “Emerald Reserve” premium reservation at LGA, I noticed that sometimes there are some large SUV’s parked at that premium corner area.

I wonder if I could just choose any car which is parked in the premium area, or it’s just parked there because they don’t have a special isle for premiums SUV’s so they park it in the same area?

merdeux

Yes, with Premium reservation, you can surely take anything from the Premium Isle in the back corner of the lot.

If any question, just ask the staff, they are great. Nothing worse than a same day reservation booking for above premium class car at the booth and having to do the dreaded ROS 'Reverse of Shame', to get the car back into the lot and pick another car.

chainar1

This is actually incorrect. This location parks many different vehicle classes in their "premium" section due to space constraints (LGA does not have luxury, specialty, premium SUV, etc. sections). Some of the cars in the section are ok to grab with a "premium" reservation, but you will have to ask the garage attendant on duty just to be sure. However, if a car has keys in it...well, you probably won't be stopped at the gate. I never have. When a car doesn't have keys in it (they mostly do this elite level cars), you will most likely (not definitely) be asked by the garage attendant to speak with the front desk about an upgrade when you ask him/her for the keys.

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude or argumentative...especially since this is my first post. However, I am very familiar with this location and I know this information will save many members the headache of pointlessly arguing with the reps at LGA. NOT FUN! Trust me, I've had to do it on more than one occasion and it never went well.

agero2k5

Let me tell you something renting at any NYC tri state national are horrible they are very stingy when they have something that you want for exmaple i returned an infinity G37x at LGA and i did it to re rent the car that i brought back from florida.and they made a huge fuss they said let me see your reservation and i said ok? and they came back and told me that i couldnt take that vehicle but they could of offered me a gas eating town car and i told them no.i talk to their managers and they were all in one and i cancelled that reservation and filed a huge complaint against that location and their rep gave me 10 free rental days due to the inconvinience of what they did to me.also i noticed that those cars they put in in the specialty aisle to make more money and over charging rates on tourists that walks in the counter and they had a maxima,a vw cc and a hyundai genesis in that section even though in florida they are regular cars in the ES section.

agero2k5

Hey thats all of their NYC tri-state locations that was very poor car fleets.3 years ago EWR was the place to rent at national ES aisle they had excellent selections like volvo s60,toyota avalon and highlanders,and also fully equipped toyota camry hybrid with xm radio included.But now in the ES aisle they have too many impalas and grand marquis and ford escapes.All of their other fleets like the maxima and the VW cc they have the keys in the counter and they will price it as an elite rate which in the contract it comes out as a premium so if you gonna rent in any national in the tri state i suggest you go to avis or budget which they have a very descent fleet of cars.

agero2k5

Just to let you know it aint worth renting at the national locations in any tri-state area locations their fleets are horrible and if there is a nice car that you really like they will put it as a specialty even though is not (example) nissan maxima is a premium but they will charge you as a full size elite in those location but if you go outside like DC or chicago you will see those cars in an ES/EA aisle not in a specialty section.Also in 09 i had a problem there when they had a volvo c70 hardtop convertible in the ES aisle.When i went to the booth the lady in the booth called management to see if i was entitle for that car because in their case they said that the vehicle was accidentally put in that aisle and,then management said we can give you a buick or an ugly looking kia amanti for that car and i told them no.i actually walked out and left .and never will waste my time renting at that location.

mmo1184

Picked up last Thursday around 11 PM from the Emerald Aisle. Basically every type of SUV one could ever want...Escapes (what I took), Libertys, Equinox, Murano, Durango, Patriot, Grand Cherokee, a couple of Endeavors,a Sorento, maybe 1 or 2 cars (Malibus and Avengers). Cars were double and triple parked in a garage that is already pretty tight to begin with. I didn't pay close attention but I did notice a Taurus and an Accord in Executive.

GreeNYC

Tue. 11/01 evening. Aisles were pretty much empty, upon arriving ES had:

4 Suburban’s
1 Toyota Sienna
1 Dodge Avenger

EA:

Few dodge mini vans.

When i left the station the avenger was the only car left in ES.

agero2k5

an avenger as an es?? thats a midsize car only full size and up suppose to be there.wow that location keeps getting worse.

chainar1

This is by far one of the worst National stations out there. I have rented here numerous times because I live close. I've definitely noticed a dramatic decrease in customer service and aisle selection over the past few years.

If you have the option, rent from JFK instead. They may not have the best cars and their attendants may not be super accommodating, but you'll have a much better experience there than you would at LGA.

Just a suggestion from someone who, again, has many National LGA rentals under his belt.