This is long, apologies - it's meant for people who want to know others' experiences of renting from Alamo.

I reserved a compact car with an excellent rate (including "insiders" discounts) from Alamo at SFO. There was a blessedly short line at the counter, so I didn't need to use the kiosk. They gave me a contract that didn't indicate a specific car, and told me to go to the garage to choose my car. There were several customers milling about, waiting for their cars to show up, and very few cars on the lot. The lot agent tells me to take the one car in the "compact" section, which was in the parking slot closest to the "economy" section.

So I take the Hyundai Accent, finding that it doesn't have power locks or windows (hand crank windows? in 2011? I had to teach my 7 year old how to use them!). I didn't want to wait for a different car, so off we went.

On the highway, the steering wheel was vibrating severely, so the next day I called and was told to go to the closest Alamo location to exchange the car. It was a small airport, and only one compact car was available, a Kia Rio (pretty much exactly the same as the Accent). So I took it, and the newly printed contract read, "Rented: Compact. Driven: Economy. Charged: Compact". Gee, thanks, Alamo. You knew I was coming to both SFO and the second location (because I called was told to come at a specific time) and you couldn't give me the car class I rented at either place. And instead of giving me an upgrade, you gave me a downgrade. Well, at least the second car was mechanically sound (and I wasn't concerned enough about the downgrade to make a stink about it).

All was fine until I returned the car in SFO, where I got charged $30 for 5 gallons of gas for the first car - even though I refueled both cars before returning them. Talk about adding insults to injury: first they downgrade me, then their crap car has a mechanical problem, then they still don't give me the car class I reserved to begin with (much less upgrade me), and then, to top it all off, they charge me for fuel they didn't have to buy. The agent told me to go to the counter to complain - like I have time to do that on the way to checking in for my flight. The good thing is that I called them the next day and they refunded the money, no questions asked.

All in all, a very so-so experience. Not terrible, but quite a contrast with Budget the last time I rented at SFO: a nearly new Suzuki Kizashi (a really nice car) with power everything, no mechanical issues, very comfortable, no silly overcharges - but also almost twice as expensive to rent.