I normally love to go for the ES crapshoot and am nearly always happy with my rental. However, on an upcoming trip, I'll be driving a decent amount and will only be by myself for an upcoming 7-8 day rental and have double (actually, triple) booked a 7 day rental for a premium (i.e., check the premium selection and ES/EA too) out of BWI and 2 separate 8-day compact rentals out of DC Union Station or BWI. Of course, eventually I'll need to cancel 2 of those.

I'd definitely prefer the 8-day rentals but can make do (i.e., walk for the one day when I'll be local in the DC area) with a 7-day rental if need be. The rental costs are all about the same (just around $200) with the compact rental rates slightly lower (for argument's sake, say $20 cheaper). At the same time, since it's myself, I really don't need anything fancy and THINK (?) a compact rental out of BWI might be fine for me, and save me some decent gas money.

So, a few questions, particularly since I don't rent compacts almost ever:
-what are typical National compact cars these days?
-which of the typical National compacts do people prefer (I've taken a look at the car reviews but there are only a very small handful of compacts listed there)?
-anyone have specific compact car rental experience out of BWI or DC Union Station?
-anyone have any thoughts on going 7-day premium vs. 8-day compact? (I have a feeling I know the answer I'll get here...) (I've been playing various scenarios online for months now, and hit a sweet spot of cheap rentals in the DC area, but the rates are now back up, so I don't think I'll be able, for example, to get an 8-day premium for a comparable rate as my current 7-day rental...)

Thanks for any advice.