I travel semi-frequently to Chicago and have not once been able to rent from National at ORD...until last night. The location has always been sold out whenever I try to make a reservation (usually 2-3 days prior to arrival).

Usually I use Enterprise when National is sold out, and the staff at Enterprise/ORD is very professional---one of the managers there, Brian, usually matches whoever has the lowest rate in town and gives generous upgrades. But Enterprise has no rewards program and it's still pretty time-consuming to wait at the rental counter.

Saturday night at National, I was finally able to make a reservation. Upon arrival via the shuttle bus, there were only two cars in the Emerald Aisle and three in the Executive Selection---two SUVs and an Impala. The regular lot looked pretty empty as well. I picked a Jeep Liberty, which is comfortable but too noisy for my taste.

Does anyone know why the O'Hare location is so short of vehicles? It doesn't seem much smaller than any of the other National outlets at other major airports, and I can't imagine that demand for rental cars in Chicago could be so high day in and day out.