Dollar Express at Phoenix
 

Has anyone used the Express feature at Dollar in Phoenix?

- Is it as seamless as National's? I am a National Emerald Club and love the walk up and pick your own car feature - thinking of trying out Dollar's similar service - is it similar?

- if I was selecting a convertible at Phoenix through the express feature, what would I tend to find in the Lot? Online it suggests Mustang - which is fine - I just don't want to end up with a Smart Fortwo or a 500C.

No. Let's compare my National Emerald Aisle experience at LGA and the Thrifty (same company) equivalent at MCO:

Arrive at LGA. Arrive at the parking garage. A greeter points me to the Emerald Aisle. Choose a car. Drive to the exit booth. Show license. Leave.

Arrive at MCO. Arrive at the parking garage. Blue Chip and Dollar Express members are directed to a booth. There will be 2 adjacent windows, one for Dollar Express, and the other for Thrifty Blue Chip. A list shows your name. Next to your name is a stall number, or "see agent." If it says a number, you walk to your assigned vehicle. A contract jacket is hanging from the rearview mirror. If you don't like the car, you can choose another one in your category, provided that it does not have a contract already written for someone else.

If the board says "see agent," as in my case, join the line. There'll likely be several inexperienced and unprepared people ahead of you, waiting to speak with the single agent on duty. Bring a book, since they could argue for a long time about what kind of insurance they do or don't need. If you're lucky, like I was, the agent at the adjacent Dollar (or Thrifty) booth will offer to take you next. They will hand you the pre-printed contract jacket sitting on the Thrifty (or Dollar) counter from the next window. Then you are told to go out to the lot. Pick whatever unassigned vehicle (no contract on the mirror) you like in your reserved category, as shown on the wall. Drive to the exit booth. Wait behind a few cars with customers who didn't know what to expect, and already put away their license and contract, in their jacket pocket in the trunk. Show contract and license. Leave.

I would do the Dollar/Thrifty scenario again if the price was right. Otherwise, National is a more efficient process for experienced and prepared customers.

Excellent bit of information. At times I get frustrated with the choice in the Emerald Aisle, but anytime I have had to stand in line for a car with another company, those frustrations seem to float away.....

I love the fact that the longest time I spend in Checking out at National is the time I spend selecting my car....

I've used Dollar Express at PHX several times. For Dollar, it's great. You're out the door really quickly and you often skip a long line and you don't have to spend any time on the third level of the rental car facility. Just keep your expectations low (as always with Dollar) and you'll be happy.

I am a regular Emerald Aisle customer but got a deal that couldn't be beat from Dollar a few weeks ago at MCO. We had nothing but a good experience with Dollar Express. I will preface this to say our flight arrived later (8 pm) so the place wasn't jam packed. Our name was not on the board so we had to wait for one other person before we could speak with the attendant. The attendant couldn't have been nicer - she did ask us about insurance and gas but wasn't pushy when we declined. She even helped us out by walking us to a Dodge Charger that normally is not in the full size area. Two thumbs up to Dollar Express at MCO!

That said, we are renting again through Dollar Express out of PHX in July. This will be a one way with a drop off at LAX. National was literally 4 times the cost so we had to go with Dollar.

Any other experiences with Dollar Express in PHX? Will we be able to go right to the lot and hopefully pick up our vehicle?

Thanks!