anteater

With fleet utilization continuing to increase (due to travel demand), I recommend booking the minimum you need for your vehicle. It might be available in PC but it might not be.

corolla

expecting a 7 seater in PC now is unrealistic. Since the virus started the only realistic 7 seater you can expect in pc is the barebone fleet only version sorento which literally equipped with nothing, other L4s and QX60/minivans are extremely rare to be found. remember before the virus class R might be cheaper than C? Not a chance now

buzaw0nk

Hey Sam, in the same boat in a couple of weeks, what did you end up getting? Thanks!

Sam Lever

Hi! I ended up booking that class but was unable to travel in the end so had to cancel (these restrictions are doing my head in now!!)
I am now supposed to be going at the start of September (still not likely). I have booked a Chevy Camaro Hendrick Motorsports Edition (very very excited!!) about 10 days. Somehow it was about the same price as a Fiesta 😂

buzaw0nk

Bummer. I was there in June, prior to restrictions being lifted and it was a meh experience at best. Most restaurants preferred to keep their dining rooms closed rather than open at 50%, but I wasn't there to eat. Haha. Of note, DON'T leave anything visible in the car, manager at the counter told me they had over 100 broken into cars over 2 days and I witnessed a break in around North Beach not 20 feet from where I was. I will update when I see what car choices they have in late August. I wanted the Camaro but moving my kid into college probably isn't the best time for a sports car!

So I ended up getting a 2018 Q50, fun car to drive but the electrics were very dated. But fun to drive around the city, had a lot of get up and go, rear wheel drive, and comfy. Would have preferred a Cadillac or BMW, but overall not a bad ride. The fleet at SFO seems to be aging as well, hopefully they start upgrading now that the lines are back to ridiculous. Oh, one point of contention was my name was on the board but it said to go inside and 30-45 of waiting in line only to have the guy print out the paperwork and hand me keys. Totally unnecessary and only ONE agent working in the garage with a line literally out the door.

Flying into OAK in October, just booked a K Large Elite Sedan, curious as to how that will go, never flown into OAK, and there is no recent info out there that I can find. Wish me luck, I'll be visiting the Bay Area for the next few years and I'd like to find a painless process.

tajee165

Got my reservation in, landing SFO Sept. 26 just before noon. I expect it be relatively empty mid-day Sunday (or any day because pandemic rental shortage), but will report my Ultimate Choice findings here.

blairvanhorn

Flew into SFO yesterday around noon. The Rental Car Center was a bit of mayhem in general on Level 4, and at Hertz on Level 1 there was a long line for non-Gold, but no one in the Gold center, with two Hertz employees present at the counter. There were also Hertz signs on Level 4 telling arriving pax with no reservations that cars were available (a positive sign, in my view).

Due to the extremely high rental costs at the time I made my reservations a few months ago, I used points for this rental, reserving a Chevrolet Suburban (T6 PFAR). I was really hoping for a 2021 Suburban (never driven one, I've read good reviews on the '21 revamp), but ended up with a black 2021 Ford Expedition XLT Max - 18,000 miles and Illinois plates. Very clean, no damage, but smelled like smoke. I've driven Explorers, but never an Expedition, and this is a really nice (and huge!) car.

Driving down the coast tomorrow via Big Sur, so looking forward to the trip.

tajee165

Last Sunday, September 26, around 11:30AM, remarkable cars in PC aisle included a BMW X1 and about 10 Mustangs, all but one were convertibles. I grabbed the one with the least miles (8k or so) with AZ plates for my one-way to LA via Big Sur.

Nick62

Sam Lever

Guessing your trip got bumped back so can't ask you if you got the Camaro?

gres718

Was in SF last week of November. Booked intermediate SUV, so that is what I mostly paid attention to.
Arrived noonish on SAT Nov 23= There was quiet a few to choose from at 5 star area: Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX30, Jeep Cherokee, Chevy Equinox, Ford (EcoSport?). They were bringing in new cars every few minutes.
At the time of return - 7AM Sat Nov 30= Lot seems to be almost full with a lot to choose from.
Generally very fast in and out experience.

KE81

For folks who have booked specific car classes (above ICAR) recently, were you assigned a specific car or were you initially directed to 5*/PC? Have an upcoming PCAR reservation but suspect they may just tell me to go to PC, in which case it may as well just book an ICAR.

Thanks in advance!

Sneeaky

So typically in that case if you already have PC status, they'll charge you the ICAR rate if they end up redirecting you, so no need to rebook really

whiskeyplease

Picked up at SFO around 9:30 AM on Saturday 11/20. PC lot was just a sea of cookie cutter small SUVs - Buick Encores, Kia Sportages, Nissan Rogues, a few Mazda CX30s, and some similar Chevys, Fords and Hyundais whose models I didn't catch. Every car looked pretty much identical, except the one Camaro. There did seem to be a decent number of AWDs at least for those headed to the mountains. Disappointing overall.

FlyinHawaiian

I arrived about 30 minutes after you did. It was still mostly SUV with some sedans mixed in; the only sedans of note that I recall was a Dodge Charger R/T (but it was a low spec trim so I didn't look too closely at it) and an Infiniti Q50. The GM SUV included Chevy Trailblazers, Equinoxes, and Traverses. There were a few Infiniti QX60 as well. I ended up taking an L4 2021 Ford Explorer Limited with 9,800 miles on the odometer. There was an identical spec Explorer with 11,500 miles parked a few spaces away.

As a data point, a family member with Platinum status picked up their car last Thursday afternoon. The Platinum Desk at SFO called them about 8 hours before their arrival to confirm the vehicle options for their Full-Size reservation and initially offered a low-mileage Nissan Pathfinder which was declined and then countered with a low mileage 2021 Infiniti Q50 which was accepted. The only other options were high-mileage Range Rovers.

Platinum pick up service from the terminal is still available but cars are still parked in the marked stalls and not pulled out in front of the Platinum Desk area.

whiskeyplease

Huh - I wonder if I just didn look hard enough? Given the alternatives, I would've been pretty happy to find any of those Infinitis.