Consolidated "Renting at FLL; What Kind of Cars to Expect?" Thread
 

I don't know why but the PC selection at FLL is just laughable. Same car selection as in 5 Star area and even in the Gold area. Boring Cruzes and Hyundais, and boring Jeeps Patriots and alike everywhere. No distinction on the membership levels. One small Nissan Rogue with Montana tags in the 5 Star area, but in the PC area only Chevy Cruzes. They don't look like they know what they are doing there.

I think is the staff at the location that is not well trained and interested on what they are doing. They could have been doing a much better job, cool cars on the lot but very poorly arranged. The managers Andre and Jahala looked like they couldn't care less about Presidents Circle and Platinum members.

All I saw was high tier member getting in trouble, and regular members getting a better deal overall. They were getting the same Versas, Sentras and Cruzes as everybody.

My experience was overall terrible. I had to drive out on a Cruze, even with spending $8k+ year on Hertz they couldn't care less about my needs. I told about my bad back problem but they where effortless about that. All they cared about was going back to the back office to looking at their phones (when an employee open the door I could see them looking at their phones while customers were waiting outside with lots of problems).

Anyway if you have PC or above I recommend not using this "Feature" at FLL. Just book a I class or above if you can, they will not honor any upgrades at this location.

The staff is lost there, managers Jahala and Andre are helpless.

I would even recommend getting and Uber or Taxi and trying a better luck on a nearby HLE location in Hollywood if you still have to use Hertz.

Apparently they have this at FLL where I collected a car.

My car was in a numbered bay. I did notice quite a few said PC so I assume they could just pick from the presidents circle area. Nothing that special there. Although a large number.

I did not have to choose and to be honest I am not sure how anyone wouldn't have a numbered bay as all bookings are chosen by model.

My experience with Hertz Ultimate Choice at FLL:

Upon first arrival, there are some nice Mercedes in the Prestige bays but there is no sign or markings to indicate what they cost per day. I didn't recall so I didn't want to risk an awkward moment if they wanted $50 or what. Later I saw that by the Gold member's section that it was $35/day for Gold and $25/day for President's (which I am). I would have done the $25/day but they didn't have the prices marked by the President's section so I didn't know.

There were maybe 5 cars in the Ultimate Choice section for President's. Two Cruze's, two Elantra's and a Verrano. I took the Verrano and it had 27K mileage on it and was well worn. I get on the highway and discover that there's a huge chunk of weather stripping loose and it is making a very loud flapping noise. The alignment is way off so I have to have my right hand at like 4 o'clock to keep the wheels straight. I don't know how they (or even I) missed the weather stripping, it was a 3' section just hanging there.

I turn around and drive 15 minutes back to the airport and returns section. They say I can't just go back to Ultimate Choice and get a car, I have to go in and swap. Fine. After a wait of 15 minutes, they find a car for me, all they have is a high mileage Elantra. I want to get going on my vacation so I accept it and leave an hour later than I should have with a worse car than I picked and not even an apology.

This is another year of President's Circle. I literally don't think I've received a single "upgrade". I've been traveling for work for 15 years. The Hertz cars are getting older and older. My co-workers who use the National Emerald Aisle seem happier and get newer cars. I may try that but the truth is that this is a prime example of why I will do all I can to get projects and hotels where I can use Lyft/Uber or public transit and skip getting a beat up car from Hertz.

That sounds dreadful! Why not use Silvercar at FLL?

Any experience at FLL?

Trying to decide if I should try UC, or stick with tried and tested National.

I have EE with National, and PC with Hertz.

Book a reservation with each?

Consolidated "Renting at FLL; What Kind of Cars to Expect?" Thread
 

What kind of SFAR are they currently having on their lot in Fort Lauderdale?

luxury res, uc, basic gold
 

Hey there

Hope a repeated question won't make anyone mad.
But since I don't really get it myself, I guess I need to be told, preferrably by you guys and not customer service...

So, luxury res with normal gold status, gives you access to which area exactly? if based on status, then car class and what's probably offered in base gold area don't really correspond, imo?

Sry again for repeated use of forum space

FLL: Mercedes C300, Infiniti Q50, Chrysler 300, and a CTS fully loaded with a 3.6L engine and 4k miles on it.

Took the CTS.

(National offered me a BMW X3)

My experience as a 5* reserving a PCAR at an UC location (FLL) was different. I was specifically assigned a spot with a PCAR. UC was pretty new there so I asked the agent why I was assigned a car instead of being able to choose and she old me it was because I had reserved a PCAR and there was no guarantee that that class of vehicle would be in the UC area so they assigned me one specifically. I was however free to choose anything I liked from the 5* section instead of my assigned vehicle. This all made sense.

All of that said, your experience was obviously different. Not sure if your experience was an outlier or mine was, but I suspect yours was (gut feel). You do make a good point though. It's probably worth spending less on an ICAR if you're generally happy with what is typically in the 5* section. Of course there are no guarantees though so sometimes it might work out for you, and sometimes not.

Totally possible that it was an outlier, my only surprise was this was DFW, so a large operation. I would never bank on being happy with what is in the 5* however I am leaning toward the $35 upgrade option. Has any one had a lack of decent upgrades available? That would be my key concern.

Picked up in FLL this weekend, and got an Infinite QX80 from the Presidents Circle area...pretty sweet (they had about four)

Consolidated "Renting at FLL; What Kind of Cars to Expect?" Thread
 

I have a reservation at FLL for a minivan (MVAR), how ever I'm considering to change my reservation to a truck (SPAR) instead since that would give me more loading capacity. We will be 4 adults and two children (11 and 6 yrs old). I The truck is specified as a 6-seater, I assume crew-cab with the "folded third front seat console".
My only hesitation is the weather protection of the suitcases when loaded on the truck bed.
We'll do one longer drive from West Palm Beach area to Orlando and back.
The cost is equal almost down to the dime.

Regarding models at FLL, what's your experience of the SPAR, any chances of a F150 (or even better a F250)?
I read in previous post that one should expect KIA Sedona for the MVAR, is it the "new" 2016 Sedona?

Also, what are you takes on a truck over a minivan?

EK

The Sedona is very comfortable for 6 people, but there isn't a lot of cargo space with the back seats in use (the middle row are captains chairs). I find you either get 4 people and a lot of stuff, or 6 people and very little stuff. So if you have a lot of luggage, I would lean towards the truck.

Thank you for your reply and input regarding the Sedona amount and passengers vs. cargo/luggage space, much appreciated.

My biggest concern regarding the truck option is that it might get to crowded in the cab sitting three persons abreast (Two adults and one child), in the front row particular.

Our luggage are hard-case plastic and North Face duffel bags so rain will not be an issue regarding keeping the goods inside dry, more the minor inconveniences of headlining wet bags.
Would it be a risk that some one tries to steal our luggage if the traffic get queued up-up while driving in a city?

EK