MilesMonster

In my visits (Nov 09 and Mar 10) I have had:

Ford Edge
Ford Fusion
Chevy Impala

In the Aisle I've also seen:
2010 Ford Taurus (parked in EE reserved spot)
Mercury Grand Marquis
Toyota Camry
Chevy HHR
Chevy Malibu
Chrysler 300
Buick Lucerne
and many more Chevy Impalas.

Tuneman1984

I noticed HSV isn't an EA/ES location, but it does have am Emerald Club booth in the lot. Do they let you pick your own car from the lot here?

MilesMonster

There are two rows of National cars parked (close to 50 spaces in total) on the 1st floor of the parking deck. I suspect they consider the first 10-15 spaces to be their Emerald Aisle. IIRC, spaces #1 and #2 say "VIP Reserved" on the signs; and that's where I saw the 2010 Taurus parked. The car I get has always been in one of the spaces 3-10.

I think it's been the same lady in the booth outside each time, and she seems to prefer controlling who gets each car a little more than the big airports. She'll look at the keys for a car in the EXACT class reserved for you. I got the Edge (fully loaded: leather, giant moonroof, etc.) because I was making a one-way rental and someone had one-way'ed it to HSV (seems like playing "hot potato"). I got an Impala because there were no ICARs available.

Auto Enthusiast

I'm curious where the car came from and where you were taking it. I'm assuming Huntsville is a corporate store, judging by the FL driveout acceptance. If it were a franchise, sending an inbound corporate car away immediately would make sense. If it's corporate, it's probably a case of trying to have a fast turnaround, since a car that sits makes no money. It could also be an expensive car to hold, with above average depreciation, and so make it more of a hot potato.

MilesMonster

IIRC, it had a FL plate. I was taking it to BNA because I changed my flight and left our shared rental with a colleage who was staying the remaining days of the trip.

MilesMonster

Adding another data point: this week I arrive Mon night and the row of cars was pretty well depleted. I asked about the C300 parked in the VIP spot, but the lady said they only rent that for an extra $50/day. When I said my expense report wouldn't cover it, she said that's the answer she always gets...but the "boss" tries to get it rented anyway. It was in the same spot when I returned.

I managed to talk her into giving me the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, despite her claim of it being a PCAR. The key chain and the barcode window sticker said FCAR. It was not a top shelf LaCrosse. It had plastic wheel covers and cloth seats. It was also one of the most used cars I've had from National, with 24k miles on the odometer. While FAR nicer than a FCAR Impala, it's not a PCAR.

At return, I saw:

(4) Chrysler 300
(2) Buick Lucerne
(5) Chevy Impala
(4) Chevy Malibu
(2) Mercury Grand Marquis
(1) Ford Focus
(2) Jeep Liberty
(2-3) Ford Escape
(1) Chevy Suburban
(2) Jeep Grand Cherokee
(1) 2010 Ford Taurus

Auto Enthusiast

IIRC, it had a FL plate. I was taking it to BNA because I changed my flight and left our shared rental with a colleage who was staying the remaining days of the trip.

Both Huntsville and BNA are corporate stores as they accept the driveout cars. For one-ways, there is the strong temptation to send away a car the location views as undesirable, since they'll never see it again. As such, I've seen a lot of FL driveout cars get bounced around like hot potatoes, such as the Hertz Cobalt I drove from MIA to NY last year. The keychain said West Palm Beach, I brought it to a suburban branch, and I'm pretty sure I saw the same car again at another distant suburban office. NY location for instance says, "Gee, thanks a lot, FL store. I don't like this car, either. Hmm. How to get rid of it? Nice, somebody's going to JFK. Let it become their problem now." JFK takes the car and says, "Aw, awful. Who's going one-way out next?"

MilesMonster

Sounds about right. Once the lady behind the counter realized I was doing a one-way, I had to wait 20+ minutes for them to find this particular vehicle and bring it to the rental area. My guess is that it was a "premium suv/crossover" - one of the classes I can't imagine people often selecting because of the steep price point.

MilesMonster

I arrived today in HSV to pick up my premium reservation. I did a quick scan of the row of cars for possible PCARs: Grand Marquis, Taurus SEL, LaCrosse, Taurus Limited, 300, 300. The lady in the booth (same one as I've mentioned above) offers me the choice of either a 300 or the Grand Marquis. I asked if it would be possible to get a Taurus or the LaCrosse. She looked at the keys and told me the LaCrosse is already under contract, but did give me a Taurus (the SEL, sadly not the Limited).

While I've been hoping to get a LaCrosse for quite a while, I'm perfectly fine with the Taurus. I am simply curious how a car still parked in the lot is "already under contract." I didn't ask then because I didn't want to be miscontsrued as confrontational over the issue.

Is "already under contract" when someone calls ahead to request a specific car? Would she be bluffing to hold the car for anyone else who would pay non-corporate-negotiated PCAR rates (and I'd be paying discounted FCAR due to exec status and my employer's rate)? Anyone have other ideas?

aljacket

A late reply, but HSV keeps too supplies of rental cars, non-EA and EA. So if someone booked a non-EA reservation, they will have a pre-assigned car.

My guess is that she could not find the key for the car you were looking for on/in the key hook / drawer, which would imply they were inside the airport at the non-EA booth. Therefore, she would have assumed/deduced the car was "pre-assigned"

Sometimes if they are not to busy, they can call the non-EA booth and check for sure it was already assigned. If not they give you the car, but you will have to go back inside and get the key.

simairlinenet

I rented from Huntsville last night. From what I can recall, there were:
Buick (La Crosse, I think)
Chrysler 200
Fiat 500
Ford Focus
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Nissan (not sure if Altima or Versa)

Of course I took the Fiat, first time driving one. The only other comparably fun cars from National were the VW Jetta and renting in Maui.

dstan

Just picked up at the Emerald Booth (EA reservation) at HSV for a one-way rental to BNA and was offered:

Toyota Camry (don't know which trim)
"a minivan"
"a large SUV"
Chevrolet Captiva

I asked if she had any other sedans and was then offered a 2013 VW Jetta 2.5 SE (SXAR), which I took. Parked in spot #2 with 8400 mi on the odometer.

Saw an attendant driving a black Chevy Camaro in...

Mixture

In the last two months, I rented three times in HSV. They have around 15 spots for EA and 2 spots for ES and VIP. But the cars in the ES and VIP spots are never available for Executive member unless you would like to pay 50/day extra. From what I can recall,

First time (early May):
EA:
Dodge Ram 1500 * 2
Dodge Charger
Chrysler 200
Toyota RAV4 (I took this)
Toyota Camry * 2
Chevy Impala
Chevy Malibu
Hyundai Sedan * 2

ES:
Chrysler 300
Hyundai or Kia sedan

Second time (late May)
EA:
Chevy Camero 1LT * 3 (I took this)
Chevy Impala
Chevy Malibu
Dodge Ram 1500
Dodge Journey
Toyota Camry

ES:
Chevy Camero 1SS (I tried to get this but failed)
Chevy Impala (high trim)

Third time (yesterday)
EA:
Dodge Charger * 2 ( I took this)
Dodge Ram 1500 (the salesman tried to give it to me at first without letting me know the choices I have)
Chevy Malibu
Chrysler 200

ES:
Lincoln MKZ
Hyundai

lotus918

Odd place HSV - I arrived at 10:00PM after a 4 hour delay with a full size reservation and my only options included a mini-van that looked like it'd been ridden hard and put away wet, and a two pickup trucks! After they tried to fob me off with the smaller of the 2 pickups, (not practical with 3 people and luggage) they reluctantly gave me the full size pickup.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but it drove great and was basically brand new - I discovered my inner redneck thanks to National.