jperiod

National has been no help. I'm an executive member and made a reservation through a 3rd party (RCI) that had no way to add my emerald club number. They said they don't use it. I called National and they said they can't add my number and couldn't tell me the policy on picking up early.

I want to be able to bypass the long line and add my husband as a free additional driver. Will I be able to do this? Can I pick up the vehicle 1.5 hours early if the car is ready? I'll be dropping it off early at the end too.

AutoSlash

There are a number of issues at play here. Let me try to address each one:

1. I'm guessing you prepaid for your rental. If so, there typically is no way to add your Emerald Club number to your reservation. This is fairly typical of prepaid through 3rd party sources.

2. The good news is that you can likely just pick a car from the Executive Aisle and drive to the exit booth since your Emerald Club membership is tied to your driver's license number. An AutoSlash team member tested this last week in Orlando on a prepaid reservation for a midsize car that did not have his Emerald Executive number applied, and he successfully checked out with a Jaguar F-Pace, which was quite a nice score. No problem associating his member number at the exit booth, and he confirmed that he received National points for the rental.

3. Now for the not-so-good news... He tried to add another AutoSlash colleague who was with him as an additional driver, but was told that the fee additional driver benefit did not apply to prepaid bookings, even though the Terms & Conditions for Emerald Club members state that you can have up to 9 (!) additional drivers per rental. Kind of annoying, but that's the way it is apparently.

4. And lastly, to end on a positive note, there is absolutely no problem at all picking up an hour or two early. Rentals are priced on a 24-hour day, so as long as the early pickup doesn't extend the rental into an additional day, the price should be the same. The major rental companies are generally perfectly fine with customers pickup up within a few hours of their scheduled pickup time.

Please do post on your experience if you go ahead with the rental.

jperiod

Thank you for responding! So I rented a minivan at OGG and HNL. The reservation says to go to the counter. We don't plan to pick anything except a minivan. Do you think he wasn't able to add another driver because they weren't a spouse?

• Rentals by Emerald Club members when the member's spouse, common law spouse, or same-sex domestic partner has the same address on the driver's license as the Emerald Club member and meets normal renter requirements.

AutoSlash

Spouses are automatically included as additional drivers as per National's terms and conditions for Emerald Club members and do not need to be explicitly added to the rental contract so you should be fine. You can confirm this at the exit booth.

Note that if your reservation is cancelable you might want to just see if you can book for the earlier pickup time. It's possible we can match your current rate. Feel free to PM us your details if you'd like us to check.

xfire22

I’ve rented with a prepaid reservation at an EC several times both aisle and non-aisle. If it’s an aisle proceed as normal and they’ll add your EC number at the booth. I’ve never had a problem adding my spouse either. Also, yes I do get rental credits as well.

rkb2530

I have an upcoming prepaid rental for a convertible at MIA with National made thru AutoSlash. I am Emerald Executive. Does this mean I can skip the counter, pick a car, present DL and executive # at exit booth? Just wanted to confirm that this is doable and avoid being that guy who has to back up, looking like a doofus.

Thanks

AutoSlash

Yes, you definitely can. Your Emerald Club membership is associated with your driver's license. They will associate your reservation with your EE account at the exit booth. Don't worry--you won't be "that guy".

s0ssos

Question about that (also in Hawaii): I saw if I pick up midday I can get a really cheap rate, but picking up at night it would be a different rate, that would be more expensive. I forget exactly the details, like a Tues to Fri or something. It would be returning Fri night, so it was a longer rental for picking up midday (4.5 days versus 4 days).
What would happen if I booked the cheaper rental for 4.5 days and picked up at night (4 days)?

AutoSlash

In that case, you should be fine. Book at late as possible in the afternoon. If it's more than a 6-hour difference or so, I'd call the rental location in the afternoon and let them know you'll now be arriving later and ask them to hold the reservation. Usually, they'll hold it until the close of business anyway, but it can't hurt to be on the safe side.

s0ssos

Would prepaying it make it more guaranteed?

AutoSlash

Maybe slightly, but to be honest, the major rental companies hold a reservation for a minimum of 6 hours from the originally scheduled pickup time, and many until the close of business regardless of whether it's a prepaid booking or not.

s0ssos

Great, thanks

manually

I have been told they hold the car for several hours. I would just call the location and tell them that you will be late picking up the car.

taway

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I need to rent a car at Calgary airport in September, and the price for a mid-size rental is much lower through Auto Europe (prepaid) than National direct or any other booking site, however I can't add my Emerald Club number to the booking.

When I search for the booking in the National app it says "Upon arrival, please proceed to the National Car Rental counter", despite the rental being listed as Intermediate (Kia Forte or similar). Can I proceed directly to EA/ES despite this and just add my membership number when exiting?

wal5036

I picked my rental up literally 8 hours early July 4 weekend. Granted I am EE, but nobody cared at all, or even mentioned it to me, as I was checking out. This was at EWR.