Cars at LAX
Jun 25, 2009, 8:52 pm
#91
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 121
Had executive reservation yesterday. 5 buses full of people from the airport came in right before. So the exec aisle was crowded with people. Everyone was wanting the mustang convertibles?!?!?!?!? Not sure why, but I guess it's a crowd pleaser. They had a good selection, Jeep wranglers with soft tops, Dodge Journeys, Chargers, But then hidden in the last spot in the corner, a Cadillac escalade. Never have seen that before, so I walked up, took it, and the gate agent happily checked me out. Not bad for using my three free rental days I got. NICE.
Jun 29, 2009, 8:32 am
#92
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: HH Gold, UAL SP, Marriott PL, National Excecutive Elite, SWA A+
Posts: 103
Saturday Night 11pm
Exex and Emerald Aisle were awash with Mini Vans one or two 2.5S Altimas and the Exex aisle had a bunch of Tacomas Pick ups as well. Hiding in the corner was a Dodge Charger from Texas with 20K on it, but it had Sirrus and I had a 1.5 hour drive to Laguna (plus a noon flight from LAX on Wednesday which means 3 hour return trip). Full size area was empty upon exit, as was the mid-size.
Aug 3, 2009, 12:10 pm
#94
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 183
I'll be renting a convertible at LAX in August (from Alamo - which I gather is pretty much the same as National?). Does anyone know what I should expect - presumably a Chrysler Sebring convertible? I don't want to take a PT Cruiser and if there's any chance of that then I need to look elsewhere...
Aug 10, 2009, 2:29 pm
#95
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 31
pibrahim - I was at National LAX yesterday evening (8/9) and Alamo had ~3 convertible mustangs and 1 sebring. Didn't see any Volvo C70s at Alamo but National 'Best In Class' aisle had 2.
National's Luxury aisle (where I had reserved) was an absolute joke - had 9 high-mileage Grand Marquis and nothing else. The 'Best In Class' which, as I've posted, is pretty much just Lux cars they won't rent to Free Day coupon holders, had C70s, an S60, C and E Class Merc sedans, and some SUVs.
I ended up using my LUX rental to get an Executive Selection Volvo V50. Also parked in Exec Selection were ~6 Grand Marquis - the same cars that make up their supposed 'Luxury' section. Lame.
National's Luxury aisle (where I had reserved) was an absolute joke - had 9 high-mileage Grand Marquis and nothing else. The 'Best In Class' which, as I've posted, is pretty much just Lux cars they won't rent to Free Day coupon holders, had C70s, an S60, C and E Class Merc sedans, and some SUVs.
I ended up using my LUX rental to get an Executive Selection Volvo V50. Also parked in Exec Selection were ~6 Grand Marquis - the same cars that make up their supposed 'Luxury' section. Lame.
Aug 12, 2009, 4:35 am
#97
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: London
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Plt
Posts: 2,607
Anyone have any recent experiences with the Emerald Reserve convertible selection? Excited to get something that's not a PT Cruiser. Worse case I'll just call and ask that my resv is downgraded to a full size and I'll take something w/ a sunroof.
Aug 12, 2009, 10:46 am
#98
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: YYJ
Programs: Aeroplan, Priority Club, National Exec Elite, Hertz #1 Gold, Avis First, Thrifty Bluechip
Posts: 1,924
Thankfully production of the PT Cruiser convertible ended in December 2007, so it's highly unlikely you'd still find one in the fleet. The "worst" convertible you'd be likely to get would be a Sebring.
Aug 28, 2009, 11:25 am
#99
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kirkland, WA
Programs: AS 75K,UA Gold 1.6MM, Hilton Dia, Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Glb, Natl Exec, Hertz 5*
Posts: 3,657
I had a luxury and an emerald aisle reservation at LAX for 6/17 (wednesday 11:30am).
There was an aisle marked "best in class" that had a black caddy escallade, several mercedes c300's and a nissan 350z....also several volvo hard top convertibles.
I asked about that row. The employee said I could have any of the vehicles with my luxury reservation except for the volvo convertibles.
There was an aisle marked "best in class" that had a black caddy escallade, several mercedes c300's and a nissan 350z....also several volvo hard top convertibles.
I asked about that row. The employee said I could have any of the vehicles with my luxury reservation except for the volvo convertibles.
From my one experience where all the Mercedes were sequestered away from the Luxury aisle and spread around and heavily advertised as special... I asked about them and was told I could use my free day but was then asked to pay $50 extra a day from the "lot monitor"? I was thinking maybe on the weekends they pull them aside and try and rent them to the leisure people but then put them back in the pool when they need all the cars they can get for the weekly business travellers?? So maybe they are blocked from the Luxury category on weekends?
I will be there on Sunday with a Luxury rental so am hoping to get something other than a Grand Marquis or Town Car...
Aug 31, 2009, 11:25 pm
#100
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kirkland, WA
Programs: AS 75K,UA Gold 1.6MM, Hilton Dia, Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Glb, Natl Exec, Hertz 5*
Posts: 3,657
Report back: The entire luxury row was filled..... with Lincoln Town Cars!! Ugh! About 80% of Executive Selection was Grand Marquis' ! The premium row had mostly Avalons and all the Tourings were pretty high mileage and beat up. All 40K plus!
I checked a few Mercedes around and found the keys were not in them so they were keeping them pretty well hoarded although they were all over the place as well as some other nice cars. I looked at the sticker and it said the class is LXAR so it is a luxury class but dont know if the gate keepers will keep you from taking one if you do get one with keys.
I think my suspicion is confirmed that you might get a nicer car in luxury during the week when they are short on cars but on the weekend they want to upsell these cars.
So I ended up taking a Taurus Limited! ugh... but it was comfortable, had low miles, and Sirius was still active on it, so it served me well on my drive out to Palm Springs. The A/C was able to handle the 113 degrees very well
I checked a few Mercedes around and found the keys were not in them so they were keeping them pretty well hoarded although they were all over the place as well as some other nice cars. I looked at the sticker and it said the class is LXAR so it is a luxury class but dont know if the gate keepers will keep you from taking one if you do get one with keys.
I think my suspicion is confirmed that you might get a nicer car in luxury during the week when they are short on cars but on the weekend they want to upsell these cars.
So I ended up taking a Taurus Limited! ugh... but it was comfortable, had low miles, and Sirius was still active on it, so it served me well on my drive out to Palm Springs. The A/C was able to handle the 113 degrees very well
Sep 12, 2009, 3:48 pm
#101
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 31
dmodemd - i had the same experience last weekend. i had a LUX reservation for the weekend w/ free days but found the LUX completely full of Grand Marquis. I canceled my reservation & placed a mid-sized payed reservation for the same period. ended up paying less than 100 for 3 days & got a Ford Flex.
I think I'll just forget about LUX rentals at National for now. Sad. I will try to find out what upcharge is necessary to get to a Best in Class the next time i'm at LAX.
I think I'll just forget about LUX rentals at National for now. Sad. I will try to find out what upcharge is necessary to get to a Best in Class the next time i'm at LAX.
Sep 22, 2009, 1:29 pm
#102
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: MKE
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Plat Pro, MR LTP, others from cards
Posts: 890
dmodemd - i had the same experience last weekend. i had a LUX reservation for the weekend w/ free days but found the LUX completely full of Grand Marquis. I canceled my reservation & placed a mid-sized payed reservation for the same period. ended up paying less than 100 for 3 days & got a Ford Flex.
I think I'll just forget about LUX rentals at National for now. Sad. I will try to find out what upcharge is necessary to get to a Best in Class the next time i'm at LAX.
I think I'll just forget about LUX rentals at National for now. Sad. I will try to find out what upcharge is necessary to get to a Best in Class the next time i'm at LAX.
Sep 23, 2009, 12:11 am
#103
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SAT
Programs: Marriott LTP, Wyndham Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, Delta Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 792
Monday evening around 6:30, the EA had just about all minivans; in the EC I got a Chev Traverse (that is listed as a "Premium Crossover", even though there is no XM, remote start, fog lights, etc, it is an LS model, haven't figured out what is "Premium" about it). The lady I beat to that ended up with a Ford F150, yes from the EC. There was one Sebring convertible, about everything else was a cheap SUV. The buses all had "Reservations Only" on their signs, so I assume they were short of cars.
Sep 27, 2009, 6:54 pm
#104
Moderator: GLBT Travelers & Hyatt Gold Passport
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: CVG
Posts: 15,300
Fri 9/25 around 10PM - EA was a couple of Kia Amatis and a couple of minivans - ES was a vast selection of Mercury Grand Marquis, some Lincoln Town Cars, 1 Dodge Charger, and the 1 Nissan Maxima that I took.
Sep 27, 2009, 9:03 pm
#105
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: DL - Plat, Marriott - Plat, Hilton - Diamond, SPG- Plat, National- ES
Posts: 1,857
forgot to post. Tuesday 9/12 at 9 PM.
NOTHING LOL! Executive had lots of Mini vans, 1 Mitisubshi Convertible and GMC Envoy(took the envoy) Aisle had one Prius, 1 Sebring and some other junk. All in all pretty bad.
NOTHING LOL! Executive had lots of Mini vans, 1 Mitisubshi Convertible and GMC Envoy(took the envoy) Aisle had one Prius, 1 Sebring and some other junk. All in all pretty bad.