Cars at DEN
 

Hiya.
Just reserved my first National rental at Denver Airport. Am an Emerald Club member now (not exec). Rented a fullsize.

Any idea of what they typically have for fullsize or in the Emerald club area?

My receipt also says 'counter service', I'm guessing because this is my first rental they want to verify my license or something? (arriving at midday)

I've never been to the counter, so no idea regarding that. Also don't know about fullsize -- that might be why counter, normally I think I always get "intermediate" or something like that. Maybe if you reserve fullsize you get a specific car and that's why they sent you to counter.

The Emerald Isle (non-Exec) usually has mostly SUV's, except when you really want one. :) Certainly during the week in summer, they will be very available. If you switch to mid-size or intermediate or whatever it is, maybe you'll go from counter to aisle and can just get an SUV. I usually pick out the small cars so don't know exactly what kind of SUV's they are these days. My last car there was a Toyota Corolla, they have the usual mix of Pontiacs (grand prix, g6, etc.) and Chevys but often only a few cars, more SUV's.

It's a bus from the terminal to the lot, and Emerald has its own stop (before the building with the National/Alamo counters).

I concur with jd2000, the last time I was there the aisle was full of SUV's and not the gas friendly kind. There was also the normal Grand Prixs' and Impalas as usual. Nothing to exciting.

One more thing you should know: when you get off the train in the main terminal, go to "Terminal East" exit, it's a shorter ride than from "Terminal West".

Thanks jd200 and shpatel...
Ya, I changed my reservation to just the midsize and now have emerald Club status on the reservation.
Appreciate the tip on the Terminal East/West.
I am contemplating taking an SUV if available. I will be driving A LOT over 10 days, gas will be an issue, so if they are all horrible guzzlers I'll have to skip them.
Will be there next week!

get a prius:) you may find one in the midsize aisle if you get lucky but the chance of this is probably low?

I just arrived in DEN today and rented my first National car there after good experiences in MSP and ATL the last few weeks. I am Emerald Club and expected to see nice cars in the Exec Selection area, but when the bus dropped me off the pickings were quite slim... well, slim for me as I had reserved a Premium and I saw maybe two Toyota Avalons on the lot. There were two new Malibus that looked to be fully loaded, but had already been taken. Also saw many G6s, Chevy HHRs, Chrysler Sebrings... and 1 Pontiac G8. I started to get my luggage in the G8 until I realized it wasn't the GT version (V8), so I was getting ready to switch to an Avalon when an attendant brought a shiny Volvo V70 from the wash... so I jumped in that one and drove off! ^

So DEN looked to me like the other National locations I have rented from... many GM and Chrysler cars, plus a smattering of nicer, better-equipped cars like Avalons, Malibus and the occasional Volvo. I guess my suggestion to the OP is... if you don't like what you see on the lot, wait a bit and see what the attendants bring up! :D

Was it a 2008 Volvo V70?

Correction... It's a 2009 model. Had 114 miles on the clock when I grabbed it. No sat radio but very comfortable and good power for the drive up to the mountains.

http://www.volvocars.com/us/models/V...s/default.aspx

Lucky you- and I thought only Hertz carried Volvos!

When I rented from DEN last weekend, there were many Suburbans in the Executive Selection.

Nice Surprise in DEN Today(7/14)
 

Flew into DEN this morning, upon arrival in the EA it was mostly minivans with a couple of 4Runners, but the lot attendant said, "If you want a car, this is all I have-" while pointing at a dark orange G8 with leather seats, 18" wheels, and a sunroof(not a GT though :(). Guess which one I chose?

If you read our "Ride Reports" thread, you'd see that National does indeed have Volvos (and in the Exec section, they often have a lot of them).

It was my impression that most of those were S60s- I think the V70 wagons are a bit more rare.

I flew into DEN on evening of 8/5. In total the Emerald and Em. Exec. sections had about 40 vehicles. About 35 were minivans (yechh). Also saw a couple of small pickups (didn't even know Nat rented these!). I found exactly three SUVs: 2 were not available due to missing keys and I took the only other one - a 4Runner. The car is a beast for me travelling alone, but the mpg so far is actually a bit better than I expected it would be.