marvmiller

I used Avis, but since I'm Gold on NW Worldperks, I should take advantage of mileage earning with either Alamo or National... any recommendations on either one?

Thanks!

nwdc10

I normally use National due to the Emerald Club but find that at most locations, other than rates and which counter you go to, there is no diffrence car wise. If you are booked for a full size car with either company you go to the same line of cars to pick which one you want.

I do find that at for my frequent Tampa rentals that Alamo tends to be cheaper.

marvmiller

After some checking, I found out that I earn more miles (250 miles) on Dollar or Thrifty.

Any recommendations then?

Marvin

rwill11

theres a coupon in this months wp statement for triple miles+1 class UG on alamo. 450 miles ^

ldahl

I used to do only Budget but starting last year I have done Thrifty where available Dollar if not and Budget if I have to. Thrifty has been great price wise as well as with more miles than Dollar, (if I remember right). Particuliarly in Europe where I have gotten great free upgrades from the tiny things reserved orginally.

Alpha Golf

I think National and Alamo are the same company, and often the operation is joint.

To be honest, the miles are so low, I normally go to Hertz for the service -- even though it's not a partner. Unless I need propotion points of course.

dw8146

I know Hertz tacks on an extra charge for the miles, do the other car rental companies do the same?

Alpha Golf

They tack on the FFM tax, but it's a matter of cents.

Edited to add excerpt from website:

For rentals in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada when the renter chooses to receive Frequent Flyer miles or credits from the following U.S. airline programs Hertz will assess a Frequent Flyer Surcharge equivalent to $0.50 per day up to a maximum of $2.00 per rental. The amount assessed is collected by Hertz to offset a portion of Hertz' annual cost of participation in Frequent Flyer programs.

AirTran Airways
Alaska Airlines
Aloha Airlines
America West Airlines
Continental Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Frontier Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Midwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways

For rentals in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada when the renter chooses to receive miles in the American Airlines AAdvantage program the Frequent Flyer Surcharge will be calculated based on the Federal Excise Tax expense incurred by Hertz when it purchases miles from American Airlines. Under the Tax Relief Act of 1997, all companies that purchase Frequent Flyer miles from airlines must pay a 7.5% Excise Tax on the cost of those miles (on average, 6 cents per day).

Join AAdvantage, save 44c.

themicah

The reason NW doesn't partner with Hertz or Avis is because they insist on charging customers so much for the miles.

Alamo and National charge us a few pennies for taxes associated with the miles, but it's much less than the fees Hertz and Avis charge for the miles you can earn with other airlines when renting with them.

RobtheAggie

If you are going for less than 5 days, Thrifty and Dollar are better than Alamo/National.

Days 1-4:
Thrifty or Budget: 250 Miles
Alamo/National: 50 per day Miles

Days 5-7:
Thrifty or Budget: 250 Miles
Alamo/National: 250 miles to 350 miles

8 days +:
Thrifty or Budget: 500 miles
Alamo/Thrifty: 400 +

It all depends on how long you are going to rent a car.

http://www.nwa.com/freqfly/earn/wp_p...carrental.html

rwill11

nw elite fliers get 150 pts per day with Alamo

SpinzCity

>>>>>I think National and Alamo are the same company, and often the operation is joint.

Be sure to join National Emerald Club (free with NW gold elite--silver too?--though you can also get it free by joining Mousesavers). My before-last rental in MCO there were no subcompacts, so I asked and employee, and she just told me to take whatever car I wanted. Another time at another location the driver of the limo just said to take whatever, so I took a full-size car with my subcompact reservation and was charged the subcompact price. But my last MCO rental the gate agent walked me over from the National aisle to the Alamo aisle and made me take an Alamo subcompact, saying that they share the fleet.

CaveatEmpty

From comments in the car-rental forums, I chose National last weekend @ MCO:
Reserved a Sebring Conv. for Fri-Sat -- all gone: only available ragtop was a Cruiser. No problem.
Reserved an econo-box for Sat-Sun -- all gone: they gave me a Buick LX, with apologies -- no extra charge. ^

They were very understaffed, but seemed to bust their hump for good service.
I'm usually a Hertz guy; in this case, the 2x5 NWA Xtreme credits were worth lots more than a few hundred miles -- even saved a few bucks.

I may be a convert.
/.

themicah

I generally find Alamo to be cheaper than National, but will only choose Alamo over National if it's significantly cheaper, since I find the Emerald Aisle service at locations that have it to be very nice. At smaller locations without Emerald Aisle, the difference between Alamo and National is generally negligible (they're often the same counter in the airport). But at big locations, I've had to wait in line forever with Alamo, and never with National.

I find myself renting with Hertz more often than not, however, since they often have very good prices with the AAA discount, and if you book through Hertz with your AAA code, anyone with a AAA card is automatically an authorized driver, and AAA provides free liability insurance.

Also, it doesn't really matter what the name of the company is, pretty much all major companies will "upgrade" you if they're out of the kind of car you reserved for the price at which you reserved. I've gotten Town Cars and Mustangs from Hertz with Compact reservations. And a Ford 500 on an economy reservation with Enterprise. One time I reserved a minivan with Alamo, and they were out. We got two mid-sized cars for the price of the one minivan instead.

RichMSN

While I love earning miles whenever I can, I don't bother with car rentals.

I want preferred service (with keys in the ignition at most locations) and I don't want to have to fill out a form detailing every scratch on a car. So I always rent from Hertz or Avis and pass on the miles.

And since Hertz changed their terms, it's going to be Avis for the forseeable future.