Josue Puentes

We are going on a big Road Trip at the end of October. There’s 6 of us, and although we have a minivan, I’d much rather rent a vehicle for the week than put the mileage and strain on our family car. So we’ve been looking at renting a vehicle for the trip and we ran into the 7-passenger SUVs, particularly the Luxury kind. My wife has an infatuation with Escalades, and she hoped we could perhaps have one for our trip.
It’s been a while since we last rented a vehicle here in Orlando. I actually used to frequent the Orlando Airport (MCO) all the time due to my previous job. I know it’s typically more expensive, but I always liked how you could choose any car parked under the class you booked. However, I didn’t know if things are still that way, so I decided to make a quick recon trip to the Airport to check things out and see what “class booking” would work best for us. However, I noticed Hertz now parks their vehicles under stall numbers, and Alamo and Enterprise, although they still have “car type sections”, the good cars, or rather the ones I’m interested in, are not under any designated section, but I did see a few Escalades and of course Navigators parked about, among the many QX80s, Suburbans, and Yukons also available.
My question is this, does anybody know (maybe from previous experience or from working there) if the rental process at the airport is still the same as before? Meaning that you can pick any car parked under that class. If so, what would be the best “car class” to book under, in order to get that Luxury SUV, preferable an Escalade. If it’s not the same as before however, and things have changed at MCO, what class booking would guarantee me being able to get that Escalade we hope to have?
Hertz’s app shows as if I have to book the actual Luxury class, which is the most expensive of course. Enterprise shows the QX80 or similar listed under Luxury SUV with the Escalade instead showing under their Exotic rentals site. And Alamo just lists the same as Enterprise with the QX80 or similar under Luxury SUV.
I appreciate any insight or help anyone can give.
Thanks!

Skfoster17376

I booked a Luxury SUV at Hertz at FLL in June and received an Escalade with no problem. I would proceed with caution because it was stolen the next day and the officer said it was a very common among vehicle thieves.

GW McLintock

I rented a couple of Escalades, albeit in SLC, and they were not stolen. They are very, very nice; of the large SUVs they are my favorite.

I was watching a video on YouTube not too long ago, and a good way to prevent others from stealing your car is to remove one of the important relays from the fuse box (e.g., the fuel injection, ignition). If you just remove a fuse, any thief could figure that out and pop one back in. That said, have an awareness of your surroundings; I really don't think this will be necessary, but here is the video if you'd like to watch. I have never had a rental car stolen in over 10 years of renting.


If you book Luxury SUV, I believe Hertz will assign you the vehicle and it's generally the Escalade or a Lincoln Navigator (which is also very nice and I think does a little better on gas). I've never booked a specific class with National (and never used Alamo) so I can't comment as to those.

-J.

m907

I think you're more likely to get a QX80 at Hertz than anything else.

OP, tell your wife that the Escalade is just a dressed up Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon. The Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition Limited are better cars IMO.

GW McLintock

I haven't rented at Hertz in a year or two so I wouldn't know how it is now. But back in the day if you booked an Escalade (class), you got an Escalade.

The Escalade has the 6200 V8 which is a beast. The Lincoln has a turbo V6 which is great but it's just not as smooth. The Infiniti is trash. I liked the Q50/Q60 but the rest of them are trash.

-J.