Using Sixt App to Check-In/Select Car
 

Has anyone here used the Sixt app to check in for your rental and select a vehicle choice? I can't find much information from Sixt on how this feature works or when you can do so... Or does it even work?

I have a rental in Dublin and then from LHR coming up. Any feedback is appreciated!

at least here in the US, there is no such option- they offer you an upgrade sometimes via the app (often for a fee, sometimes for free) but regardless you need to go to the counter to check in. Very annoying.

I've gone through all the steps to activate this, but it has never worked. I believe you're supposed to be able to choose from three vehicles 30 minutes before your pick-up time.

I've used this about 5 years ago in the US. Not sure if it still works.
You can only select a vehicle 30 minutes before scheduled pick up time. Regardless, you still need to stop by the counter.

I have used Fastlane (the name Sixt gives to the app check-in) about a dozen times. I would say I had issues about 50% of the time, but it has only been available to my area I would say for 12 months.

You can select a vehicle 30 minutes prior to your reservation pickup time. The app would provide sometimes free upgrades too. I have noticed that, if you have a status with Sixt, the upgrade is not systematically provided to you even through the car park inventory suggests that there is availability. The pool of cars available through Fastlane is different to the regular pool of cars. When you have trouble with checking-in, no-one can troubleshoot issues at the car park and I was often sent back to the car rental front desk to be checked-in (on a different car) the classic way.

The system got better over time. All in all, it saves me a lot of time compared to the traditional way Sixt does check-in. Sixt cares little about status when you check-in the classic way. There are dedicated lanes, however I have never found them to be respected. Effectively, for these of you who have ever rented cars in the US, using Fastlane is nothing different to be a Hertz Gold Rewards members for instance and going to your car straight away without having to talk to anyone.

I have a Sixt car in PHX tomorrow afternoon (first time using Sixt). I booked it through Expedia to use some points, and selected the pay up front option to further reduce the price. I also liked the online check in option.

But nothing works. First, it took me quite some time to find the "security code" that Sixt said was in the pdf file that I never got. Once I found the code, I tried to check in online and found that they wanted my birthplace - I have never had to show that for any travel reservation made in the USA before - perhaps this is because their site is based on Germany? Then, despite the fact that I had paid Expedia already, they wanted the CVC off of the card, and listed the full amount of the rental. I hope they don't try to double charge me. Finally, once I completed the process, I never got anything showing that I had checked in, and the page simply started all over again. What a horrible site.

Yeah, unfortunately, this is pretty typical with Sixt. Even with pay-later reservations, their online check-in is spotty at best. It's a combination of the fact that Sixt is a German company and poorly implemented IT in the US (this is not the only issue we've seen). That said, other than the aforementioned issues, they run a halfway decent operation (no worse than say a Dollar or Thrifty) and often have nicer vehicles, so they can be a good value. Certainly not on par with Nationa, or even Hertz or Sixt (or even Alamo frankly), when it comes to convenience.

They should have a record of your payment on file when you arrive. Just don't expect to skip the counter. Good luck!

Yeah I've noticed the whole Fastlane/IT thing doesn't seem too reliable. I have a reservation at LHR on the 10th so I'll post an update on how, or if, Fastlane works. The process was a bit weird already, with the app requiring me to take a picture of my face with my drivers license next to it. We will see..

As an update: this past week was the first time the Fastlane thing semi-worked for me on the app. I received a notification 30 minutes before the pick-up time and was offered one car which - if accepted - would have the keys in the vehicle by the time of my arrival, which is not typically the case in this location. I checked the app to see my options but ended up not accepting the car that was offered and opted to go to the desk instead. Initially they offered me the same model with different plates but I managed to get a single category upgrade with platinum status at the desk.

If it matters at all: I had two different post-paid bookings which partially overlapped, and I modified the pick-up time for one of them a few days before. I was only intending to keep one of the bookings but wanted to lock in the price so I booked the two days that would suit me to keep my options open. The only booking for which I received a Fastlane e-mail the day before was the one which was modified. They never sent anything regarding OLCI or Fastlane for the booking which wasn't modified (and I ended up cancelling anyway).

Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you mind also sharing which location this was for?

BRU