National Car Rental Ft. Lauderdale International Airport: The Only Color-Blind, Model-Blind Rental Agency In Florida!
Written: Sep 04 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: excellent staff in all ways, no problems with the car
Cons: needs more colors and models to choose from
The Bottom Line: It's the bottom line - you're choice - could go either way on this company.
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| jetbluefan1's Full Review: National |
On our most recent vacation to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we rented a car from National Car Rental. We booked our tickets through Delta Air Lines which gave us a 20% discount. This was our second time renting with them, and our second successful experience with them. We had rented once in Orlando and had no problems.
Our plan was to rent a car for eight days, then pick up the company car at our hotel in Boca Raton. For eight days, we got a good fare of $280. We needed the car for our trip to Naples on the other side of Florida, but we weren’t charged additional as one isn’t charged per mile. At the time of the booking, we let the agent know that we would be returning the car to the National in Hollywood. She said that it would be fine and there would be no additional charges.
At Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, there are car rental agency ticketing counters in every terminal in front of the baggage claim. At the Delta terminal, there are only two counters for National and there was only one agent at the time of our arrival. There wasn’t a wait, so we stepped right up to the available agent. He was very friendly and helpful. He showed us how to get to the parking lot and gave us a map to show us how to get to the resort.
The agent asked if my wife would be driving too. I asked him why he asked, and he told me that it would be an additional $5 per day for each extra driver. After my wife and I discussed it, we decided that I would be the only driver. He also asked if we wanted to buy rental car insurance from National, and I let him know that I was a careful driver while turning him down on the offer. Insurance on rental cars is way overpriced.
We stepped outside and walked to the bus stop which would take us to the car rental agency parking lot. Nation Car Rental’s lot is located on-site, but cheaper companies like Alamo are sometimes located off-site. The bus came about ten minutes after we got to the stop. When getting aboard, the driver took our luggage and put them on these little nets near the ceiling of the bus.
The bus was air conditioned and very clean. There were seats going around the outline of the bus, but with no seat belts. We had to make stops at a few other terminals before going straight to the National parking lot. When getting to the lot, the driver took our luggage out and directed us to the compact car row. He told us that we could select any car in the row.
Unlike Avis, National doesn’t just rent from GM. They rent also from Mitsubishi and GM along with some other companies. I was sad to see that there were only three different models in the compact car parking lot: Chevy Malibu, Mitsubishi Gallant and some Buick. The colors were red, while, silver or gold. It would have been nice if there was a bit more of selection of colors and models.
National also rents cars in other classes. They have luxury cars which are like Lincoln Continental Town cars, the Sebring sedan, and some Cadillac models. They also have sports cars which usually are convertibles and Eclipses. They also had the new Mitsubishi Spider.
There are also cars for the family. At National, one can rent a van, SUV, or even a mini-SUV like the Jeep Liberty. They didn’t have any Jeep Cherokees, but there were Jeep Grand Cherokees. None of the family cars were of models older than 2002. But then again, family cars are a lot more to rent than compact or sporty.
The keys were in the ignition waiting for us when we chose the 2003 (2002?) Mitsubishi Gallant. It had 11,000 miles on it, so that means that it was pretty new. It had air conditioning, but there wasn’t a tape player or CD player. There was a very small amount of trunk space, but it was very easy to handle and it didn’t need much space to park. It was fine for my wife and I as we didn’t need anything special. The vacation’s about the trip - not the car.
The keys were in the ignition waiting for us when we chose the 2003 (2002?) Mitsubishi Gallant. So you may be thinking, “Anyone could just drive off with another car of higher class since the doors are unlocked and the keys are inside!” Well, no that’s not the case.
After you select your car, you have to check it out. That means that you have to go to these toll-booth looking buildings and hand the agent inside the toll booth your confirmation letter. It will show which class of car you are renting, and the agent will make sure that one has the correct car.
Besides making sure that we had the correct car, the agent had to find the license plate number and had to see if there were any dents or scratches on the car before we left. She let us know that if I made any scratches or dents on it, I’d be held responsible and would have to pay for them to be removed from the car.
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with National. The price I paid was fair, and I know that the Florida markets have higher rental car prices than those in Wyoming. The staff members were friendly, and the car ran fine. My only complaint was that there weren’t enough compact cars to choose from. Besides that, I guess I would rent from National Car Rental again.
Recommended:
Yes
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