help me find the best car rental at san antonio airport

March 20, 2017 10:21 PM

Please give me feedback on good car rental experiences, We went through the San Antonio airport last year and had bad luck with hertz, we are travelling with a five year old and are getting our flight in may,so many companies to choose from,best recommendations and why Thanks for any help, I appreciate it!
posted by Upon Further Review to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

I've rented from Hertz, Avis, Budget, Dollar, and Enterprise (and possibly others I don't remember) and found the experience generally similar no matter which one I picked. These days I usually go with Hertz (mostly due to Gold Club membership through my work), but I'd say pick the one that's cheapest that has the kind of car you want. Do you reserve a car in advance, or do you just try to pick up one at the airport? I always reserve, and I'd imagine that helps the experience go more smoothly for me.
posted by Aleyn at 11:40 PM on March 20, 2017

I always go with the cheapest (which seems to always be either Budget or Alamo) and have never had a bad experience.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:23 AM on March 21, 2017

Avis, Budget, and Payless are all the same company. Hertz, Thrifty, and Dollar are all the same company. 3 companies control 95% of the rental car market, and one of them is Enterprise, which generally avoids airports, so really you are renting from Avis or Hertz. no matter what the brand may be. I've never found any real difference between any of them.
posted by COD at 7:29 AM on March 21, 2017

Right, most of the companies are all the same with the cheaper ones often meaning a longer shuttle drive from the airport and maybe longer lines. What kind of bad luck did you have? Maybe you want to read some articles about how to arm yourself against their upsell tactics?
posted by soelo at 7:32 AM on March 21, 2017

What are you looking for? Most affordable? Best service?
posted by amaire at 11:45 AM on March 21, 2017

I travel about every week for work and have done this for years. I have had several trips to San Antonio. I pretty much always rent with Alamo because I have found them to be reliable (unlike Hertz, which has occasionally not had cars despite reservations) and reasonably fast getting through the line at the counter (unlike Budget, Dollar, and Avis).
posted by bile and syntax at 2:17 PM on March 21, 2017

I once had a HORRIBLE experience with Dollar at the San Antonio Airport, with the counter clerk taking offense at something innocuous I said and refusing to rent me a car. Is was at once infuriating, humiliating, frustrating and deeply inconvenient. I will never rent from Dollar again at any location.

That said, it was at least 15 years ago and unlikely to have any bearing on your selection of a rental car company.
posted by carterk at 5:19 PM on March 21, 2017

Response by poster: What we want is most affordable small car, four door- like (A focus) that is pre reserved as promised- and good customer service too. well- some FYI, the Rental I had was at Hertz, we had a reservation, the car wasn't available- we were given an upgrade and were charged a lot extra- even with a AAA discount. Thanks everyone for the info- I appreciate the upsell tactics articles, and will have to check on insurance further!
posted by Upon Further Review at 9:16 PM on March 21, 2017