Review of Alamo Fullsize Rental at (RNO) Reno/Tahoe International Airport

Alamo RNO Fullsize Rental Review

After deplaning from my flight from Las Vegas to Reno, I headed
straight for the counter of Alamo Rent A Car at RNO.  I was greeted by
Pedro, who predictably tried to up sell me on their insurance and
prepaid gas options, neither of which I opted for, since I was only in
town for 36 hours.

I did not get to pick, when I went out to the cars, but he gave me a
choice between a 2013 Chevy Impala and a 2014 Chevy Malibu.  Since the Impala had the
leather seats, I chose it.  The car was actually situated in a National stall, K3, instead of an Alamo one.  The dark gray Chevy Impala LTZ, unfortunately, had an Arizona license plate.  I like to keep my rental cars to those with more local plates, but I did not know about it, when I made my choice.  They gave me a lone key for the car with no clicker or other remote access to the vehicle.

As I drove from RNO to the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Sparks, I barely had to adjust the mirrors.  The Impala LTZ drove very nicely.  When I had to go to Incline Village, located in North Lake Tahoe, the car performed well on the Mount Rose highway.

I filled up the tank at the Valero on Mill Street prior to returning it to Alamo.  Alfredo was my Alamo car return attendant and he did a great job.  He helped me the last time that I was in Reno and rented a car from National.

Review of Hertz Midsize Rental at (EWR) Newark Liberty International Airport

I had first reserved a full size car at the EWR Hertz location through the Southwest portal, but as I always do, I recheck the prices several times before the day of the rental, the last being the day of.  When I checked it the day of the rental, I noticed that the price of the Midsize car was about $14 cheaper for the day and would be adequate for our needs, so I reserved the Midsize for $32 and cancelled the Fullsize rental that I had reserved for $46 for my 24 hour car rental.

We were able to get to the Hertz airport location on the Airtrain at the P3 stop.  I had forgotten to add my Hertz Gold number, so we had to head to the normal counter, which wasnt a big deal, since there was no one else there.  I was really impressed by the look of the location, since it looked very modern and had lots of tablets for kids and adults to spend time, while another family member gets checked in.

Diane, the agent who helped us, went through the normal rigmarole, asking me if I needed any of the add-ons.  I bit on the per-paid fuel option, since, if I drove less than 100 miles and I don't have time refill the car, they will only charge me $0.31 per mile driven.  Diane, also, upgraded us to a Fullsize car, a white 2013 Ford Fusion.  Though it had over 40,000 miles on it, it did have Sirius XM and leather seats.  There was a slight cigarette smell in the car, but it dissipated pretty quickly.  I had to ask for an EZPass transponder, since the Fusion was not equipped with one.

The car drove well on the wet, ill-lit New Jersey Turnpike.  We arrived at the Courtyard Edison Woodbridge with no issues.  The next day we headed to the Metuchen Sportsplex and then back to EWR.  I filled up the car at the Gulf station, just across from the Hertz location by P3 parking.

When we returned the car, the return agen found a ding on the front right side of the car.  I had not inspected the car before driving off, since we were in a hurry to get to the hotel.  They did not hold me liable for the damage, since they had not properly inventoried the vehicle the day before.  Even though I drove less than 40 miles, the receipt had me down as having driven more than 200.

Review of Alamo Midsize Rental in San Diego from September 8-September 12

As I usually do, I made my rental car reservation through Southwest, since I have found it to be consistently the cheapest method to rent vehicles, when I travel.  This trip was no different.  I was able to reserve a midsize car for my entire trip for less than $25 a day.  After landing in San Diego on Southwest Flight 449, I proceeded to the shuttle to take me to Alamo.  Luckily, my wait was less than 5 minutes for the shuttle.

When I arrived at Alamo at around 10:30pm, I tipped the driver, Enrique, and then proceeded to the kiosk to check in and get my rental car.  I took the prepaid fuel option, since I would most likely use up the whole tank on my trip and I would be leaving at an ungodly early hour on Friday, September 12.

After my rental contract printed at the kiosk, I exited the main building and proceeded to check out my choices in midsize vehicles.  I normally select a Kia or a Hyundai, since they have XM or Sirius satellite radio installed.  This time I chose a silver 2014 Chevy Cruze, since the only two other choices were a Chrysler 200 and a Toyota Corolla.

I picked the Chevy Cruze because it had California plates (I always try to have "local" plates, just in case the police like to stop out-of-towners), looked brand new and it had leather seats.  The car also drives well.  It is not a car that I would purchase, since I normally look for dependability and longevity in a vehicle, but I usually rent cars that I would not normally drive.

I returned the car at 5am on Friday, September 12.  As usual, the return was quick and painless, since they know me well at this location.  The shuttle bus arrived just as they handed me the receipt, so I made my way to the shuttle.  After boarding the shuttle, I noticed that I did not have my cell phone.  The shuttle driver, JR,  held the bus for the two minutes it took me to retrieve my iPhone.  In fact, he radioed over to the car return area and they met me half way and handed me my phone.

The shuttle dropped me off at the Southwest terminal and I was the only person to deboard.  All of the others on the bus were headed to the Delta terminal.

My experience with San Diego Alamo was what I have come to expect, since I go to San Diego at least once a month.  If you need to rent a car in San Diego, I would recommend Alamo highly for the low cost and prompt and friendly customer service.