Advantage Rent a Car - Should I be concerned

I rebooked through auto slash for Advantage. I just was rebooked for 3 days for $55 or $7 a day.... should I be concerned? I have read through some threads here and it seems find but I am looking for a reassuring pat on the back I suppose. I am double booked through firefly just to be safe. I don't really need a rental but it ensures me an in and out trip.. and at that cost is cheaper than uber/taxis to get downtown form Airport, then to Cosmo from Downtown.

 

Back when Advantage was the little sister of Hertz, our travel department used them a lot and I never had any issues over several times in Las Vegas. However (comma) a co-worker reported to me that once he saw the Advantage line out into the middle of the Rental Center atrium! I've never seen this. I've been doing mostly Enterprise recently and sometimes Avis/Budget.

 

Yeah I read through that thread dmr. That is mainly way I kept the back up plan.... it js just that the price is low it is almost. Not believable.

 

We used Advantage in November, I reserved a little chit box and that's what I got. But it was fine and there wasn't much of a line.

 

Thanks LV was looking for recent experiences... I just need a car that runs without them adding charges or spending 30 minutes trying to sell me insurance.

 

I rented from them in September with no problems and no hard sell of insurance. I just told them that I had my own insurance and didn't need any "extras". As with any rental agency, always check your bill to make sure that you are charged exactly the amount of your reservation. If the bill is higher then they tacked on something, usually a daily "lock out" charge (in case you lock your keys in the car) or some other daily fee like flat tire or towing fee.

I'm renting from them next week, price was awesome because it is during the big convention. I reserved a mid sized car for 5 nights for only $106. This rate was the cheapest of all agencies, including Fox and Ez.

I never encountered long lines but during "worst case" scenarios when many airlines arrive at the same time I guess the line could get long. Good that you have a backup reservation just in case.

I've probably rented from advantage for probably 2 decades (the las vegas location was initially called US rent a car before Advantage took them over).

 

Glad to hear. Thanks. I was looking for a recent experience. Yeah the rate I got is amazing. Thanks for taking the time and good luck on your trip [emoji481]

 

Make sure to print our your e mail with total pricing. Also READ the contract before signing it to make sure the quoted price is the same. They were very cheap but after trying to up sell me and me saying no, no and no again, when the final place came to sign they had extra "mandatory" fees . I had to argue with them but did get them removed. I think it depends on the agent how much up sell garbage you get. Many folks after saying no just assume that the extras are removed. I would rent with them again but just be very careful about what I signed.

 

Thanks good advice especially since I am book Via a third party site autos slash. Thanks

 

I was in Orlando this past month waiting on line for my rental car. They were taking forever upselling. Gave the guy a ten dollar sandwich said i am very tired just want the car. Didn't try to sell me anything. Shortest time ever to get through the counter. Guy was super nice and got me in and out. Might be worth a try.

 

LOL! "Money talks and nobody walks."

 

That may be worth it honestly I will give it a shot!

 

I just used advantage for the first time last week. Normally I go with thrifty but advantage was significantly cheaper. No issues- they asked I wanted basic or premium coverage, I said none and he didn't press it further. There was no damage noted on their slip and I didn't see any but when I brought it back the guy found a crack on one of the rear lights- luckily I had taken a photo of the license plate and showed it to him and said "you can see the damage was there" so he accepted that.

I would still take thrifty for the blue chip convenience, but advantage was just fine.

 

I am arriving in Las Vegas around midnight on a Friday. Will there likely be no line at this time?

 

[QUOTE;1255357]I am arriving in Las Vegas around midnight on a Friday. Will there likely be no line at this time?[/QUOTE]

From my experience with car rentals, you can NEVER tell when there will be or won't be a line. I arrived at midnght once (several years ago) and stood in an Alamo line for 2 1/2 hours. I've recently been much more lucky recently. It appears that one or another of the vendors will have a "sale" and there will be long lines, while most of the others will be pretty quick. I'm a confirmed hotwire user, so I never get to pick which agency I use.

 

So here is my report from Advantage. Line for bus was long and made me worried. Showed up to rental car center and there two people at counter and I was the first one in line.

No real hard sell as I asked the clerk if she needed my insurance card. She mentioned the usual loss of use blah blah blah but no big deal.

She was gonna put me in a Hundai Elantra. Then type type type, a minute later she said she was giving me a free upgrade to an Infiniti A50. Boo-yah.

I would say I was in and out in 10 minutes.

I go to the car to grab my car and check out any damage. There was a small chip on the windshield I did not know about until I left but it was repaired already. The car had 24k miles on it was clean but smelled like air freshener and weed. I made sure to note it with the clerk and went on my way. When I dropped it off I mentioned the smell he said they try their best but a lot of cars come back like that!

Rental price $55. Weed smell aside I would rent from them again.

One thing I do not like is I have a $200 deposit that they charge, not a hold but a charge. They emailed me a receipt and it shows the cost at $55 but my CC was charged $255 from my date of arrival. Clerk said it would be refunded, I will give it a week before it I called them.

 

Interesting. I never notice a deposit on my cc bill. Just got my cc statement for my rental 2 weeks ago and no deposit on it. yes they supposedly take out $$ but I never had a problem with them removing it after I get my final bill.

I also like advantage because lots of times they give me an upgrade. My last rental 2 weeks ago I reserved and paid for an economy car but I ended up with a camry. I never see upgrades with many of the other agencies like ez, payless and even budget or alamo. This was surprising because it was during the CES convention so must have been busy but I still got a free upgrade.

btw, also note that Advantage and ez have merged in vegas but they still have separate booths in the rental facility. When you go out to get your car they direct both ez and advantage to the same area.

Can't believe that prices are so high for march. I checked the Costco site and can't get a rental for under $200 for my rental period. I already reserved a car from Advantage for the same period for $160 just in case.

 

Interesting so you did not see a +$200 and then a -$200 on your statement? Cause my online shows a posted transaction of $251.

My final bill, statement, shows the amount of $55 dollars.

They charged the CC outright. Maybe I will shoot em a quick email if anything it would be an easy dispute to win.

 

I saw the $200 on my cc bill when I picked up the rental and saw the -200 on my final bill from them but on my cc statement I didn't see it. Maybe it took advantage a few days to record the cc so when I returned the car the charge negated itself? Not sure.


anyway give us a post if you have problems with them backing out the $200 charge but I never had a problem with them crediting me that deposit after I get back home.


When I returned my car I got a final receipt with the charge backed out:


TOTAL CHARGES: 110.62
TOTAL PAYMENTS: 310.62
TOTAL REFUNDS: -200.00
TOTAL DUE: 0.00

although this disclaimer was right below the amounts:

** Refunds may take up to 21 business days to process, depending upon your financial
institution.



not bad for a 5 day camry rental though during CES.

 

I sure will. Usually most rental companies just do a hold then add it all in when you return the car. Looked at receipt it says total refund - $201... I will give a week then contact em.