Advantage Rent A Car is a privately held rental car company, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. We
Advantage Rent A Car is a privately held rental car company, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. We’re a proven service-focused company that provides business, leisure, government and local customers with a wide range of services at more than 150 U.S. locations and 130 locations in 33 countries internationally.
Summary: Never rent from this company. They use deceptive marketing and selling practices, and will charge you for everything extra that they can, even when you have explictly said you don't want the various little add-ons they attempt to push on you to increase the fee. Their cars are cheap and poorly maintained as well. So, while they might seem to have cheaper prices, in the end you'll end up paying more, get horrible customer service, and be stuck with a well-used car. Better to go with Hertz and Avis and pay a bit more for something reliable, and a company that does not cheat you.
Strengths: Cheap, but you get what you pay for. Buyer beware!
Summary: WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!
I rented a midsize SUV through JetBlue website to be picked up at Las Vegas for my family trip to Las Vegas, Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion etc. I arrived at Las Vegas with my wife and two kids at 11pm. It took the clerk about 20 minutes to do the paperwork, and at the very end he asked me to sign a small "Rental agreement addendum" saying that I'm not allowed to go to any state but Nevada, California, Arizona, and Utah. I said that I can't sign it since I was planning to go to Yellowstone (passing through Idaho, Wyoming, etc). Then he said that I would have to pay 99$ per day + 0.99$ per mile for my trip out of the 4 states! Nice deal isn't it? I called for a supervisor Alex Carbone and he claimed that I hadn't read the restrictions on the website, BUT on the JetBlue website there is no such a restriction (I checked!)! I offered him to open JetBlue website on his computer but he claimed that he doesn't have internet access. Finally he said that he can cancel the reservation and this is the best he can do (let me remind that I was with two kids and it already was midnight!).
To summarize: avoid this company, since even if you read ALL rules and restrictions they will invent new rules /restrictions just to charge you hundreds of extra $$$!
Would you like to Comment? Join CarReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Rating Reviewed by: mistydogg(Unregistered User)
Review Date June 9, 2008
Overall Rating 1 of 5
Value Rating 2 of 5
Used product for Less than 1 month
Review 3 of 6
Price Paid:
$0.00
Summary: On a recent trip to New Mexico, Utah and Colorado I rented from Advantage, because of the slight savings it offered compared with the major, national rental companies. The wait at the Albuquerque counter was almost an hour, for that one agent on duty (There were about a dozen people behind me waiting too). I had significant mechanical problems with my car several hundred miles from any of Advantage's offices. Neither the original rental office in Albuquerque nor the national help line offered much assistance. It was as if they had never dealt with a problem such as mine before. I spent almost an entire day trying to resolve my difficulty.
This was an unusual circumstance with an almost new rental car. Still, WHEN YOU RENT FROM ADVANTAGE YOU DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. This company is totally unprepared for rental problems of any sort and has TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. I plan to stick to the major, national rental companies in the future.
Would you like to Comment? Join CarReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: Beware of any ‘special’ offers from Advantage! I found a great internet special and ending paying 3x’s what I was quoted and put up with the worst customer service imaginable.
I was flying into Denver, Colorado on a three day trip and needed to rent a car to travel to Breckenridge. I found a internet special from Advantage offering a Spring Break special which would waive the young driver’s fee. It was valid in 13 states including Colorado. I booked the car through the link on the website and had no issues. I received the confirmation the day before with a charge showing $0 for the young driver’s fee.
When I arrived at the Denver airport at almost midnight I was charged 3X’s what I was quoted because the Young Driver’s fee was not waived. The manager accused me of making up the deal arguing that it was illegal to waive young driver’s fees. The following day I called customer service to get the charge refunded. Again, I was greeted by a rude, combative agent that didn’t believe the special existed. She almost hung up on me, but I forced her to type in the website. She read the special back to me and then abruptly put me on hold when she read the young driver’s fee was waived. Twenty minutes later she came back the phone to tell me that Denver did not participate in the special. Isn’t Denver in Colorado??? … stated specifically in the special? Apparently not… I was told it was my responsibility to verify the specials they offered were actually honored before I traveled. Not giving up, I called once more a few days later hoping to get a better customer service agent. This time, Denver was included in the special, but they couldn’t change my charges because the account was closed!!!
Moral of the story is… avoid Advantage at all costs!
Would you like to Comment? Join CarReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: I wish I would have read this forum before renting from Advantage. My experience was the worst either my husband or I have had ever with a rental car company. Their website stated an Intermediate car rental would provide me with a Dodge Avenger "or similar". Since I had previously rented the Avenger (from Thrifty) I knew this size car was appropriate. However, when I arrived to pick up my Intermediate car I was given a Toyota Corolla which upon inspecting I quickly realized was much smaller than the Avenger or similar sized sedan. I inquired with the rental agent if the Corolla was a Intermediate car and was told it was not, but they did not have any available, therefore my only options were to pay for an upgrade, wait until the next day for an Intermediate to become available (they could not tell me a specific time), or keep the Corolla. I voiced my displeasure with these "options" but wanting to continue my vacation, left with the Corolla. Later I called the Advantage Reservation hotline and was told by their rep that a Corolla was indeed a COMPACT car, but that I would have to speak with Customer Service to resolve the issue. I followed up with Customer Service and the agent there contradicted the Reservations and Rental Agents by saying a Corolla was an INTERMEDIATE car. All in all, no resolution was offered and none of the information provided by Advantage was accurate or consistent. It is obvious that this company is only interested in making extra money on upgrades and there is no real concern for the customer. I will never again rent from them and hope you do not.
Would you like to Comment? Join CarReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Link to this page
1 of 5
View Comments (1)
2 of 5
