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Stealth22 · 07-14-2014, 09:05 AM

Sign up for an Emerald Club membership with National. You get a preferred rate, and you get to skip the counter and choose your own car from the Emerald Aisle, which sometimes has free upgrades like SUV's.

Basically you reserve a Midsize, and you're guaranteed to get at least a Midsize. In the Emerald Aisle, you'll usually get a Full Size car without an issue, or an SUV if you're lucky. You can also book a Full Size and still pick from the Emerald Aisle for usually $5-10 more total. Then if there's nothing you like in Emerald, you head to the Full Size area and pick a car from there.

If you rent 12 times in a year, you get to pick from the Emerald Executive area, which is Full Size at a minimum (at the Midsize rate), but a much higher chance of getting a nicer car. I just rented with National in Toronto for 5 days, and ended up with a fully loaded Ford Edge from the Emerald area...literally brand new, it only had 7km's on the odometer when I picked it up!

In this case, I'd go with WilsonFourTwo's suggestion about AVIS. I checked with National, and they're giving $539 all in, tax included. Keep checking though...I reserved my rental in Toronto with National, with a coupon code for a free day, and checked the rental rates again a week later just for fun. At this point, it was a week before the trip, and I was going there for Canada Day long weekend...the rate had DROPPED by almost 50%. I paid the Midsize rate of $190 for 5 days, and got a fully loaded SUV at no additional cost.

But yeah, National usually tends to give me a competitive rate...most of the time I find they are the cheapest. Not always, but most of the time. And I love being able to walk right past the long line at the counter. I just go right to the garage, and pick my own car from a defined section. Keys are in the ignition...you just check the car for damage before heading out, and show them your driver's license and credit card at the exit. When I returned my car in Toronto, the rental agent walked up to where I parked in the return lane, took the keys from me, checked the mileage, scanned the barcode on the car window with his handheld machine, asked if everything was ok with the rental, confirmed the total price, and gave me my receipt. I got another detailed receipt by e-mail, and was done in less than 60 seconds.

07-14-2014, 09:05 AM	#17
Stealth22 Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: Nov 2010 Exp:	Sign up for an Emerald Club membership with National. You get a preferred rate, and you get to skip the counter and choose your own car from the Emerald Aisle, which sometimes has free upgrades like SUV's. Basically you reserve a Midsize, and you're guaranteed to get at least a Midsize. In the Emerald Aisle, you'll usually get a Full Size car without an issue, or an SUV if you're lucky. You can also book a Full Size and still pick from the Emerald Aisle for usually $5-10 more total. Then if there's nothing you like in Emerald, you head to the Full Size area and pick a car from there. If you rent 12 times in a year, you get to pick from the Emerald Executive area, which is Full Size at a minimum (at the Midsize rate), but a much higher chance of getting a nicer car. I just rented with National in Toronto for 5 days, and ended up with a fully loaded Ford Edge from the Emerald area...literally brand new, it only had 7km's on the odometer when I picked it up! In this case, I'd go with WilsonFourTwo's suggestion about AVIS. I checked with National, and they're giving $539 all in, tax included. Keep checking though...I reserved my rental in Toronto with National, with a coupon code for a free day, and checked the rental rates again a week later just for fun. At this point, it was a week before the trip, and I was going there for Canada Day long weekend...the rate had DROPPED by almost 50%. I paid the Midsize rate of $190 for 5 days, and got a fully loaded SUV at no additional cost. But yeah, National usually tends to give me a competitive rate...most of the time I find they are the cheapest. Not always, but most of the time. And I love being able to walk right past the long line at the counter. I just go right to the garage, and pick my own car from a defined section. Keys are in the ignition...you just check the car for damage before heading out, and show them your driver's license and credit card at the exit. When I returned my car in Toronto, the rental agent walked up to where I parked in the return lane, took the keys from me, checked the mileage, scanned the barcode on the car window with his handheld machine, asked if everything was ok with the rental, confirmed the total price, and gave me my receipt. I got another detailed receipt by e-mail, and was done in less than 60 seconds. Last edited by Stealth22; 07-14-2014 at 09:08 AM.