Advantage Car Rental Consumer Reviews - Page 4

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- This was the first time that I rented from Advantage, and it was a pretty good experience compared to what I have read here. We arrived at LAX, got our bags and went to the curbside pickup to wait for the shuttle. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the shuttle and while I did see numerous shuttles for the other rental car companies drive by, 10 minutes was an acceptable time to wait to be picked up. The shuttle was clean, the driver was friendly and the air conditioning worked well.

With traffic at LAX, it took about 15-20 minutes to get to the Advantage facility. Granted it is not the cleanest or newest rental facility that I have gone into, but it was still a 6 out of 10. When we got there at around 6:00pm, there was no line and we were able to walk right up and get an agent. The agent was friendly and did not have an attitude like I have read other reviewers have experienced. The only problem that I had was at first they tried to just assign us a car and not give us a choice.

When I asked if there were options available, the agent provided me with a few to choose from. All-in-all, they had 5 or 6 different full-size cars to choose from and we ended up with a loaded 2013 Toyota Camry with only 15k miles on it. The car was clean inside and out and had just a few minor scratches on the bumper. After choosing the car we wanted, checkout was a breeze.

The agent offered the additional insurance and gas options, but once I denied them, he didn't try to persuade me to buy it again. He was patient and didn't get an attitude when we took about 15 or 20 minutes to look at the different cars that were available and choose one that was a different one than what was originally selected for us, so that was pretty impressive. The guard at the exit was friendly and asked me how my day was and seemed interested in my response. He looked over the indications on my slip as to the minor scratches and signed off on it and we were on our way.

Returning the car was even easier than getting it. We pulled right up and an agent came right out and did a quick spot check on the vehicle, joked around with us a little bit about getting a black car and returning a white car (because she said we went Tokyo drifting with it) and gave us our receipt. Before she was done checking the car back in, the shuttle driver had come over to use with a bag cart, loaded up our suitcases for us and walked us to the shuttle to get us started on our way back to the airport.

We got on the shuttle and within 20 minutes of pulling into the lot to return the car, we arrived at our airlines entrance at the airport with plenty of time ahead of our flight. Additionally, the $200 that was put on hold on my credit card was returned to me within 2 days of returning the car, which again was more than I expected. Four stars instead of five due to the limited amount of car selections, but otherwise the service was really good. I will definitely use Advantage if/when I return to LAX.

SCAM: they advertise low rates and after you do the booking they add "fees" and more "fees". I first entered the site because it advertised $10/day (I got a deal like this on last year's trip), so I went on it. Then the "real" price was $18/day. At the end of my trip, I check my credit card statement and it was over $43 per day!!! Excuse my "French", but WTF!!!

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA -- I reserved a rental car in my name but was charged $12 per day for 7 days due to my wife being the second driver. We asked the desk clerk to change but due to the reservations being in my name she said she could not do that. Also very cheap Camry, no GPS and we had to find directions. Never rent from Advantage!!!

TAMPA, FLORIDA -- Tampa, January 2020. Car rental quote for 5 days $163, charged over $600 - not a great deal for economy car - after a long fight over the phone I did get back my $90 refund, but still overcharged 200%. Stay away from ADVANTAGE CAR RENTAL no matter where in the country, all that is nothing but a scam. They taking an advantage of us - customers!!!

NEW YORK -- Will never use Advantage again - booked a midsize several months in advance for JFK in NY at a reasonable amount and when we arrived they had no cars. Had to hustle around to get a last minute car with whomever had one - ended up paying a ridiculous amount with another car rental company for a crappy Sentra which was too small for us. Never again.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Rented car online for Las Vegas. On arrival clerk at desk said initial car, Kia not available had a Passat, older car for same price, okay no problem. We refused insurance, clerk told us to sign CDW, collision damage waiver, my husband initialed as told. We were told that 200 dollars would be held but would be returned. Since it wasn't I called and was told my husband signed for insurance. The initialed CDW was signing for insurance. DO NOT RENT FROM ADVANTAGE. Rental was in January 2020.

DENVER, COLORADO -- When checking out the car, they failed to explain about the toll pass. We apparently got on a tollway coming out of the airport and there was no pay options at the toll station. We were billed for the missed tolls plus a large administrative cost. What a gimmick! We did not even know that there was a toll pass in the car. They were in such a hurry to get us out of there - it would have been nice if they would have explained this.

I rented a Tahoe through Priceline; $180.10 for two days from the Denver airport. When I arrived the agent offered me an upgrade to a Suburban for $70 a day. The Tahoe was $56 a day. I was then bill an additional $201. Advantage claimed the upgrade was $70 a day. Biggest ripoff in my rental car history. I would NEVER recommend Advantage Rental car to anyone. They are liars and cheats. A $70 a day upgrade to a vehicle slightly larger is BS.

DENVER, COLORADO -- My rental agreement was for $199 from Hotwire and I had declined the collision with Hotwire. At the counter collision was added in but labeled as: collision damage waiver. I was unaware because they copied and pasted my initials from a screen onto contract. Never again will I rent from them.

TAMPA, FLORIDA -- Terrible service and overcharged on our credit card. Advantage Rent A Car charged above what the contract price was. We booked this thru Expedia - disappointed in them also. Lesson learned.