Car rental services are a flourishing business all over the world that cater to the needs of a wide range of people – frequent flying lawyers, medical practitioners, tourists, and even those who just don’t want to buy their own car! Many car rental companies usually offer their service in all corners of the country, from major cities to the small developing towns.
Car rental is nowadays just as essential to a person’s travel plans as their air ticket and hotel booking. Cheaper car rental options have continued to sprout on the internet. In order to hire a car anywhere, all you need are a few simple clicks on the company’s website and you’re ready to go. The best rental car companies offer great cars at relatively affordable prices along with the ease of the service. In addition, there are a lot of saving options for the travelers who frequently rent cars. But which are the best car rental companies? We’ve lited the top 10 in the US based on customer satisfaction!
10. Enterprise
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
Enterprise is a rental service that provides a wide selection of vehicles, advanced customer services, a straightforward online car rental system and numerous other features. The company is considered to be among the top 10 car rental companies in the US thanks to its excellence in the industry coupled with its superior quality services.
Even though Enterprise service offerings are not as feature-packed as other services, the company still offers what most customers need. Enterprise offers convenient services which are unique such as the environmentally friendly carpool’s assistance and their innovative car-sharing services. Enterprise also has several options for disabled drivers. You can also request hand controls, pedal extenders and spinner knobs. With several branches country wide, they are a company that is very easy to get a hold of.
9. Hertz
Hertz car rental company caters for wide variety of individuals. The company offers all types of rental services that you’ll need, a website that is easy to navigate, plenty of extras and numerous, responsive customer support options.
Source: brandsoftheworld
Hertz’s strong point is mainly founded on how customizable it is. It makes it very easy to rent any car with add-ons or special features. For instance, people with disabilities can book a rental car
that meets all their needs with a lot of ease. Other sites usually require that the disabled customers should call the customer service number in advance so that an appropriate car can be adjusted or found to suit them. Their cars have hand controls for greater efficiency. Hertz only asks that you check the box for hand-control vehicles when you fill the online form.
8. Thrifty
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
Thrifty Car Rental is one of the biggest car rental companies across the world. The company has over 1,000 locations in close to 70 countries. It is not surprising that a large service like this large has well-maintained rental car services website with a plethora of features.
Even though it does not offer the most car rental services, the services that Thrifty offer do really shine. This is actually reflected on their website which is not only visually appealing but helpful and user-friendly. With unique features that make the renting services a very easy task, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never rented a car before, you won’t have any issues with Thrifty.
7. Alamo
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
Alamo shares the same parent company as Enterprise and National. This is another top car rental service company. Though the car rental services that come from the same company are usually similar, their sites could not be more different in features, service, and layout. Alamo’s official website feels dated and it is somewhat busy. However, it normally makes up for this with its great functionality.
The service website though slow, is relatively easy to navigate. From their homepage, you can easily enter the locations along with dates that you intend to hire their services. The important online check-in features are easily accessible from their homepage. The car selection is also impressive. As a result, you can rent hybrids, luxury cars, convertibles as well as even pickups which aren’t easy to find in other rental companies.
6. Budget
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
Budget is a company that’s owned by The Budget Rent A Car System Inc. Budget is an accessible rental car service that has one of the best sites you’ll ever see when it comes to a clean and easy-to-use website layout. The service’s website is modern-looking and streamlined. It is also not cluttered with pixelated pictures or ads thus making it easy to use. The homepage will give you the essential information that you require. You can choose to just jump in, type your location as well as the time that you need to pick up and then get started with the car rental process.
There’s also a very simple location finder found on their site. All that you have to do is selecting your country, city and state, then choose your radius. If you do not want the list of locations, there’s an option to see the locations within your zip code only.
5. National
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
National Car Rental company is owned by The Enterprise Holdings; a very popular company that owns 2 other companies in this list –
Alamo and Enterprise. Like its sister companies, the National rental company has a very extensive fleet that includes almost all the vehicles you could ever need,
including luxury cars, pickups, convertibles, vans, hybrids and the fuel-efficientvehicles.
If you’re into hybrids, the company is a great choice since it has compact options which are relatively common while a hybrid SUV car also is available. The company also has commercial trucks their fleet.
4. Dollar
Source: brandsoftheworld
Dollar is a car rental service company that offers great deals even though it lacks certain vehicle options. Nevertheless, it does have mid sized, compact and large cars as well as convertibles. The company also has SUVs and minivans of varying sizes. However, if you are interested in pickups or any kind of hybrid vehicles, you will have to look to other companies.
Dollar’s homepage is modern and tidy. However, it is not perfect. There’s no tool for changing the language of the website just like other sites in this review. Other sites usually allow people to translate the site into a wide range of languages. The company also has wide availability most places across the world thus the translator feature becomes a necessity. Nevertheless, this is a great car rental company that offers a wide range of features.
3. Avis
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
Avis car rental is a reliable service with a relatively minimalist homepage. There’s nothing except a form that will get you started on the process of renting a car. Avis has several locations all over the world thus finding locations in the areas that you need shouldn’t be a big issue. However, their vehicle options are limited as compared to other services.
Their homepage is quite simple. The reservation tool is basically the only tool on their homepage and the sales ads are located at the bottom part of the
page. This simplicity shows that certain things are missing on this website. The car selection is somehow limited. Furthermore, the company does not offer commercial pickups or truck. However, it has added hybrids to their lineup for better functionality.
2. Payless
Source: brandsoftheworld.com
Payless car rental is a growing car rental service in the U.S. and other countries. If you have a Payless near your home or where you’re vacationing and need a cheap car rental, it’s not a bad way to go. However, there are only branches in about 30 states, so if you are taking a trip cross-country, you will want to make sure there are branches where you need to pick up and drop off your car.
The service’s website is simple and fairly easy to use. You can go to the deals prompt on the main menu and get deals on economy and midsize cars starting at as little as $10 a day.
1. Ace
Ace car rental service is a great company that offer basic services. The company has a pared-down fleet and limited numbers of locations throughout the world. Ace also offer one-way car service rentals. Since this company only has its locations in 24 states across the US, it makes sense for you to pick your car up and then drop it off at the same branch.
Ace’s fleet is up to the standard of the other services in this review. This car rental service carries luxury cars, convertibles, hybrids, long-term rentals, discount packages and commercial truck/pickup rentals at all its locations.
Featured Image: Thinkstock/ edwardolive
Posted on August 5, 2016
