National Car Rental Reviews

Aaron **, the Branch Rental Manager at National Car Rental at Houston George Bush Airport was extremely unprofessional, rude, and dismissive to my wife, a military spouse. He treated her with disrespect when she tried to use a valid out-of-state license protected by active-duty orders. Instead of listening or reviewing the law, Mr. ** brushed her off and flatly refused to even look at the documentation she had on hand. He refused to rent her a car that she was qualified and entitled to rent, leaving her and our toddler son stranded at the airport. Military life is stressful enough without being treated this way. We’ll never rent here again and will strongly caution others, especially military families, from conducting business here.

Good customer service by Evan ** when I returned the rental car. He welcomed me with smile and asked me how was everything with the car. I do appreciate all the good attitude and courtesy. Newark new jersey.

This was my first time to book a National car and will also be my last. I very rarely leave reviews, but felt this might save someone else a headache! I had a reservation booked several months earlier (booked through Southwest, along with a flight). In preparing for my trip a few days ahead, I downloaded the National app and clicked on the reservation to familiarize myself with how the app worked. I inadvertently clicked on a button that cancelled the reservation when trying to back out of the reservation onto the main screen. I immediately called National and explained the situation. The customer service rep was not understanding or helpful to the point I hung up in the middle of the conversation. This reservation was still showing up as active in the Soutwest system and app. I did not receive an email confirmation from either system that the reservation was cancelled.

I've rented at least 4 cars in the last 2 months. For one particular rental, I had to move a washer and dryer and needed a pickup truck within the Emerald Club. Angela gave me a free upgrade so that I can get a full size pick up truck to move my things for that weekend. I really appreciated Angela for going above and beyond.

Emerald member. Had a reservation at Aspen, CO location for over a month. Upon arrival I was told they were oversold and do not have vehicles the capacity I require/reserved. He mentioned they could trade cars with Avis, and even though Avis had availability, National was unwilling to cover the rate difference. I’m now paying more than $600 over my reserved rate! Want a credit. **UPDATE** - National offered no credit or accommodation. Terrible Service!

I have been notified of a loss to the vehicle I rented a month after it was returned. I am assuming it happened in the parking lot after return. I have disputed the charges as I know I have returned the vehicle without any damage. I have reached out to the damage recovery unit. A representative referred me to a supervisor, who took more than 30 days to respond by email and call. We have yet to talk in person. They are now sending me a letter for collection. No consideration for my dispute or being an executive elite for more than 10 years, with 100 days rental each year. It appears that losing a loyal and valuable customer does not matter. Horrible experience, still ongoing!

I live in the US, and recently rented a car from National in Aberdeen, UK, for a trip to Shetland. I declined the roadside assistance coverage on the website when I made the reservation, but in the company office at the rental pickup, they informed me that if I didn't buy the coverage, I risked large charges if the car broke down and needed to be towed. Specifically, there would be a by-the-mile charge for returning the car to the UK mainland, 200 miles away. Since they unable to tell me what those towing charges might come to, I bought the coverage, more than doubling the price of the rental.

Went to pick up our basic car we reserved. Due to it being our honeymoon they freely upgraded our basic to BMW 640 I convertible. I said they didn’t have to. But the worker said it was ok. We get ready to leave to be stopped that we weren’t allowed to. Had to turn around return car. Again was told we could. To again not to. They were unorganized. Bad communication. And due to this it put us 2 hours behind schedule had they just left us alone with the basic car we reserved. We were hungry, we were tired and we were pissed! They apologize but no apology made it better. Wasted our time. Wasn’t worth $769.75.

We always rent from National. It’s easy to book your rental and walk up to an open trunk and pick your car. No hassle, nobody talking to you until you drive out!! We always rent from National because the staff are friendly and we never feel unwelcome!! Thanks National for another great rental!!

I rented a car from National Rent a Car. Overall, my experience at the Chicago O'Hare location was good. I chose to not include the unlimited toll because I knew I would only use tolls twice, from and to the airport. These tolls totaled under $10. I was told to go to the Illinois Tollway within 14 days of picking up the car. I did this on the 14th day. When I did, Illinois Tollway indicated there were no tolls.

Check out at Houston TX Hobby airport with Erin **, excellent customer service, quick and thorough. She took the time to make sure we did not forget any personal items and had a very positive happy attitude. Great way to send us off on an early morning flight. Thank you Erin, we appreciate your help.

If I could give zero stars I would. We rented a full sized SUV a month prior to our trip, paid fully in advance. We arrived at the correct time to pick up the vehicle and to pick up the vehicle and the person at the counter explained they needed a credit card for a deposit, even though the customer service representative told us it was not needed when we booked. I ran home to grab my credit card and by the time I returned they gave the reserved vehicle to another customer and explained they all they had was mini vans left. We explained we reserved and paid for an full sized SUV but at this point we needed to leave in the morning to drive from Rochester NY to Panama City Beach FL, so we accepted the mini van for the time, the representative explained we could exchange it at any National or Enterprise along the way.

After posting this review, I was emailed by National to address the issue. I was advised that upon returning my vehicle I would be compensated for the trouble. This is outstanding customer service for a long time loyal customer. I don't see a lot of businesses taking care of their customers like this anymore so I will happily stick with National given that they take customer issues seriously. Thank you!!!

I picked my rental car from LAX Airport. On my way out, I stopped by the small office for identity verification. The representative asked me to show her the credit card I used for the booking. I noticed she took a snapshot of my card before returning it to me. I reached out to customer service to find out if this is their standard procedure for verifying credit card information or if this was unusual behavior from the representative. However, it was after hours, and the person I spoke with on the phone advised me to call customer service again the next day. I did so, and they were supposed to inform the manager of this location, but I have yet to hear back from them about it.

I rented a suv from the airport at Abbotsford, BC. Pickup was easy. Everything was okay until the day I was supposed to return the vehicle. Before I even returned the vehicle, I received a receipt in which they changed the return to a completely different location and charged me an extra $1400. When I went to drop off the car, the person at the desk could not refund it and didn’t know what to do. They blamed the other location and said I would have to call customer service. I called customer service the next morning and they told me it was the Abbotsford location who did it and they should have been able to fix it. They refunded me, but said I would have to wait a few days for manager approval because it was over $1000. I think it is unacceptable that they were able to do this and acted like everything was fine that I had to wait after they took an extra $1400 they should not have. That is a lot of money and a big screw up.

I reserved a mini van at the Tampa airport to be returned to the Pittsburgh airport. Unfortunately, the van was too big for city driving so I exchanged it at the West Mifflin Pa Enterprise location. The Pittsburgh airport was short 550 cars since it was the U.S. Open. They suggested I try a suburban location, which I did. Matt at Enterprise was able to give me a smaller car & told me nothing would change & I would still get my credits but that did not happen even though I was downgraded to an SUV.

I have been renting cars from National for over 12 years and I can assure you that things are not heading in the right direction. When it comes to years of dedication, National provides a good perk as being classified as an Executive Elite member. But…..I have found lately that the executive car selection at many different airports including MCI, DFW, CLT do NOT have executive cars to choose from. If you look, many times the emerald section is the exact same as the executive section. So, where is the perk I’m paying $39,000 a year at??? I like the idea of just walking out to get your car and there it is. Many times staff will assist me in getting a very nice car but many times I have to ASK for it!

There’s a guy that’s named Jack, he works in the mornings on Saturdays I believe and when I tell you he was the most rudest person I’ve ever seen behind a desk. I literally canceled my rental with them and went to Budget. He came off immediately irritated and rude when I introduced myself to the point where I asked him is he ok as he proceeds to shut the window on me. This was our interaction. I never in my life had to write a review but I hope you guys fire this man. He is terrible and rude. I’m sure I’m not the first to complain but I’m sure I’ll never shop with you guys again. Thanks but no thanks. His name was Jack and he worked in the Norfolk airport.

Last year, I had a poor experience with National Car Rental and was offered a coupon for 3 free rental days as compensation. The email included a coupon code valid for a standard-sized car and instructed me to call a number to apply it to a future reservation. When I called Agent #1, I clearly stated that I wanted to use the coupon code and asked two questions:

I came to California last minute to support a long time friend going who’d just experienced a tragedy and terrible loss. I felt so uplifted and grateful for the efficient, caring and exceptional service at National at SFO. It made a heartbreaking trip more bearable with the ease of the rental vehicle. Isaac and Derek were particularly helpful and I felt they both went the extra mile.

I rented a midsize SUV at Raleigh NC for 4 days. I paid $60/day for this rental. I wanted to extend 1 day and was quoted $180/day to extend. I retuned the vehicle. Rented the exact same one for $60 again. Why couldn’t you just extend for the $60?? Why make me return the vehicle and re-rent it to get the same rate? Pretty stupid if you ask me.

Rented a car for two weeks for a total of $470.36. My father passed away and I needed to extend for one additional week due to his funeral. I was told my total would change to $960.00. I was charged $1325.99 and the charge over extended my credit card. I called National multiple times asking for assistance in reducing in my bill as I am a single mother and this is a very tough circumstance and I was under the impression my bill would be $960.00. I was advised they would pass a message to a supervisor to return my call multiple times. I NEVER received a call back. I called again asking for corporate's number. Called and emailed them with again NO RESPONSE. They have the worst customer service I've ever experienced. Beware of the scam I experienced.

Do not rent with National unless you are only driving for 25 miles or less per day. I recently rented a car, put in for the pickup and drop off, had unlimited mileage on my car, and when I returned it, I had an excessive mileage fee at .40 a mile times the 1100 miles I drove. This took my quoted cost of the rental from $650 to $1150. This is the biggest scam rental company I have ever dealt with so protect yourself and use other services.

If I could post a Negative number, I would. I had to wait a few weeks to post this review because I was so furious. I bundled a car rental with my flight through one of the common bundle companies. I paid in advance, SIX WEEKS prior to travel for a flight and rental car from NATIONAL. My flight went great, actually arrived early and I proceeded to the car rental desk in the (PIE) Tampa-St. Pete Airport at 1130 PM on March 11th 2025. At the desk, the young clerk began processing my paid reservation when he said there was a balance due from the prior year for $250. In 2024 I had my rental car broken into, breaking a window while in San Francisco. I did, however, pay this when due, last year. I told the clerk this and he gave me a phone number for the company's claims or billing department but that call center was closed and wasn't staffed again till the morning.

Have been a customer since 2009… WILL NEVER RENT FROM NATIONAL AGAIN. Have a 21 day rental out of Sky Harbor Phoenix, on March 1, 2025 got a flat tire, roadside assistance at 5pm informed me there would be. $75 charge to replace tire with a spare (donut) and then, I will have to have tire repaired at my expense and have put back on car before I turned rental in. I don’t think so…bye bye National. I went to an Enterprise location in Scottsdale and replaced the vehicle.

I rented a car from National in Michigan in February--which means lots of snow. Even though I paid about $250 extra for an "all wheel drive" vehicle, it was terrible in snow, even when set on the snow setting. It got stuck several times and required multiple people to push it out. (I've rented from Hertz before in the same locations, and their winter cars have no problems.) When I turned the car in, the counter people said that they were required to put "four season tires" on all their rentals. Those kinds of tires are worthless in snow. They should either keep a fleet of winterized cars, or close up shop in the winter. I did call their customer service line and they offered to take $100 off the rental cost, which is nice token gesture but does not make up for the inconvenience.

A SCAM. BE AWARE!!! $307 FROM ONLINE RESERVATION. From the office airport drive you out the another place. While there they tell you that you credit card. No matter which Bank. Gold Amex, Citi Travel. They won't use insurance with it, they need to cover you then the grand total went to $750. When next door Budget. Twice the car size and $490 all included with insurance up 90% then $300 deposit refundable if no issue. Rental for 14 days. Stay away from National Cancun. SCAMMERS.

Stay Away: Rented a F150, was given a comparable Nissan Frontier. While I was driving in winter conditions, I went to use the Windshield Wiper Fluid... There was NONE. All of a sudden the low tire pressure prompt came up. The front right tire was 6 psi less than the other 3. I bought some fluid on my own, put it in the truck, didn't want to deal with the lower pressure tire and went on my way and finished my trip.

Rented out a car with Full Insurance in Bozeman Montana Airport. Drove 2 hours to my destination (West Yellowstone Montana) and got stuck in drifting snow so the car was not going anywhere. Called National and they said they would take care of the situation by sending a tow truck and a replacement car which they never did. I was on the phone with them for several days wasting away my vacation trying to get this situation resolved. Finally, the day before flying out I needed a car to take me 2 hours back to the airport. National told me they would send me an Uber. I was waiting and waiting. No Uber response. I had to call back and they said that no Uber was available. A representative told me that I had to find my own transportation and that I would get reimbursed and to submit my receipt. The ride was $530!!!!

I only rent from National Car Rental. I travel a lot for business, and I have never had any issues. I have rented cars at 36 airports across the county with National and I have always received excellent service, and the vehicles have all been in great condition. It's always great to get a nice upgrade as well. Thank you National!