Thrifty Car Rental Reviews

Waited 45 minutes to even speak to a representative to check in and pick up our car, was told we were going to have to wait another hour for our car after our scheduled pickup time. In addition the representatives at the counter try to push their crappy overpriced insurance on you after you've already paid. You'll end up saving money and time just going with a more reputable company.

Thrifty was our fourth car rental on vacation. We thought we were denying additional insurance coverage, like the other rental companies. However, we denied ANY coverage & didn't realize it for 4 hours when we finally received the digital agreement. Within the first hour we experienced a rock chip. We wanted to make it right after realizing we didn't have coverage. However, they charged us $707.15 total for the damage.

Very disappointed, my wife rented the car when we booked our flight to Phoenix. When we went to pick up the car we were informed of an additional $15.00 per day upcharge if we both needed to be able to drive the car. This is ridiculous since there is no extra cost to them if we both drive during our stay. I will never rent from them again.

Worst customer service or contact center for support. Overcharged and already paid in advance rental. I would not recommend using this company for a car rental unless you expect to be overcharged and ignored.

I rented a car through Priceline.com at Dallas Love Field. The guy at the counter pressured me into taking their insurance even though I already paid for insurance through priceline.com. The first car I got into showed some kind of oil change message so I decided to take another car. The rental was only for one day and I put 51 miles on the car during the rental period.

I rented at Baltimore-Washington airport a Thrifty car rental through Expedia. I was quoted $226 for 7 days. I extended for an additional 3 days for an additional $96, total $322. I returned the car on time with a full tank. I was told to leave the key in the car and my invoice will be emailed. I never received an invoice. I saw my Visa was billed for $554. No response to my email, no contact person reached in their electronic customer service. I tried to challenge the charge with Visa but Thrifty provided a trumped up charge with a $230 in fees document to Visa. Thrifty car rental (Hertz) is a RIP-OFF.... NEVER AGAIN!

Hello, I booked a car rental in 3/25 for 8 days through Expedia and chose Thrifty as my car rental of choice. I received a receipt from Expedia with all the rental information including the statement "The total price includes all mandatory taxes and fees." The parent company of Thrifty which is Hertz charged my credit card for $285 which was my understanding paid for the full rental unless I added additional items such as insurance. I picked up the car on 3/11 in Ft Meyers airport and returned on 3/19, everything with the car was good.

Booked a Jeep for $1200, and then at the airport informed that they would not honor that price and charged me an additional $700 with 15 people in line behind me. I booked it through economy Booking.com originally. Specifically for a jeep because I needed to do some geological work in Remote areas. I even showed them a picture of the Jeep that I got on my confirmation email all to no avail.

THEY WILL CHEAT YOU ON GAS!! We filled up 3 miles from the airport and they said we had 3/4 tank of gas and added an extra $45 charge on our bill. Totally UNETHICAL and THEFT!! Will never rent from them again!

We rented a car for 3 days in March 2025. The car sounded like the motor was falling out. When I pulled off an exit and crawled under the car, I found that the converter shield was not attached completely. We contacted the roadside service number and explained this. We kept the car since we were 50 miles away from the airport and reported it upon return. We weren't even given a credit for the problem. I reported it on the survey when we got home. I was told they would contact me within 3 days. I get an email saying the file is complete (with no contact or adjustment). I just got a charge on my card for tolls. We paid cash and each toll both and never used the pass lane. I have discovered that they do not have a contact number that a person answers. Never rent a car from these people. Hertz and Dollar are also connected to them.

Thrifty Car Rental..which is part of Hertz is the worst service I’ve had in my entire life. I reserved a small sized car online for one day (one person) trip that I needed urgently that was for $56 online ($32 a day plus taxes and such) and when I got there not only did they take a whole hour to provide the service but they also wanted me to get back and wait at a different line and was told they only had battery operated cars for long trips. (Battery operated cars are bad for snowy weather and long trips when there’s no charging stations around) and I was in Reno in snowy weather..(so that made no sense at all). The only thing they could do is upgrade to a huge 6-8 passenger SUV that would cost me $100 more for one day. Then when I looked at my receipt it was a total of $240. They knew I needed to get past the mountain as the snow storm would be coming in soon so I needed a car ASAP.

Booked a car rental as a package deal. When I got to Austin-Bergstrom the sales guy refused to honor it due to my ID not matching the credit card. Then management refused due a typo on their part of my name. It’s been 10 days thus far. 3 phone calls but just like the night their incompetent manager refused. They never pick up the phone so thus far, nothing can get confirmed. Disgusting and very unprofessional! Have receipt but not for this place.

Had a car reserved at the Thrifty at Denver Airport, it was supposed to be $575.23 when arrived, they authorized additional charges that added up to $2222.44. When called to ask about the additional charges, no one could give an answer, it was always have to go to the location where made. Trip ended up being extended for a couple weeks without the ability to go back even after multiple attempts over the phone to resolve.

Worst experience ever in Fort Lauderdale. 3 people working waited 2 hours in line and the line moved 5 people. Stay away, rental non-refundable, despite waiting and then a $100 cancel fee, never ever go here, you will regret it.

01/25 Rented Nissan Sentra during winter weather. Asked if it had all season snow tires. They assured me the car was equipped for winter. Upon inspecting the car, the sidewalls appeared to have good tread, but I noticed a couple of dents and reported those. Day 3, I get the car stuck in less than 2" of snow. Hopped out and with the wheel turned could see that all tires were bald! Called roadside service and was told it would be a $200 fee or I could use my own insurance.

AVOID THRIFTY CAR RENTAL at ALL COST..... because if there is even a tiny hiccup in the rental process, YOU WILL BE OVERCHARGED and ABUSED. I rented a car through one of THRIFTY's established 3rd party contractors (WISECARS)... Paid a large down payment ($700+) to Wisecars at time of rental.... and then Paid the full balance due ($380+) directly to THRIFTY at the time of rental. Other than waiting for over 90 minutes to get an available car, the remainder of the rental went well. BUT - LOOKOUT - Much to my shock, nearly 90 days after the completion of my rental... THRIFTY processed a FRAUDULENT charge of over $600 to my credit card, for the reason that they claim to have not gotten their entitled payment from Wisecars. No warning, no request for authorization, just a pass-thru charge... because they are too stupid, disorganized, and/or lazy to use their corporate clout to go after a contracted payment from one of THEIR ESTABLISHED AUTHORIZED PARTNERS!!!!

Thrifty Car Rental was easy to book and now I understand why. The ease of getting customers in leads to the lack of service especially the customer service you will receive. I had to cancel my booking because of a cancelled trip and when I tried to retrieve my funds that was another story. I was told because I cancelled weeks before the rental date that it would be no problem. That was the first lie. After calling several times and being lied to each time that my refund would be taken care of, I finally got the story of no refund. It took from 01/01 to 02/03 for someone to tell me they were never going to refund me. Horrible customer service. I will never use this company or its affiliates again.

When I am told to check in early and “skip the line” only to show up and there is no car!!! How does a company continually get away with this!!! It’s a breach of contract. They also started my rental when I got through the line I was supposed to skip; which means I paid for 90 minutes of rental while sitting in their waiting area!!! Unbelievable.

This review is more general and not specific to any one location. I reserved a car of a specific class, but they did not have it available. As compensation, they issued a voucher for future rentals. However, the voucher turned out to be useless. It was issued at Seattle Airport, and when I tried to use it at the Thrifty location in Fort Lauderdale, I was informed that it was only valid at the Seattle location. Unbelievable!

My flight got canceled traveling from Washington D.C. (Dulles International Airport) to Lancaster, P.A. I had to rent a vehicle to get to the conference. I reserved a vehicle a Jeep to get back and forth to the conference. However, the Thrifty location at the airport told me that I needed a credit card instead of a debit card, which I left at home. I had to pay a $500 deposit on top of the rental charge which was $128. I was due to return the vehicle on Jan. 20 which is the same day as my flight. However, a NATIONALLY ADVERTISED snow storm came through and it was 6in of snow, which charted unsafe conditions to drive.

I showed up at Thrifty in Myrtle Beach Airport to get my car that I reserved through Expedia. I was asked to show my SC license and insurance card which I did. I also produced my valid credit card. I was then asked for the actual coverage and terms of my policy. I told them I had what was required by law. My insurance company was closed (it was 10 pm). I had been flying for over 12 hours and was in no mood for her rudeness. Who carries copies of their car insurance policy?Mary ** absolutely refused to rent me the car I had reserved. Nor did she ask me if I wanted to purchase Thrifty's insurance so I could at least have a vehicle and not be stranded. I walked next door to Enterprise, no problem. However I could not get the model I wanted and the fee was $150 more. Now Expedia is trying to claim that I owe them $150 cancellation fee. I DID NOT CANCEL. I showed any and all the valid documentation I was asked to produce.

Thrifty tells you to check in online before getting to location. But then you must stand in a long wrap around line to get to counter to pick up paper contract. They charge more for the ins than the price of the car. After all that, they then tack more charges onto you credit card, WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL, saying you were 13 min late returning the car and then charge for an additional day. I spent more time dealing with this Thrifty company than I did at the funeral I flew down for. Awful awful company.

Wow, just so much wrong with Thrifty. Started off with the rudest person ever at the check in counter and was even racist towards my wife and I because we are ** and not ** like her. It would take forever to explain that here but wow. Then basically threatened to not give us a car because she wanted to charge me more and said I had to add my wife as a second driver and if we did not we would be stuck at Sea-Tac airport. We paid the extra as it was Christmas week as there was no other cars available anywhere at the airport. That is called extortion and is a threat.

Your company surely does not live up to your name "Thrifty". I completed all your guidelines online to Skip the Line status. But when arriving, this was not the case for me and everyone that rented a vehicle from Thrifty. I used Expedia for my purchase to rent. Paid in full, with an insurance package. Your representative ignored my original rental agreement and tried to change/upsell the rental. Lied about gas prices, pressured me to get the gas option, which I normally don't do. Then said I need insurance, which I demanded I don't need, 2.5 hours later, I told the representative to cancel the ins., said it's too late. Not the right vehicle, change next day. Rep. then said 24 hrs, could have canceled coverage.

I rented a vehicle from Thrifty for eleven days. On the ninth day we had to return to the Halifax Airport location to add my wife as a driver. Because of a family emergency I could not fly out with my wife at the end of the rental period. My wife needed to return the vehicle at the end of the rental period. Thrifty demanded that I pay for an added driver for the full eleven day rental period even though my wife hadn't driven the vehicle to this point. In discussion with the three Thrifty counter staff present, no other option was offered but to pay for the full term. I feel as though I was gouged by Thrifty Car Rental. I will not rent from Thrifty, Hertz or Dollar rental again.

I was charged for hundreds of dollar. The first incident, when I took the car, the customer service informed that the car is only a 2 wheel drive and if you need to upgrade to a AWD. It comes with additional fee. On the site while booking it didn't give me the option to choose. The 2nd incident, they charge me for fuel charge for 12 gallons, even the car the filled up upon return. There is also additional charge without specification what the charge for. Am trying to navigate the Thrifty website but it is very hard to place your complaints even over the phone. It's not customer friendly. I would never recommend nor use this company again.

Beware. (O'HARE) They will try to add extras to your bill when you tell them no. They will play stupid and act like they took them off. Do not sign anything unless it's 100% off. Not just the dollar amount. Mine just had estimated amount of 350 ish. Which was about what I paid Priceline. So I thought they removed it. They are some commissioned con artists. Booked on Priceline with no added extras. My cc and car insurance have rental car protection. I didn't need or want their waiver. But somehow it made it back on the bill.

On October 27 made a thrifty car rental reservation from Nov 27-Dec 20, 2024. The day I arrive to Guatemala from New Jersey I get pick up at the airport to their office nearby on a mid size SUV 5 passengers, when I get out of the car I'm looking for a full size SUV 7 passengers for which it was my reservation so I ask the driver/attendant which He responded, "This is your vehicle." Clearly we was in a disagreement since that was not the car I "reserved". Now is 7pm in Guatemala is dark. My 3 underage kids my wife and me in a car where our Luggage will not fit. Stranded since the guys is telling me, "You take it or leave." Foot up on the desk. Planning his next party I guess. I decided to take it but I requested a partial refund. He said no. So I been charge for a full size when getting a mid size.

We reserved a car to pick up at 1 AM in Boston. Our flight was slightly delayed but not only did Thrifty not tell us they would be closed, but when we got there, the guy in the garage told us there were no cars available. Why bother reserving a car if a) there’s not one available and b) they’re not even there to service you. Unbelievably inconvenient and exhausting at the end of a long day of travel. And expensive! We had to take a cab (1/2 hour trip) there and back to pick up the car the next day.

We came back to Massachusetts for Christmas, and picked up our Chevy Malibu at Logan airport. When we got in the car, we smelled some strange odor, but thought it was someone at the garage with **. It’s actually from our car, but we already drove away. So we called customer service later, and wanted to exchange the car, and told we could go to any Thrift car rental to change the car. So we went to Chelmsford of MA to exchange the car, and the guy told us all the cars are held by other people, no car is available.