Has anyone ever rented a car with "thrifty car rental" I just reserved one for pick up in Vegas. Are the reliable?

I rent a car for 2 weeks every August to drive to North carolina I always use thrifty they have the best rates.

I tried Thrifty once here in New York City and I got royally screwed -- no car available when I arrived on time, booked 2+ weeks in advance.

I will never use Thrifty again.


(I rent cars 30-40 times per year and have NEVER been told "no car available," so please don't tell me "it happens all the time." It has only happened to me once, and the company was Thrifty.)

That only happened to me once too, but in my case if was Hertz. What's more it was a totally PREPAID reservation!

I rent cars from LAS often but use Priceline or Hotwire. When I do, I always hope to get Thrifty. Pick up and return always easy and smooth.

I rent from Thrifty about 250 days a year for various reasons. No significant problems and I'm very comfortable with them (obviously). One word of caution: Thrifty and Dollar are 'sister' companies. In New Orleans, they share the same desk. For two straight months, they rented me my vehicle through Dollar and I received no credit for my frequent renter program. They fixed it, but that's something to keep in mind.

Rented with them in LV a year and a half ago and it was fine, although the car was on the older side compared to other rental companies. Also, their system seemed outdated and unsafe but hopefully has been updated by now. At the time they printed out your entire Credit Card number, exp date etc on the receipt. The receipt also has your home address & signature. At the exit booth, you hand it to a kid and he takes a copy. Didn't feel too good about giving some $8 per hour kid all that information in this "id theft" age, and ended up changing my cc card number after that trip.

I used Thrifty in Honolulu last December and was quite satisfied with the car, with everything. It is a little more "no frills" than the majors but it worked and saved me a lot of money. (And at the HNL airport, I saved a few bucks just because Thrifty didn't have an actual airport desk, which the other car companies do and must charge you for!)

Trav, you'll never get a Thrifty car with Priceline or Hotwire because they don't use Thrifty for their rental cars...