What's the easiest/cheapest way to rent from Enterprise at small airports?

C

CowboyPilot

Guest
Whenever I've needed to rent a car for biz, I've always flown into a delta or charlie or bravo airport where you had a selection. At uncontrolled fields, I usually make arrangements to use/borrow their crew car or courtesy car.

But I've got an upcoming deal where I'm flying into a small field and the only rental company available is Enterprise.

I've heard to never, never, never, ever go through AirNav or AOPA or whoever to rent from Enterprise unless you just enjoy paying extra--and I don't.

I'm not particularly a big fan of Enterprise, so I'm wondering how to do this the easiest and cheapest way possible.

Thanks.

-JD
 
I have used them at many airports in my line of work. Easiest thing is just to call the FBO and have them set up the rental car for you. Most of the time they have special rates for them, anyway. Just give the FBO person your name to hold the car. When you get there, they should have a contract from Enterprise for you to fill in the information. Enterprise will pick up the contract after you are finished with the car. Then go online and print off your receipt at your own time. Very easy, actually much more than going to a regular airline airport and renting.
 
Easiest way, call the FBO and ask them to arrange it. Optional way, call Enterprise and see if they will deliver to the airport. I don't know if there is a price difference either way.
 
I've called the local Enterprise counter (at the destination) and made arrangements to have a car at the airport when I arrive. Often they're familiar with arriving planes and have asked me to call the FBO 10 minutes out so they can be notified of my arrival time and be there when I get.
 
I find that there is no way you can get "cheap" with Enterprise; not complaining, because they often have rental cars available at locations other rental car companies won't touch, so there is real value there.

As noted above, never tell them you are picking up at an FBO- the price quoted will often be profoundly higher than not. If the FBO itself can quote a price, it may be OK.

At really small airports, they'll usually agree to leave a car at the field for you, if you exchange stuff like a fax of your DL, credit card, etc. in advance. Which leads to a funny story.

I rented from Enterprise a couple of years ago in a small town in the south (prefer not to ident just now). They very thoughtfully and helpfully agreed to leave a car for us at the field, and did just that; car there, doors unlocked, key under the mat and contract in the glove box- perfect. That was Friday. They left the car, because the office was going to be closed when we arrived (small-town friendliness comes with small-town hours).


Comes Sunday, we leave the car right where we found it, a few miles on the odo and a tank full of gas.

About three weeks later, I gets this this call on my cellphone from teh Enterprise counter-jockey in Smallville: "When are you planning on bringing the car back?" he asks me.


"Ummm... it's right at the airport, where we agreed it would be." Long pause ensues, then he asks me why I did not bring it back to their office "...like I was supposed to." I reminded him that they were closed at the time. This was what I occasionally call a "Cool Hand Luke Moment." Car was there, of course, and had not been diddled-with at al, praise be.

Credit card charge slip / invoice comes in the mail for some huge amount, seven, eight hundred, something like that, I call and politely discuss, they equally-politely disagree, and I called USAA to dispute the charge.

Long, short, the charge was reversed completely, because the Enterprise guy would not agree to charge me what I righteously owed, he wanted all, or nothing at all.

Moral of the story: make damned sure that the car is actually collected after you leave it.

---

PS- What town you renting in?
 
CowboyPilot said:
I'm not particularly a big fan of Enterprise, so I'm wondering how to do this the easiest and cheapest way possible.
Click to expand...

"Easiest" and "cheapest" may be contradictory. I always start by calling the FBO and asking what they recommend. Most often I find I'm not the first to have asked this question. Usually they'll have some easy answer - either they'll take care of it for you or tell you which agencies are at the field and/or deliver. Enterprise through the FBO is about as painless as it gets - the car is waiting for you when you arrive and the meter stops ticking when you give the keys back to the FBO. That may also be the cheapest available - but it will certainly be more expensive than the lowest rate you can find at Big City Airport.

Regards,
Joe
 
Two things I have learned, get on internet and get a quote from the local dealer as if you were to walk in. For me, that rate has been lower and when I call for the reservation, E usually quotes higher, then matches the internet rate when I challenge.

Second, at the small southern airport, the E office (not at the airport)wants to charge me till Sunday morning when Ifly out on Saturday after the E office has closed.

Looking for alternatives
 
I agree: start with the FBO. However, you MAY be able to negotiate a lower price if you call the local Enterprise office directly.

I did that in one small town where Enterprise had a great rate that showed up on their website. When I called, they quoted a much higher price. I mentioned the lower price on their website, and the manager indicated that the price was for in-office pickup, and it would be a little more for the delivery. So I ended up paying a couple of bucks more a day than the cheapest rate, but much less than the phone quote.

To Spike's problem: I had a similar thing happen at Hobby one time. Left the keys and contract with Fletcher (the FBO) since they arranged the rental, and they were open upon return. Got a call a week later from E, asking where the car was. Told 'em I left it with Fletcher - as agreed - and it should be there. Fletcher had failed to call them. I was NOT charged for the days after the agreed return date, but it was a bit of a hassle. Incidentally, I had a similar issue with Hertz Local Edition at one city.

My rule is now: "call rental car company when they open to make sure they got car back and/or to ensure that they know you've returned it". It's one more 30-second phone call, but it sure saves the possibility of a hassle.
 
Two out of three rentals I have had with Enterprise have not been great. But first the good one.

I flew into Vicksburg, MS and had pre-arranged and Enterprise drop off. Due to WX I got a late start and would arrive after the terminal closed. The FBO manager called up Enterprise had them drop off the vehicle and then he told me were the keys were left. When we got their after dark all was fine. The pick up was good too. I did get flat on Sunday when Enterprise was closed but I got it changed myself with the spare. Just could not drive over 50mph.

The two bad experiences I have had were both the same type of problem. The first was at Crystal River, FL. and the second at Fort Wayne (Smith Field), IN. Both times Enterprise was supposed to drop off the car but when I arrived no car was there. I had to call Enterprise and find out what was going on. Each time it was that they did not have cars. Even though I had reserved a week in advance so it was not like they did not know I was coming. On both of those occasions the FBO took pity on my and lent me the crew car for an extended period of time. Smith let me have it for two days. I filled it up with gas and gave the FBO guy a big tip for that service.

I am wary of Enterprise. I have tried other car places. I am a pretty 'select' customer with Avis but they will not come pick you up. A few FBOs also have deals with local car rental places. My flight to North Carolina last year is when I used the local service. I called form Richmond to tell them I was again running late (WX). They told me the car would be parked on the ramp right next to the spot they would like me to park my plane on. It was easy to spot and the walk to unload was two feet past the wing tip from my cargo compartment. Just as I unloaded and got the plane tied down it started to rain. If I got to Manteo again I will use their rental and not Enterprise.
 
I usually use Enterprise, because I like them and the on-line prices usually beat out the bigger guys, even with the bigger guys discounts. I always reserve on-line. Then, a week or so ahead, I'll call enterprise, having already reserved, and nail down the details on drop off vs go to the office.

In a small airport in West PA, they came out to the airport with the car. Nicest looking lady I've ever rented a car from too! LOL! At Newport News, the FBO gave me a ride over to enterprise. The only complaint I had on either occasion was that they gave me a truck instead of a compact each time. Which didn't matter, as I could fit family of three and vacation stuff in w/o a problem.

Right now, I have an enterprise ride reserved for Grand Strand Regional (north Myrtle Beach) for June. The office is right off the field, and I'm not sure which way I'll go: Have it left or walk. I'll sort that out shortly.

Jim G
 
I 'ditto' Spike and Bill after being dinged for 'not returning' a car.
Now I find it takes about 7 calls to complete a car transaction.
I have one set up near Austin in March. thats one call - I now write down a name and what exactly was discussed (another story there) . I will call again a week ahead to confirm the er...confirmation I received, maybe a fax of dr lic & credit card; two/three. Another to the FBO to see that they will allow the car to park there overnight/participate in holding keys etc; four. A call the night before or the morning of to remind everyone of the gameplan; five and six. Get there and if all is as planned, no calls (unless the tank is only half or there is a huge dent in one door).
Another call after I drop the car off, reminding them to pick it up and fax the bill. I have called yet again to make sure there was no problem with the car/fuel/damage etc. How did we do it without cell phones before?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I 'ditto' Spike and Bill after being dinged for 'not returning' a car.
Now I find it takes about 7 calls to complete a car transaction.
I have one set up near Austin in March. thats one call - I now write down a name and what exactly was discussed (another story there) . I will call again a week ahead to confirm the er...confirmation I received, maybe a fax of dr lic & credit card; two/three. Another to the FBO to see that they will allow the car to park there overnight/participate in holding keys etc; four. A call the night before or the morning of to remind everyone of the gameplan; five and six. Get there and if all is as planned, no calls (unless the tank is only half or there is a huge dent in one door).
Another call after I drop the car off, reminding them to pick it up and fax the bill. I have called yet again to make sure there was no problem with the car/fuel/damage etc. How did we do it without cell phones before?
Click to expand...

...all that, and maybe he ends up driving some old Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser? :D
 
SCCutler said:
I find that there is no way you can get "cheap" with Enterprise; not complaining, because they often have rental cars available at locations other rental car companies won't touch, so there is real value there.

As noted above, never tell them you are picking up at an FBO- the price quoted will often be profoundly higher than not. If the FBO itself can quote a price, it may be OK.

At really small airports, they'll usually agree to leave a car at the field for you, if you exchange stuff like a fax of your DL, credit card, etc. in advance. Which leads to a funny story.

---

PS- What town you renting in?
Click to expand...

We keep a credit card with a fixed limit on it specifically for rentals, internet purchases, etc. We went through an identity theft experience with my wife when some local dipdunk stalker managed to get a credit card in her name claiming HE was her husband.

Anyone want to wager how :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: :lightning: off I was and what happened when I caught him and arrested him?

So I'm not real comfortable just leaving credit card info around. . . but I may not have a choice.

We're actually going to be making multiple stops around the southwest and I've got rentals lined up everywhere except for a little town outside of Corpus Christi, Texas.

However, my wife reminded me that there's an old retarded bullfrog we know down there in the area and she called him up. Said he'd be happy to meet us at the airpatch and give us a lift into Corpus so we could go straight to the Hertz counter at KCRP.

But we've got a lot of little two/three-day excursions planned for this spring where we'd like to rent a car, so I was still wondering what the best/easiest way to do it with small FBO's was.

Hell, everywhere we're used to going, we KNOW somebody. But we're wanting to take some trips together. . . just the two of us.

I got some health news from my doc a few weeks back that doesn't bode real well at the moment, pending a whole buttload and slew of tests. Doc's advice was "get everything you can out of every day you've got."

So that's what we're doing.

Thanks for all the great suggestions, replies and stories. They helped a lot and the infobabe enjoyed reading them. (But she didn't like me posting that old picture of us on the USA Today thread :no: ) And she can't believe that I use those little smiley things. Told her I was finally acting my age. :)

Regards.

-JD
 
JD - really sorry to hear about the health news, man! Best of luck on that and our prayers here for good news from the upcoming tests.
 
SCCutler said:
Comes Sunday, we leave the car right where we found it, a few miles on the odo and a tank full of gas.

About three weeks later, I gets this this call on my cellphone from teh Enterprise counter-jockey in Smallville: "When are you planning on bringing the car back?" he asks me.
Click to expand...

I've had good and bad experiences with Enterprise. Twice I've been bitten with the "We are charging you for xxx days because we can't tell when you dropped the car off." Once I simply didn't realize I was supposed to call their office (when they were closed) to report the return at the FBO. The other time I called and left a message but I had no way to prove it. Both of those were in Joliet IL. Since then I've been renting from a car dealer when I go there.

At a couple other locations I've been charged something on the order of $20 for "pickup" when they had to come out to the airport to drop the car. So much for "We'll pick you up". Many locations will push really hard for you to buy the outrageously expensive insurance.


But there have been plenty of times when I felt I was treated well and the price was good so I think the real answer is it varies a lot.
 
kevin47881 said:
JD, we'll keep you in our prayers as you battle your health concerns.
Click to expand...

gkainz said:
JD - really sorry to hear about the health news, man! Best of luck on that and our prayers here for good news from the upcoming tests.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

My local doc found a mass on my spinal column after some routine x-rays for an arthritis problem that is getting worse. After a cat-scan and MRI, radiologist and neurosurgeon have confirmed that it is more than a mass, it's a (expletive deleted) tumor.

First thought was, "Well, hellfire--get a knife, give me a shot and cut it the hell out of there!"

Problem is, if it's a hermangiosarcoma and it bursts, I'm dead in a couple of months, so they say. Wife's not real happy with that prospect. So we'll be heading down to Wilford Hall in San Antonio where there's a world-class neck-cutter who's gonna biopsy it first. If it's a bad deal, then we're gonna go ahead and see about cutting it out. If it's not the hermangio-crap, then we have to figure on whether or not it's malignant or benign and what to do accordingly.

Preliminary conversations and examination with a neurosurgeon here in Dallas has him thinking it's NOT the hermangio thing, which, to quote Forrest Gump "and that's good."

So then the decision, if this neuro is correct, is leave it in and see what happens--which if it's malignant, you KNOW what happens. Or do we do the chemo thing? I've flown enough kids with leukemia to know what that chemo crap is all about.

If it's benign, do I leave it in and just cuss at it every day or carve the little SOB out and toss it in my shoebox?

Decisions.

Either way, I figure I'm gonna get cut on.

We'll have a ruling/determination on the hermangio thing early next week. And then we'll just take it one step at a time. Ironically, I found all of this out after my flap with AOPA and re-did my will to take them out of it, so they picked a bad time to **** me off--we had a lot of stuff in our will for them (my wife don't fly and if I ain't around, she's done said she don't have any use for the airplanes and she's gonna get rid of them).

I oughta be worried, but in all honesty, I'm not. I'm worried like HELL for my lovely wife--she's scared you-know-what-less of me departing prematurely. Used to be when I was in the jungles after my folks were killed and I was all alone, I never worried about dying--who the hell was gonna miss me? Now I've got someone scared silly about me maybe heading west, and THAT worries me.

So, we're gonna start doing a lot of little vacations and sight-seeing trips and what not. Because you never know.

Regards.

-JD
 
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JD,
Sorry to hear about your problems. I'm praying that it's benign! After all the stuff you've been through in your life, it's disappointing to be even having to consider something like this. But it doesn't surprise me that you're taking it so well. Spending time with that lovely wife of yours sounds like a GREAT idea!
 
They can do amazing things now, your job is to keep the chin up and lots of bended knee time. We will be pullin' for ya.
 
Fingers and toes crossed till you find out what you've got.
 
JD,

Good luck & hope things work out for the positive. If there's anything you need in San Antonio, let me know.

bill
 
Damn, JD, you're the sixth person I know who's found a tumor in the last year. I'm terribly sorry about your news. You and your wife have my deepest wishes for the best possible outcome.

Regards,
Joe
 
JD, I'm very sorry to hear about this. My prayers are with you and your wife. Should one of your little trips/vacations get you in the Atlanta area, please let me know.
 
I'll keep you and your wife in my prayers, JD. Here's hoping for the best!
 
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