Alamo Rent A Car

Rude African manager does NOT FOLLOW POLICY!
Per Alamo policy, you can only use your debit card to rent vehicle if you have proof of inbound and outbound flight to the same airport corresponding with your rental car. However, the manager refused to follow policy. Showed proof of flight, but refused to rent to me. Wasted an hour of my time at 10pM at night! Never rent with them! Go enterprise

I was scheduled to rent a car from Alamo but my license had expired and I left the DMV paperwork at home that showed it was renewed. The man at the desk was so helpful and kept apologizing which was totally unnecessary since it was my fault! He offered to call me a cab and actually stayed on the phone with the cab and walked me to the door where the cab was waiting. Such great customer service! I’ll rent from them again but won’t forget my paperwork next time!

This has been the first time in a long time since I rented from Alamo. Their prices were great for a one way rental and the lady who took me to my car was very friendly. Good Customer service.
Thanks,
Lenny A.

Rented a Versa at DCA to Jersey City. A little confusing to get the car because there are several car rental co at the airport (DCA). Once I found the Alamo desk and found my car it was fine. I rented a compact and that is what I got. Car was fine. Price was okay, both pick up and drop off were seamless.
Would rent from again.

I regularly rent cars for weekend travel, and I’ve tried almost all of the rental car companies at DCA. Alamo has become my rental car company of choice because of the perks and customer service. You can easily check in online, and skip the line. This has literally saved me hours in the basement of the DCA parking lot.
The cars have generally been clean and well maintained. Most of the time I’ve been able to pick the car of my choice, or at least get a very similar model. Staff are always very helpful.
And props for the great customer service. One time I was accidentally overcharged when returning the car, and the manager on duty quickly corrected the issue, and actually gave me a refund for the extra day I had pre-​paid.

We rented a car from Alamo this weekend after flying to DCA and had a great experience. We arrived on early evening Saturday. There was no line. An employee guided us to the self-​serve kiosk and went through all of the steps himself, only asking if I’d like to add another driver or purchase additional insurance coverage. He did not go over options for gas purchase, etc. The process for picking up the car upstairs was quick and easy. When we returned the car an employee immediately checked the car out and we were on our way. We would definitely use Alamo at DCA again!

Had a lot of trouble with rental. Had to change pickup time from evening to next morning, and website said no cars available. If I added 2 days to the rental, then it said cars were available. Called 800 number, and found there off shore support to be useless. They just filled in the same web form as I did, and got the same results, and said sorry we can’t help you.
Tried to change driver to my wife because of an injury to my arm. They couldn’t do that either and said I would have to add her as an additional driver for an extra $ 11/​day.
Crazy.

I live in Arlington, and don’t own a car. Alamo Rent A Car at National Airport (DCA) has become my go to car rental place. It is easy to get there — take metro (Blue and Yellow lines) and follow the signs to the rental car counters.
I recently rented from Dollar Rent a Car instead, probably wooed by the cheaper prices. However Dollar didn’t have an actual rental car for me. And I was sixth in line waiting for a rental car to be available! So I called Alama, reserved a car on the phone, and picked it up 15 minutes later. Alamo put me in a great rental car even with a last minute reservation.
Alamo has gotten busier over the year that I have been using them. You can’t count on getting exactly any one model of car — you’re stuck with what’s on the lot and choosing from what’s available. That’s fair, it is what is done at the other companies too.
Tip 1: Join the Alamo Insider for discounts. It is free!
Tip 2: Pick up your car at breakfast time for a bigger choice.
Tip 3: Use the kiosk if there’s a line
Tip 4: Go to Glebe Road & Columbia Pike area in Arlington to get gas. The station close to the airport is very difficult to get in and out of.

I usually dont rate car rental agencies, but my recent trip had me appreciated them.
I got price dropped in the last 2 weeks to like about 50% of before, for summer travel, which I understand that summer in the DC area is just crazily packed with tourists. And on top of that I get $ 20 off for my rental. So my 6 day rental with unlimited mileage turned out to be less than $ 25 a day after tax and charges.
And no hassle, that is the second main thing I look for in renting a car. I drove in D.C. and to and back from NYC, was dead scared that I would pick up a fine or missed a toll (effing $ 100+ toll from DC to NYC). I was relieved that Alamo did not add to that, it is not like they’ve done something extra but at least I am happy about the rental part while being hacked to death by tolls, parking, and traffic.
The return part wasnt so pleasant, the staff walked to us, then got away when we said we were not ready to check out because we need to unload our luggage, and did not even come back for the inspection, we just left the car as it is and key in the car, and left. Luckily there was no extra charges for anything.
Alamo has recently become my choice, unless price is significantly different, used to be Avis but they just got so much more expensive.

There was a lot of confusion when we arrived at the rental desk though not the fault of Alamo. Customers were upset that their credit cards were refused blaming Alamo, failed to make reservations and could not understand why no cars were available, and children running around the lobby while unattentive parents though it was cute. (We need a license to drive a car but not for parenting!) After a long wait we processed the reservation. Next time I’m checking-​in with the app.
The car was ready, clean, and the attendant friendly when we went to the garage. The car worked very well, a new Camry with 1,800 miles, getting 37 mpg. The return was easy and fast.
I would use Alamo again.

I have rented cars from the DCA Alamo location at least a half-​dozen times in recent years and have had consistently good experiences. The line to pick up a car is short or nonexistent, and the cars are in very good condition. About six months ago I was far from an Alamo location and had a leaky tire — Alamo was willing to reimburse me whatever it cost to repair.

Sent an email in response to their comment on my previous review. Of course, it was all for show to make it look like they’re taking care of things. Never got a response. Actions speak louder than words Alamo, and you clearly failed.
Don’t use Alamo when other companies are much more accommodating!

Rented here, got a nice new car, got in and out fast, price charged matched my reservation, no complaints at all! One of my better and hassle-​free rental car experiences. Definitely would recommend based on the experience I had.

Easy and convenient on Airport pick up… Great price and no hassle when returned to Boston Logan… Car was clean with no issues.

The supervisor drove us to the airport when we certainly would have missed our flight otherwise. And refused a tip. Renews faith in humanity — big time

Thru Costco had a great great for a minivan for for 6 days for $ 168 total?
Renting was quick, car worked well for 6 of us to get around DC area, and return was fast– very happy renter!

Very convenient hours, relatively easy to get to from the DCA metro, and hard-​to-​beat price (especially as an «Alamo Insider» — which took a minute to sign up for).
I’ve rented here three times, and have not had any issues. That said, I still take a video & pictures of the car before leaving the lot. If there is a line to check-​in (downstairs), I recommend using the kiosk machines.

Picked up at DCA. Dropped off at IAD 3 days later. No problems, just as I planned. Everyone was helpful and courteous.

After reading the horror stories on Unilocal and elsewhere about this branch, I was hesitant to rent from Alamo. However, I received an offer that was too good to pass up from my air miles plan (Delta).
Just finished a 10-​day rental. Everything was fine except for this experience: Before booking, I called the DCA Alamo desk to confirm that they actually have Toyota RAV4 model that was advertised in the offer. I acknowledged that I understood that they cannot reserve that particular model, but I was just trying to determine the probability of getting a Toyota. The person I spoke w/​assured me that they do have Toyota RAV 4s at that location. I booked 2 months in advance.
When I picked up the car, the floor person gave me options of a Jeep or Ford. She said she hasn’t seen a Toyota in their fleet in over 5 years. I could’ve rented from a nearby Toyota dealer if it weren’t for this blatant lie. Otherwise, all the employees I dealt with in-​person at DCA were very polite.

Whatever you do, AVOID this Alamo branch, if not, all of the Alamos in the DC area.
Read these reviews as well:
I have rented for years without ANY problems with companies such as Enterprise (which Alamo happens to now be under, ironically) and Avis, to name a couple. I have never had any problems with my rentals and their post-​inspections… until I used this company at this branch. I purchased a deal off of Hotwire, thinking «what a great deal Alamo has.» I was even «upgraded» from a Dodge minivan to a Chrysler. I thought, «Wow, this company is great.» That afternoon, I took some friends out to MD in this van, had a great evening, and returned the van back to DCA via the afterhours drop-​off (a little past midnight). No damages done to the van whatsoever and I have witnesses. I dropped the keys AND rental agreement in their mailbox-​looking thing, double checked the van for anything out of the ordinary, and off I went home to sleep.
Then, I get a voicemail in the morning claiming they found scratches on the vehicle. Of course, I am surprised, upset, and VERY suspicious. I have never gotten into an accident in my life and my driving record is clean. I denied the damages, of course, and yet they insisted they needed to write up a claim. They told me that they will look at video surveillance footage to see who caused the damages. Later that month, I receive an invoice of $ 1000 and an estimate with non-​timestamped pictures of the alleged van with scratches. $ 1000 for scratches!
On top of that, there were two very important discrepancies in their claim; the year and VIN number of the vehicle on their claim invoice didn’t match the vehicle information on the repair shop estimate bill. What a scam! And, yet, the Risk Supervisor and Branch Manager both insisted that they were still pursuing this claim.
Let’s just say that ½ a year later, I’m still fighting their bogus claim. They haven’t explained why the VIN numbers didn’t match, yet their response to my complaint to the Office of Attorney General claimed they explained it to me. LIARS!
In addition, after multiple requests, they wouldn’t show me any video footage, any timestamped photos, or any documents of the vehicle’s inspections before and after my rental.
As suggested by many online reviews regarding other bogus car rental claims from the same company, I’ve contacted the Office of Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.
Alamo has been uncooperative, unreliable, and, quite frankly, untrustworthy.
Learn from my mistake and the mistake of many others. This company, among many other companies, will take advantage of you if you’re not careful.
Avoid this company at all cost.
For an illustration of this scam and of my experience, check out my infograph, which has been shared on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc.