Alamo Car Rental at Orlando Airport

Normally when we vacation to Orlando, we rent a car at the Orlando International Airport.  Most of the time, we don't have a preference for one company; there are numerous on-site car rental companies, and they are all located beside one another, so we usually choose whichever company can give us the lowest rate.

This particular decision backfired on us this time.  In the past, we have used Dollar, Avis, and Budget, with not one problem.  This time we decided on Alamo, because I had a $20 coupon for them, and that gave us the cheapest weekly rate.  I remember telling my husband before we left, "Alamo is the official car rental company of Walt Disney World- they have to be good!"  Boy, was I ever wrong!

Alamo does have check-in kiosks that are available, but you cannot use them if you have any type of coupons, or other certain discounts.  As we looked at the car rental section after waiting for our luggage, we were worried when we saw that EVERY other rental section had no line, but the Alamo counter wound around velvet ropes 4 times!!  There were at least 20 people ahead of us, and when you are trying to entertain an excited 4-year-old after riding in a plane for 2 hours, this is a certain recipe for disaster. 

We waited in line for a total of 90 minutes!!! My son was uncontrollable by this point, and my husband and I had frazzled nerves, and were both getting increasingly grouchy by the second.  We finally got up to the counter, and went to check in.  When we had booked the reservation, I used my credit card, but I clicked the box to make my husband the primary driver, because I hate driving in unknown areas, especially airports.  This has never been a problem....until now.  The girl refused to let my husband be listed as a driver, saying that because my credit card was used, I was the primary driver, no matter what box I had checked.  However, would I be interested in adding my husband as the secondary driver for only 10 dollars a day?  Since we were staying for 10 days, this was not an option.  Looks like I was stuck driving, but at that point, we just wanted to get a car and start our vacation.

Finally we made it out to the garage.  We followed directions to our chosen row; we had rented an economy car, the same as we do with other companies.  There was ONE car in our row left; a 2-door Volkswagon Bug.  Are you kidding me?  With a 4 year still in a booster seat, and a husband who is 6'3", I don't think the Bug is an option.  So, we waited some more, until another car was returned.  About 45 minutes later, a white Focus pulled in, and we quickly jumped on it. 

So, with all the waiting and the fact that I had to drive the entire vacation, we were very disappointed in Alamo.  We love Disney, and are surprised they associate with this company; customer service is something that Disney is well known for, and they accomplish very well, but Alamo seemingly has NONE of these standards.  The employees were all very short with us, and no one had a smile on their face.  Totally not worth the low price when it comes to renting a car at Orlando Airport if it means choosing Alamo.  We will certainly not be renting from them again.