Never rented before, 3 days needed in PR

M

MIMS

Level 2 Member
I'm familiar with stacking AWD/Coupon and the Hertz equivalent, but Am having trouble getting any great combos to work in PR due to lack of corporate locations (I think).

I've gotten both down to around ~$30/day for mid size but hear tales of much better savings. Any of you Car rental Ninjas have any tips?

The dates are PR 9/19(4pm)-9/22(10am). pu/do in san juan
 
Hutch

Hutch

Level 2 Member
I used my National executive in sju. Paid the cheap rate ~30 and got explorer SUVs. They actually have a big selection in sju since the different companies team up.
 
James from BNA

James from BNA

VR Jacket Guy
Join Emerald Club, rent mid-size, skip the line, and pick any car in the Emerald area. Did this in PR in March and going back in Oct to stay at Caribe Hilton.

IMO, get a smaller car unless you have a large party. Roads/alleys in Old SJ are narrow.
 
rhinodh

rhinodh

Level 2 Member
+1 on National in SJU. The Emerald/Executive aisle is new there within the last year and very much welcomed.
 
M

MIMS

Level 2 Member
Somehow I missed all these responses :confused:

Right now the best I could do was Avis, intermediate size w/ free upgrade (we'll see how that plays out) for ~$30/day.

I won't be in big cities much. I'll be staying in Ceiba day 1, then Utuado the rest of the trip.

I know the trip is woefully short. I'm trying to parlay my SW CP into many long weekends 2015-2016. I've got San Francisco/Portland in October and Dominican Republic in February. Trying to spread the love a bit :D

But back to business. Is there a trick to getting Emerald or Emerald Executive status? After a quick skim it seems like that is rewarded by competing x and y amount of paid trips/days?

Edit: Upon further reading it looks like anyone can sign up for the base level Emerald Club.
 
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M

MIMS

Level 2 Member
Hutch said:
I used my National executive in sju. Paid the cheap rate ~30 and got explorer SUVs. They actually have a big selection in sju since the different companies team up.
Click to expand...

This was at the SJU Airport location?


Any idea what the selection would be for a base level Emerald person?
 
M

MIMS

Level 2 Member
I booked essentially the same thing I had on Avis on National. It only cost $4 more, but I am pu/do from airport instead of a location in the city, so that is nice. I also signed up for emerald club, so we'll see how that all works.
 
James from BNA

James from BNA

VR Jacket Guy
MIMS said:
I booked essentially the same thing I had on Avis on National. It only cost $4 more, but I am pu/do from airport instead of a location in the city, so that is nice. I also signed up for emerald club, so we'll see how that all works.
Click to expand...
I've had good success using autoslash to slash the rate once booked. Email your details to support@autoslash.com.
 
M

MIMS

Level 2 Member
Thanks for that link! I will definitely be doing that next time. I ended up using National emerald club and using some discounts to get 3 days down to ~$97. When I arrived I got to drive off with a 4 door Jeep Wrangler, which was awesome to have up in the mountains!
 
T

tkky

Level 2 Member
I'd definitely do something where you can skip the line. We spent about an hour at Avis in December. It was awful.
 
James from BNA

James from BNA

VR Jacket Guy
MIMS said:
This was at the SJU Airport location?


Any idea what the selection would be for a base level Emerald person?
Click to expand...
I was there last weekend and saw the following vehicles in the Aisle:

Ford Explorer
Kia Sorrento
Kia Sedona
Dodge Caravan
Jeep Wrangler (had just been turned back in and didn't want to wait an hour for it to be cleaned)
Toyota Corolla


The rep in the parking lot told me that National and Alamo are the same company in SJU and share fleets. Alamo had a much better selection than National, and he said we could pick any car in either lot and it would be charged the same if we booked mid-size with Emerald Club.
 
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