Advantage Rent-A-Car

They have actually moved from the Airport to 2 to 3 miles east of the Orlando Airport. They used to be owned by Hertz but were sold within the last year. If we had known that we would not have rented from them this year. We rented from them last year when they were part of Hertz and it was great. Not so any longer. They are now out on Narcoossee Rd. So you first have to wait for the shuttle, then take the ride to the rental office, then we had to wait over 45 minutes before we even got to the counter. It took a total of about 90 minutes before we were on our way. The reservation said we may be charged a $200 damage deposit. When we got to the counter it was $350. When I showed him and challenged him he said credit cards were charged $200 and debit cards $350! So paying cash is penalized! This company just is not worth all the trouble! We will NEVER rent from there again. more

Wasn't the best experience, but I wouldn't consider it terrible...\r \r We reserved a standard sized vehicle a few days before arriving in Orlando. Once we arrived, the rental counter was easy to find and we were greeted by a polite young lady. I gave her my name and my driver's license and when I tried to pay, they wouldn't accept the credit card because it was in my wife's name (even though she was with me). We had to cancel my reservation and make a new one in her name, they then wanted to charge me an extra $10 per day to let me drive - something I've never had to deal with (we didn't accept). We went through the process, declined insurance (oddly enough, I tried to give them my proof of insurance and they wouldn't even look at it), and at the end was told we had been ""upgraded"" to a large-car model, which consisted of a 2011 Toyota Camry. We get to the car and it's not in the best shape I've ever seen a rental car - especially for being a year old and having 28k miles on it. We spent about 20 minutes marking down all the scuffs, scratches, dents, and broken pieces on the car, all in a moderately lit parking garage. Only after we leave do we notice that the interior of the car is stained and scratched horribly and was quite dirty in general. The console/shifter had coffee stained on the finishing panels and the backseat floorboard had a big black stain about two feet in diameter. It drove like a brick on wheels and the transmission made some weird noises.\r \r So overall, the price was good and the service was acceptable, but the car was less than desirable - and I'm fairly certain I was given that POS because we declined the insurance. So long as I'm not charged extra for anything, I'll consider it a decent experience. more

PLEASE DO NOT TRUST THIS CAR RENTAL!!!!! I booked a mid size SUV for 8 days in June 2012. I had a feeling the price was too good to be true, so I called Advantage on two separate occassions prior to my trip. I asked many questions regarding hidden fees and was assured the price I was quoted was all the $$ due and that the additional insurance was only optional. I arrived at MCO with my husband and 3 teenagers- vacationing as a graduation gift. We made our way to Advantage desk with all of our luggage. Only one other customer was checking in..I thought great no line! Then I over heard the problems the one customer was having. I was called next to the counter. Everything seemed easy - ran my credit card..just to be told it was declined!! There is no way! My card had 0 balance!! I called the credit card immediatley - feeling so embarrased. Here they were trying to charge over 900.00 to my card!! I asked the car agent why?? My rental was 349.00..I already was covered under my own insurance and didn't need insurance - I also declined the gas and prepayed toll. The agent told me it was Florida law that I had to pay for liability thru the car rental (199.00) he also charged me 106.00 for gas, a 200.00 deposit administrative fees !!!! After I freaked out on him..he said he could remove the gas charge. I just wanted to start my vacation. I was very annoyed and tired. I then explainedt to to him that I had my credit card set up to only authorize 500.00 per day transaction...and asked if I could just pay the deposit thru cash or debit. I was told no - they could not accept cash, and they would have to run my credit to use a debit card??? I said just run the debit for the 200.00 deposit..he then informed me that I couldn't use two cards - everything had to be in one transaction!! Now I've been standing there 45 minutes...and still no car!!! I asked for a manager. The manager would not come to the front and had me waiting..and by the way- the customer that was there when I arrived was still there with the same problems...30 mins later I finally see the manager -he was very abrupt and rude advised me to call my credit card company and raise my transaction per day limit!!! I walked away...down to Dollar Rental they helped mye immediatly - no deposit or upselling me gas & insurance...PLEASE TAKE ME SERIOUSLY..THEY ARE SCAMMERS...START YOUR VACATION OUT ON A PLEASANT NOTE AND USE ANOTHER CAR RENTAL. more

My friends and I traveled to Florida for spring break. All 3 families Reserved cars at Advantage. A male staff person walked away from the counter as we arrived to take a break and the two girls that were left seemed friendly but possibly annoyed. I declined any additional insurance or add ons to the reservation that was made but they ask about insurance, upgrades, and gas filling options. All this while us Mom's are watching 8 children and one dad is on the phone to find out his Dad just had a stroke. The car was nice. It was kind of in the back of the parking ramp and a bit of a walk but okay. When we turned in the car after 9 days, the real nightmare started. I was handed a bill that was $200 more than the estimate on our reservation. On the plane ride I compared the bill to my friend's and figured out they billed me for their insurance which I refused. I landed in the Midwest and called back to Orlando. I was on hold with their horrible voice mail hell for over 40 minutes before I got disconnected. I called back and spoke with their manager. He told me he couldn't do anything and gave me an email address for a higher manager (Stephen). I wrote to him that night with my complaint. It was several days later that another employee (Mark) called me back. He was VERY unpleasant and disrespectful. Not what I needed on the day of my friend's father's funeral. He refused to adjust the bill despite it being the mistake of their employee. I finally ended the conversation asking him to send me a copy of the contract and reservation. I waited 2 weeks and never got that but did have the bill on my credit card. I emailed Stephen again to settle the discrepancy but he basically says they are not fixing THEIR mistake because they have my initials or electronic signature. Watch out for their business practices and lack of customer service would be my warning ! more

We read some negative reviews about advantage which made us nervous. We still took the chance with the rental and glad our instincts were correct. Nothing but positive things to say about this low cost and low profile company that deserves the chance against the bigger companies. We probably saved 25-50% on our mini van for the week. just wanted to say super thanks from me and my family!!! Mark more

Like most people, I was quite nervous when I read some of the horror stories about Advantage Rent-a-Car. But also like most people, the difference in price between Advantage and the bigger names was too much for me to ignore. Advantage is located in the terminal, so you WON'T have to take a shuttle. Once you get your bags, find the rental car terminals one level below. I rented my car from Saturday at 8pm till Wednesday at 1pm for a daily rate of about $34/day. I walked past a HUGE line at Hertz to a line of only about 3-5 people. It took about 5 minutes for me to be waited on. The guy who helped me was very business oriented, but not too pushy. They went through the normal schpeel of offering insurance. After I declined, he offered it to me again at a discounted rate. After I declined again, he gave me their ""best offer"" for insurance. I declined again and we were done. I expected the multiple requests for insurance, so it wasn't a big deal. And in no way was the rep pushy. I got a 2011 model with about 25k miles. Filled out the damage report. Filled the tank a few miles before returning. Check-in took about two minutes. All is well. more

Always looking for value I stumbled onAdvantage Tent a Car at MCO Orlando Airport. I, too was worried as it was exactly half the price of the more known car rental companies. I booked online with a coupon code but continued to look for ""deals"" in the 8 weeks preceding my trip to Orlando. I did call the airport office of Advantage and talked with a representative and he assured me they were affiliated with Hertz and I had mothing to worry about. I wanted a full-size car and rented for $150 for one week plus fees. Everything went beautifully and I was extremely pleased with the service at the airport, ease of return and most of all the price! I would defintely use Advantage again more

I was worried, to say the least, after reading reviews for how badly people have felt they were treated by Advantage Car Rental. I booked my car rental directly through their website using a coupon upgrade. The price was right at just under $130.00 for one week in Orlando. Pickup was at the airport. Let me just say, the days leading up to me going to Orlando, and even the day of (6/27/11), I was trying to get a different deal through anyone else because I was so worried about Advantage. Anyway, my plane is one hour late coming into Orlando from Philadelphia. So, instead of going to the baggage claim first, I wanted to run down to the car rental floor to get things settled. I get down there, not one person in line. Mind you, it is about 10pm on a Tuesday. I walk right up, greeted by the nicest young woman, whose name escapes me at the moment. The process was so quick, less than 6 minutes at most. I had my keys and was gone. No pressure for insurance or an even better upgrade, although I was asked. The car I received, which was classified as a mid-side, was a brand new (only 1,000 miles on it) Nissan Sentra. Totally clean. Still had the new car smell. I was impressed. On my return (7/5/11), no issues either. Car was checked out, I was on my way. Everyone from Advantage that I encountered was very nice. Oh, and I don't work for Advantage. This is a legit review of my experience. I gave the same review on Epinions. more

Don't rent from Advantage ever! I am an easy-going customer, but this was just horrible customer service. We booked our reservation online a month before we arrived in Florida. We missed our connecting flight to Orlando and had to call to change when we would pick our vehicle up at Advantage. The worker who we talked to changed our ENTIRE reservation, thus needing to return the car back way before our departing flight. (They advised to just come to the airport FIVE HOURS early). The worker insisted ""he could not do anything about the reservation"" and walked over to his ""manager"" and the manager just shrugged his question off. Needless to say, they couldn't do anything for us because the previous worker messed up our reservations. We had to call back to the Advantage hotline to get things recovered. This took a good hour to change, all because Advantage was UNWILLING to help!! The customer service we received was atrocious! Just because they are cheap doesn't mean they have to have horrible service! We still are giving them money! I will not rent from then again!! more

Took forever to get car. Customer service was fake and poor and they all spoke like speedy gonzales mixed with pancho villa! when i returned the car, despite showing them a gas receipt, they absent-mindedly (??) charged me an additional $31 to refuel car, which i didn't immediately notice. i tried calling them back to dispute, but phone just rang off the hook. when they finally answered, they put me on hold until i gave up and took up with my amex card. i guess this is the way you rent a car south of the border. Terrible! Cons: Terrible, poor english speaking cust svce. Dumb workers more

I live in this area but my family is in TN and north GA. I rent cars for the drive to save the wear on mine. When I arrived there was 3 people at the counter but none in line in front of me. I waited maybe 10 minutes. The lady at the desk was NOT friendly. But I was there to rent a car not make a friend. She tried to push all the extras (i.e insurance, upgrade, Gps).I told her no and her response was... so you are going to be responsible if something happens. I said yes and that was it. She handed me the keys and i went out to the lot and got the car. The car was a Elantra with New York tags. No big deal. It had a couple hail dents in the trunk lid and a couple small stains in the back seat. (like drops of coffee or something) I returned the car a week later. No problems. I pulled the car up front, got out, got my kids out, carseats out, done. I was charged 114$ for a weeks reantal (73$ plus taxes and surcharges) and put 2K miles on the car. No extra charges to my card. Peaceful cheap rental of a 2009 car. Yeah customer service couple have been nicer BUT I was not renting a friend, I was renting a car and everybody knows friendly customer service in the tourist capital of the world is rare if its not Disney. Pros: Fast simple Cons: customer service more

Up front let me state: I never complain about service, but this was so bad that I had to let others know.\r \r By far, this was the worst experience with a rental car company I have ever had! While the price was the best of any company, the customer service was horrendous. We waited in line for 1 hour and 30 minutes with only 9 people in front of us and 4 people ""supposedly"" working the front (although they became phantoms). When I asked the worker at the front if this was a difficult night, he told me, ""No, this is normal. We have long lines every night. If you want customer service you need to go to Hertz or Avis, but if you want a good price you can wait in line."" I asked if he would allow me to take out my video camera and film a commercial. \r \r The price is the only reason why I gave them 2 stars. I'm not really sure the price we paid was worth the wait. BTW, they don't answer the phones either, so don't bother calling with questions.\r Pros: Good price Cons: WORST Customer Service EVER!!! more

I tried calling for 3 days about my reservation and had no luck- never again more