Here is an excerpt from a trip report I posted last year on the Cruise Line trip report board:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
V. BUDGET RENTAL CAR VS. EZ RENTAL CAR:
This was the biggest negative of our entire trip. I'm still steamed about it so I'll vent a little here. We had reserved a large 15 passenger van 4 months prior to arrival. Three months prior I verified the reservation. One week prior I verified the reservation again. After landing at the Orlando airport my sister and I headed straight for the Budget counter. After spending a few minutes in line and another 5 minutes with the usual check-in routine the clerk informed us that this van was considered a commercial vehicle and therefore our credit card (AMEX) and our car insurance would not cover this rental. The ADDITIONAL cost was going to be $208! There had been no mention of this when I made the reservation -- surprise! We had a little debate with her over what was considered a commercial vehicle (I had always heard the 16 and up was the rule) but she was adamant that we would not be covered. By now, about 15 minutes has passed and she finally decides to inform us that our van would not be ready for AT LEAST an hour. Now, if they are telling us it will be at least an hour you can be sure it would have been longer. At this point we gave up on Budget and contacted EZ Rental Car which is a few minutes off-site from the airport. They had the van we wanted at a cheaper rate. The EZ shuttle was right on time to pick us up and the employees were extremely helpful and polite. The EZ clerk assured us that these vehicles were not considered commercial for rental use and that our credit card and car insurance were all the coverage we needed. We had our van and made it back to the airport to pick-up the rest of our party in less than an hour. Additionally, the drop-off process at EZ went smoothly and the shuttle had us back at the airport very quickly. I would not hesitate to recommend EZ based on our experience even though they are off airport property.
So, Budget made three big mistakes in my book. First, they didn't have our reserved specialty vehicle ready. Second, they chose not to inform us of the delay until 15 minutes after we started the check-in process. And third, they used a high pressure sales pitch to try and get an extra $208 from us for insurance we didn't even need. I cannot recommend Budget to anyone and will NEVER use them again.
There, I feel much better now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope this helps. The van was very roomy and we had no trouble transporting 7 adults, 3 kids (with 1 car seat) and all of our luggage.
