National Car Rental

If you are looking for a long-term and budget-friendly car rental service, then National may not be the most appropriate company to choose. They offer a premium service that centres around their Emerald Club rewards program, in which for each rental you receive a point, and after seven points you can redeem a free rental. This differs from other car hire companies that give points per dollar spent, including extras.

After entering your preferences for location, date and time, National displays a list of different vehicle options, starting with the cheapest. By clicking on ‘Features & Pricing’ under each car, you can view more detailed information on what the deal includes, as well as a breakdown of the pricing. One thing I noticed was that there is no choice to filter results, meaning you have to scroll through all the vehicles to find one that suits your preferences. This was a lot more long-winded than other similar car rental websites, where you can fine-tune results by adding filters such as car type, price and transmission.

One feature I liked in particular was ‘The Control Center’ section. Here, there are a number of articles on tips and advice for travelling business people, including information on the benefits of signing up to their Emerald Club if you are on a business trip. Like the FastTrack scheme offered by Budget, National also gives customers the chance to skip the hassle and bypass the counter if they are in a rush.

Unfortunately, National does not offer a pick-up service like some of its competitors, where the rental company will come to your door to take you to their office to complete a check-out. For the expensive price in comparison to other websites, it feels as though this should be something that they offer.

David Jones

I am a professional travel writer and travel enthusiast who traveled the world twice, so I am sharing my firsthand knowledge about everything related to travel and spending time abroad.