The self check-in kiosk is already taken for granted by most airline passengers, and increasingly, for better or worse, by hotel guests. Car rental companies have been slow to adopt self-serve machines, though. (In part, this likely has to do with the distribution of keys, though you get around this by simply putting the keys in the ignition in the secured parking lot. Anyway…)
Alamo and National (both belong to the same company, Vanguard) are introducing kiosks nationally, after successful testing in Las Vegas, Dallas, and Jacksonville.
I’m all for it. I can say “no” to collision damage waiver, etc., as quickly and easily to a person as I could to a machine.
While some companies, like Hertz and Alamo, make it easy for their frequent renters to get in and out quickly, the “masses” are generally stuck waiting in line. I remember waiting for over an hour — at midnight! — at the Budget desk at LAX. Awful. I would have gladly used a kiosk.
Perhaps this will improve the companies’ ratings for customer satisfaction. As Chris Elliott points out, the industry essentially gets a grade of “C.” Maybe the kiosks can bump it up to a B-.
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November 17th, 2006 at 1:58 am
now this is a great idea! I look forward to trying them out
September 4th, 2007 at 6:15 am
[...] transaction online wherever they can. (Alamo/National rolled the automated rental out first. See here and here.) They’ll also keep a smaller variety of cars on their lot and rent a narrower range [...]
May 13th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I had my first opportunity to use the kiosk on a recent trip to FLL. I purposely rented from Alamo because of the kiosk. I can’t wait for all companies/locations to implement them. I went from baggage claim to the highway in 5 minutes. I was also finally able to decline extras without threataning remarks from the agents. Plus, you pick the car out of their lot within your chosen class.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:01 am
[...] at car rental locations across America. While kiosks are part and parcel of airlines, hotels, and some car rental agencies, they’re not working out for Dollar/Thrifty. From their press release: “While we were [...]