Book Budget car rentals in Brooklyn

Pros: Eventually I got a car. It ran fine.

Cons: Counter staff tried to up-sell me on everything. Initially, he told me that there were no cars like what I reserved. (I reserved a compact) tried to get me to take a pickup truck or sports car for significantly more money. told me that the extra insurance I purchased wasn't worth anything and that I should buy their extra insurance on top of that. He finally "found" a car (larger than the one I wanted) and told me the wrong floor of the garage to go and get it. This all added 20-30 minutes to the pickup process. Inspecting the car was difficult because the garage was too dark to see anything. After leaving, I noticed a dent on the roof, dirty seats, and a slight smell like someone had been smoking in the car but then it was covered up with an air freshener. Also, their tolls policy is written strangely, possibly to convince you to opt into their overpriced unlimited tolls service.

Pros: The car itself was fine, I had no problems with it.

Cons: I had been isolating for two weeks before traveling to see my father, who's over 65 and has asthma. I had called to learn about the rental process in advance, and was told I'd only have to come inside the office to sign the paperwork, so I thought that was safe. My rental was at 7am, so I'd be one of the first people in the office in the morning. However, when I arrived, there was someone else in the office (I'm not sure if it was someone who had just returned a car, or maybe a manager or someone working in the hotel) having a long and very loud chat with the rental agent, both unmasked, for at least 10 minutes. The rental office is very small and didn't look like it had any air circulation, so I decided that I would hold the door open when I went in, because being in a small, enclosed space where someone else had been laughing and talking loudly, unmasked, for the previous 10-15 minutes, did not feel very safe to me. However, the rental agent asked me not to hold the door open; after I explained my concern, he said I could wait outside the office while he took care of the paperwork, which I was grateful for. However, when he called me inside again to give back my driver's license, he started telling me about how I shouldn't be worried about covid, and kept telling me that for the next 5 minutes as he finished processing the rental. I ended up being inside that office with the door closed for about 5 minutes - not a lot of time, but it didn't feel safe to me given the long and loud unmasked conversation I had just witnessed, and how the agent kept telling me not to be worried about covid. I now have to wait to get tested and potentially isolate from my family, because we aren't comfortable with the risk of exposure from that interaction. I understand not being worried about covid oneself, but I'm frustrated by that rental agent's lack of regard for my boundaries and concerns.

Pros: Staff was cordial, car was clean.

Cons: I had to wait 90 minutes for a car to arrive despite having a reservation. I understand that when demand is high cars are hard to come by, but is it not possible to alert/text people with reservations to this so they don't show up on time and then have to stand in the cold for indefinite periods of time? Given the pandemic, many nearby businesses are closed and it may be uncomfortable/dangerous to wait inside a nearby coffeeshop or store. I also found drop off extremely confusing - the Budget entrance at BWI was closed, and the sign directing cars to AVIS on a piece of computer paper was only visible/ readable if you got out of the car and walked up to it.

Pros: I

Cons: I got to to the car rental line and I had to wait over an hour with to pick up my car: I rented numerous cars with much larger lines and never had to wait like this. I feel like the staff didn’t care and they don’t value the customers time.

Cons: Waited 2 hours in line In a dirty garage to pick up our car. On the way pack after dropping off car had to wait again in line to hand in parking ticket instead of just leaving with the parking attendant.

Pros: Car was freshly cleaned.

Cons: Waited in line to pick up for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Was further delayed by an additional 30 minutes when the staff locked the keys in the vehicle and had to jimmy the lock open with a slim-jim.