National Car Rental

Reviews

• AV

  AS V

  3 days ago
  5.0
  Two for Two National! Second experience in a row with National that was exceptionally easy and smooth. On a business trip in SD and National again comes through with an easy car rental process. So far, National will continue to have my business because they consistently have made renting a car quick, easy, and the CSRs have always been professional and friendly! Highly recommend.
• SN

  Stephen Neslage

  Jan 5, 2026
  2.0
  The on-site staff working here was great, so I'll forgo the dreaded 1-star review... however they had no cars available when we arrived. The lot was 100% empty with 30 customers in line waiting for other people to return cars so they could be washed and sent back out. I understand it was a holiday weekend (Dec 27th), but we waited an hour for a car. Then the car we were assigned had transmission failure 10 miles from the airport and their roadside support options were limited and frustrating. (the car had nearly 60,000 miles on it!?!) We had to nurse the car back to the airport and wait ANOTHER hour for a different car. Clearly this location over-books their rentals so beware if you're traveling at peak times. (It was the same at Enterprise and Budget rental as well.)
• MH

  Matthew Harrington

  Jan 2, 2026
  5.0
  Saturday, 12/27 around 5pm at the San Diego Airport location was extremely busy, and unfortunately they were completely out of cars which obviously isn’t a 5-star situation on its own. That said, the experience was completely turned around by the woman running the garage at the time. She was outstanding. She kept everything organized and fair, communicated clearly with everyone waiting, and never lost her composure despite the chaos. She embodied the level of service I’ve always loved from National. At one point, she was literally running across the garage to retrieve a car that had just become ready. While the shortage was frustrating, her professionalism, energy, and commitment to customer service made a huge difference. Employees like her are the reason I continue to choose National.
• CZ

  Chunhui Zhu

  Dec 31, 2025
  1.0
  I usually really enjoyed National Car Rental services in multiple locations including this location in the past. However, recently I had an extremely bad experience with the person at the San Diego airport parking lot kiosk during Christmas. tldr, the guy was rude, inconsistent, tried to trick you to overpay, and put hidden expenses in your bill. * Rude - We booked luxury sedan class, and I was heading to that area to pick it up. The guy without asking was trying to push us to the other row multiple. Imagine a guy yelling at you, while you are carrying large suitcases with family * Inconsistent - Long story short, we picked up a CLA 250 on XMas Eve, and then returned to exchange for a car larger trunk space (A4 or BMW 3 series in the same category) the next day. On both days, he was playing EXACTLY the same trick - oh I have an A4 for you, after 10 mins, oh it was gone, do you want to take that Hyundai car even after I told him I want to keep Luxury class BBA sedan. It was so WEIRD someone played the same trick on two consecutive days! * Tried to trick you to overpay - We came in to exchange for a car with larger trunk space the next day. Before we came in, the lady Rachel over the phone was super helpful and asked us to come in early to exchange as they did have multiple available options. After the same guy played the same 'A4 available then gone trick', he tried to sell me Hyundai or even smaller BMW 2 series again... I asked if the X3 or BMW 5 there was available for upgrade. He initially told me these were booked, and after failing to sell me smaller cars, he told me oh the X3 is AVAILABLE again, but you will have to pay triple the price :-). We didn't waste more time with this guy, so we left * Put hidden expense - When I was returning car, the total price didn't match, and after checking with the staff (by the way Greg super helpful and friendly guy at SNA as most National staff), there was this weird excessive distance charge. But the original agreement was unlimited milage. Greg mentioned it was also weird that they put it there initially, and apologized for confusion Overall, this was WILDLY terrible experience I never encountered with any car rental staff previously. I hope National can take this seriously and provide serious feedback to the relevant staff. Otherwise, this is ruining the whole brand.
• MO

  Matt O'Connor

  Dec 28, 2025
  5.0
  Once at the National location at SD Airport, quick and seamless process with the Emerald Aisle. They make it so easy, just like walking up to your own car and driving away. Same with the return - park and leave. The downside of the SD airport is the long shuttle ride to the rental car building (obviously out of National’s control).

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