McCarran Rent-a-Car Center

Really easy experience for renting a car.
Taking the lead on planning a vacation for the first time, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but everything was easy to follow. We worked through Expedia so everything was taken care of through adding it onto our travel package.
When we arrived on the plane, at first I was worried about getting to the rent-​a-​car location (because it’s not attached to the airport), but I learned that they have a constant shuttle to and from. We were able to get a shuttle right away when we were picking up and dropping off.
Each company is clearly labeled with huge light up letters. The workers I interacted with, were nice and very helpful. I got to learn the whole rental process without any hurdles or hassle. Finding the car was easy as well. Each stall is labeled, and keys are in the car and ready for you to go.
Returning the car is just as easy. Signs help you navigate back to the correct garage. When you arrive, an associate will do a quick assessment, print you a receipt and you’re on your way.
Quick and easy, I recommend for anyone who needs to rent in Las Vegas.

Good news is all of the rental car companies are together here unless you go to one of the ultra cheap ones. You also get to pick your car from a bunch of different choices in the zone at the places I’ve rented from. Bad news is you have to take a dreaded annoying free shuttle bus from the airport to the rental car center. This means the lines can be insane when the massive horde descends upon this place. I once canceled a reservation and rebooked online with another company while in an awful line here.
Place itself is clean and okay but not like you have a choice to come here.

There isn’t any negative rating otherwise I would have gone for that.
Never ever book with these guys, I booked through Southwest Airlines under a special rate but these guys did not honor my reservation which already had my card processed. They simply chewed my card 3 times the actual reservation rate confirmed by southwest and after I posted out they cancelled the reservation after wasting my two hours. The manager was not at all qualified to handle the situation and was very unprofessional.

Lying mini-​van guy and dingy check in guy… Pretty irritating rental. At the end of the day, the concerns I had didn’t derail my trip to Vegas, but really Budget? I like being a happy and kind customer, I’m pretty easy to please, I travel a lot and go with the flow. I don’t like being «that guy». I had a reservation for a few weeks for a full sized car, business trip where I was taking around some co-​workers and clients. There were only three people in line ahead of me and it took way longer than it should have. Trying to figure out why… Do you ever get the feeling that as a customer you are infringing on the personal time of the employees that are helping you, we that’s the feeling we were getting. Then, back to the car. No full sized cars per my reservation, he tells me, «We don’t have any cars, your choices are an economy car, which it doesn’t look like you will fit in, or a mini-​van.» I told him I wasn’t really happy with the mini-​van, it’s not what you want to be rocking in Vegas. I asked if there was something we could upgrade to and was told no. But, as I’m reasonable, I responded” if that is all you have I’ll take it, but if I see a lot of other cars out there going to be quite upset and I’m going to be back talking with your manager.” Guess what, he went to the back room for another 5 minuted and «found a car» as per our original reservation. When we walked outside to the garage, imagine our surprise when we see a plethora of nice cars, maybe 50, in all sorts of sizes and shapes that would have worked just fine. Shame, shame, shame on you counter person who not only just blatantly lied to us, but lied about something we would be able to see very clearly in a few minutes after we would be walking away, did you think we wouldn’t see?. When we were dropping the car off, the fun continued. They guy checking the car in exclaimed, like I dinged his personal vintage ride, «THERE IS A DING IN THE DOOR.» I looked at it, it was very small, the size of a pencil eraser and I explained” I rent cars a lot, and every company I have discussed has told me that they don’t worry if dings are less than a quarter in size. I don’t look that hard at the cars when I pick them up. I showed him 4 other dings and scratches around the car that showed it was the general condition of the car, a rental with 19,000 miles is typically a bit less than showroom condition. He angrily wrote, in big bold letters DING on form, thrust the paper at me and growled that I was a bad boy and had to discuss this with the Principal (in so many words and tone), or who ever was in the booth. I went there, explained the whole process, she was very sweet and just said very sweetlt, «Oh, we don’t worry about dings». So no national emergency in this rental, and maybe if the lady in the booth were running things it would be a bit nicer and better customer service.

This is an all in one car rental place. The rental companies are on site with the cars parked right outside in their huge garage. The garage is connected to the center, so it’s really close. The only thing separating it is a sliding glass door. It’s air conditioned on the inside to keep you nice and cool. When you return the car, you park it back in the same garage. The different rental companies all have their own sections. This is a pretty good setup that they have going on.
The Rent-​A-​Car Center is bright and clean. I saw a Starbucks and some slot machines. Slot machines are everywhere in Vegas. I was not surprised to find them here.
My only complaint is that it’s not within walking distance to McCarran International Airport. It’s about three miles away. They offer free shuttles to and from the airport and the shuttles come frequently. You just need to be sure to allow yourself extra time to make it to the airport.

DO NOT RENT THE CAR FROM BUDGET IN LAS VEGAS!!! It is the worst car rental experience ever. Their cars always have some problems. We exchanged 2 cars. The engine light kept on. It is really bother me. The staff in the booth is terrible, impatient and impolite. We returned the 1^st car with the gas full, but we got charged they said we didn’t put gas when we return the car! IT IS RIDICULOUS!!! Even thought we got the money back via the manager at last , but it is waste us lots of time because exchanged the car 1^st time and refunded the money back 2^nd time. It is the last time I rented the car from budget.

Shuttle bus catastrophe.
If you’ve returned your car at the car rental center and traveling back to the airport via the shuttle bus, just hope that Cheryl is not in charge of organizing the lines when you’re there.
There were 6+ separate lines waiting for the single loading area for the Terminal 1 bus — all unorganized and nonsensical — thanks to Cheryl. Panicked travelers were hailing cabs and racing off to the airport.
No information was provided to the increasingly frustrated crowds. Shockingly, it took 30 minutes of waiting to get on the damn bus. The busses were allowed to leave with empty seats! Unforgivable, but I guess Cheryl and crew do not know how to count… sad. Perhaps Cheryl should apply for a job at the post office; she is supremely qualified.

Nowadays, airports rarely have on-​site rental agency. So airports have developed an off-​site rental car center where most companies can conduct business. This makes sense. Yes, as a consumer it adds additional time to get and return your car, so you should adjust your time accordingly. This center is not near the airport, but the shuttle gets there rather fast. My only issue is that wait for an entire shuttle to fill up before leaving. If you are one of first to get on, you will notice that the last 10% of the folks coming in are 20 minutes behind you. They have enough shuttles to take 80% capacity and more more frequently. Meanwhile the actually center is large, has a big seating area in case you have to wait for others and is nicely arranged. It’s one of the better ones.

The staff member here are absolutely a nightmare to deal with. Also, the rental facility is off site, 15min from the airport.
Used this rental facility and rented a car on a recent biz trip, the rental car company was great, but the staff that worked at the facility were horrible and major attitude problems. There are apparently 2 terminals at the airport, when I asked a staff member which terminal is my airline, this person glared at me, gave me a really dirty look, then pointed toward some list on the wall which I didn’t see. Talk about impatient and mean! I was able to find this list on the wall and figured out that I was in Terminal 1. So I proceed to get on the shuttle bus back to the terminal.
As I walk out the door, there was 2 signs, one for Terminal 1 and one for Terminal 3. So I started to walk towards the sign and arrow pointing to Terminal 1. Well, this woman standing there, immediately yelled at me and told me to walk towards Terminal 3’s shuttle. WTF? So I told her I’m going to Terminal 1 and which airline I was flying, and she continue to be very mean to me and tell me I can’t go to the Terminal 1 bus. So, either she’s crazy, or the sign is completely wrong. Because she was such a crazy, insane, mean, nasty person, I decided to trust the sign, and continue to walk towards the Terminal 1 bus, she then physically standing right in front of me and blocks me and tell me I can’t go that way. I says why? that’s what the sign says. She says that bus is full and you can’t go to that bus, I looked at that bus, and it was clearly NOT full, and I told her I have no luggage and I can just stand, not a big deal. She continues to block and was really to push me. Wow, talk about harassment. I weight a bit over 100 lbs, and she was much bigger than me. She was clearly trying to power trip and intimidate me based on my small size. Since I didn’t want to get punched in the face by some insane employee of the rent-​a-​car-​center, i got on the bus that was clearly labeled Terminal 3, which is the wrong terminal for me.
That bus was then fully packed and many many people were standing, so she obviously LIED about you can’t stand inside the shuttle bus. This particular bus stopped at both terminals and so I did get to my destination but that B-​I-​T-​C-​H really need to go to the looney bin because she’s going to physically harm someone!

The McCarran Rent-​a-​Car Center makes renting a car a breeze. There are shuttle buses that continually go back and forth from here to the airport. It’s extremely convenient that all of the car rental companies are located at one facility. It eliminates the need to have shuttle buses from every company, which can be so frustrating at times because your bus is usually the one that never arrives. With this setup, you hop on the one bus, and voila, all the rental car companies are right in front of you. I’ve been here on a few occasions (renting once and returning twice). I rented from Avis, and that was an ordeal, not the friendliest of staff. (I don’t think they liked that we were driving to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Sedona, but that’s allowed as per the rental agreement). Returning was simple both times, once from Avis and once from Alamo (we rented that car in LA). Returning a rental car is a much simpler process. You pull into the facility and signs are clearly marked for each company as you make your way up the ramp and around the bend. You pull in and they have you pull up to within 2 feet of the car in front of you. With my recent Alamo return, an associate came over quickly, checked our mileage, made sure we returned it with a full tank of gas and did a quick inspection. She then handed me my receipt and we were good to go. You then make your way into the lobby and exit the front of the building where shuttle buses are waiting to take you to your terminal at McCarran. The bus was waiting when we got there and left shortly after we boarded.
I wish more airports would adopt a similar model for renting a car, it really simplifies travelling.

This review is only for the rent-​a-​car center itself, not for any specific rental car company.
This was a nice centralized location for all of the rental car companies. After you land at McCarran Airport head for the buses and look for the rental car shuttles. From here you just go to the counter for your rental car company to take care of your paperwork before getting your car in the parking structure.
It’s located on Gilespie St just South of the 215 freeway. You’ll need to remember that since this is where you’ll need to drop off the rental car. The entrance to drop off your car is on the North end of the building. Just follow the signs for your rental car company. After you’ve dropped off your car, you’ll need to take a shuttle to the airport. There are two shuttles, one for terminal 1 and terminal 3. There are signs that tell you which airlines are at which terminal.

It’s just that a Rent-​a-​Car Center for almost every agency in Vegas. Fast shuttle service from the terminals, very clean, well lit and easy to navigate. Problem is that this place and all of the brands can be quite crowded, since the shuttle drops off masses of people at one time. This is caused me to switch companies based on line length before. As long as some one is aware of this, then overall this massive complex is helpful to travelers.

Feels like a hit or miss depending on which car rental service you go with
In my experience:
–Avis — almost no line however they will try to upsell a bunch of unnecessary add-​ons like insurance, roadside assistance, gps, fue. Returning the car was a breeze.
–Dollar — looong wait. Almost an hour wait in line.
–Budget — expect a wait but not as long as Dollar.
Rating is three stars based of the mixed experience.

If you’re renting a car, chances are you’ll be coming here for one. As the hub for most well known car rental brands, this place is super easy to get to from McCarran airport.
Once out of the airport main entrance, make a left and there should be shuttle waiting. The shuttles are never overcrowded plus the ride takes under 10 mins. I recommend going with Hertz and signing up for their gold club status (free). We took the escalator up the next floor and was help fairly quickly. In and out within 10 mins plus a free upgrade to a Cadillac. Yeaaa baby.

Easy enough to get to: ask any airport employee how to get to the shuttle bus. They’ll point you towards a long line, which fortunately moves extremely quickly. There are lots of buses that come very frequently which will take you in one stop to the rental car center.
Most of the large car rental companies are here. If they are not, there’s another bus for you to take. When renting a car in Las Vegas, make sure to see that the agency is in the rental car center. Two buses is one too many.
There are slot machines, as there are everywhere in Las Vegas, little concession stand and a place for you to wait. It’s comfortable enough, and clean enough, and it moves quickly.

Shuttling to get your car can be hit or miss. This one works fairly well. It’s a bit of a ride to the location, so be keep that in mind; 7 minutes I believe. Once there, it’s easily laid out and quick to find what you need.
The bus drivers are very helpful. They’ll point you in the right direction and load and unload your bags. Throw these guys a tip if you can. On our last trip to the airport, no one but me tossed the guy money. He had just loaded and unloaded all the bags; not an easy task to do all day.

Centralized rental car location. Clean, easy to navigate and easy shuttle service.
Gets you from point a to point b so you can be on your merry way to point c.
It is a good system that totally worked for me!

My flight from Portland was just about as long as the shuttle to get my rental car. Seems like the MGM was getting smaller and smaller as I rode further away from the strip to get my car. Once you get there it is pretty easy to get your car and get out quickly. Just seems a bit too far away.
The buses were packed, even thou 3 buses were sitting there they kept pushing us the front bus till it was overstuffed and people were standing.

I hate this shared bus crap. Is it just me, or is the airport actually closer to the Las Vegas Strip than this rent-​a-​car center?
Too much walking, too many buses and too long a ride. Just like Baltimore and Seattle and others where you get on a shared bus with everyone else and their luggage, regardless of whether or not you have any status with your car rental company.
I think next time, I’ll just get a danged taxi.

I use this center frequently although I am a local. I travel. Like. I travel a lot… too much. Regardless, I’m in and out of here regularly for work. If I have the option to pick up a rental car vs. racking up the miles my own vehicle. I will do just that.
Here are my top 4 takeaway points for McCarran Rent-​A-​Center…
1) Our rental car center requires a shuttle to and from our main airport terminals. The ride is roughly10 mins to the terminal– Make sure you plan accordingly.
2) We love signs! Getting out of the car rental garage to our famous Las Vegas Strip is pretty easy. Take I-​15 N to your destination on the strip if you need to save some time vs driving up Las Vegas Blvd (unless this is your first time here. Then I demand you sit and wait in traffic and take it all in– Vegas is one of a kind). I-​15 N is WAY faster. Trust me. There are also plenty ‘Car Rental Return’ signs when your returning your car. This is helpful and Vegas does this better than other airports.
3) The whole rental car center is rather clean and well appointed. It was designed with an open concept and offers plenty of tables and seating if you’re stuck waiting around for other items. Plenty of restrooms and they’ve been clean when I’ve had to use them. We also have slot machines in our rental car center and the airport. It’s Las Vegas and of course those sneaky slot machines are everywhere … Duh.
4) Las Vegas knows how to handle a crowd. We like to keep things moving. From the shuttle bus to checking out/​returning your rental car– I have always experienced a timely check in/​check out — or hopped on a shuttle without too much of a wait.
Tip: I also use National and signed up with their Emerald Club. You get to skip the line and take the escalator up to level 2 and pick out any car in the emerald (or executive aisle if you’re a car renting pro) car in your designated aisle. It’s great and saves a ton a time wherever I go. Check it out. Time is valuable.

Facile d’accès.