National Car Rental

Besides the excellent National App on my phone, and the availability to get a good car in a speedy manner, this location has exceptionally courteous staff. My head is often turned as I hear «welcome» shouts and «have a great day» from the ladies — very homey! (that a word?) Dwight D.

The Oakland National Car Rental facility is hit or miss. Some days you walk out to the Emerald Aisle and have a car lot of rides to choose from, other days it is as a barren waste land of empty pavement.
The people are nice, the facility easy to get in and out of, but the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ odds of having to wait up to an hour for a car just makes this less attractive than I would like it to be.
Hint: If the Emerald aisle is empty, ask to take the upgraded vehicles. More often than not they will put you in a better ride for the same price.

I rent from Alamo and national all the time, and I have never had an issue until today. Picking up the car was alright. Lady was find that helped me. She asked if I wanted to prepay for the the gas I said no, then asked if I would like to get sxm radio. I said no and we where on our way to pick up our car. Had to wait which was no big deal, but noticed that I had been charged for gas and sxm radio when I told her no. Thought that was very wrong of her, I was able to get it fixed at the exit booth before I left. While waiting everyone was in grumpy moods and were complaining bout a customer that had just gotten in a car. During the returns was different. They just stood there never greeted us and asked how things were, and felt as if i was being rushed to leave i asked him not to close it cause I needed to switch cards and he was very nice and explained it was his first day, Went to the counter, asked if the bill was right since I brought it back two days early and it was 8dollars cheaper, all I wanted to do you was make sure it was correct. Never asked for money to be taken off and she had an attitude towards me after her boss left I was soooo embarrassed. She then started yelling at me that she wasn’t going to change it and I said okay, that was okay and that I just wanted to pay it. My husband and I were putting it on two different cards which has never been an issue before but she handed our cards back and said ‘ohhh never mine we don’t allow this’. I had asked to see her boss and laughed at me and pretty much told me know. I asked for a business card and a phone number and than was asked to leave and come back with a valid card. I have never been sooo embarrassed. And will never rent from this location again. To allow someone to talk to your customers like this is horrible. And very unprofessional.

Terrible experience here this person spent an incredible amount of time on one customer and did not even bother to talk to the rest of the people here. Did not called anyone to help and had to wait over 30 minutes will probably not rent from this company specially in Oakland again.

One of the best parts about being an Executive Emerald Club member is that you can hop right into a (typically quite nice) car without dealing with a bunch of attendants to slow you down on the way into the driver seat.
On the few occasions when I’ve had to stop at the customer service counter at various National locations, their customer service has been quite good. This location in particular handled what could have been a really annoying situation for me very well: I left a relatively expensive portable bluetooth speaker in the car. This was something that could have easily «disappeared» and I would have had to replace it on my own.
I called their Lost and Found Department on a Saturday evening. The lady who answered the phone, I believe her name was Cyrca (sp?), sounded a little confused at first as to what I was describing. But she took my information down anyways, and I got a return call Monday afternoon. Apparently the speaker had already been tucked away in the office for safe keeping shortly after I had dropped off my rental car. Cyrca arranged for shipping and it was returned to me a few days later in perfect condition.
Many thanks to this National location and friendly staff. Even though they probably deal with situations like mine many times, they made me feel valued and returned my item promptly.

Always fast, friendly service at a reasonable price. Their rewards program is meaningful, making it easy to earn free days, and their aisle selection is always on target.

Dont waste your time with this company! I felt like i was on a tv show because of the attitude! Their staff members are super careless and basically tells you to take the deal or leave. I rented a van for my wife online and paid online then when we went to pick it up, they wanted to charge us another $ 172 dollars. I wanted to cancel and leave but they said the money i already paid won’t be refunded. They do not take debit cards or cash. Called customer service and had to wait 1 hour to talk to someone. Terrible company! I felt like i just got ripped off…

For the 2^nd time in a year, my husband and I were rescued by the service desk personnel at National. In March 2014 we had reserved a car at PHX, and there were no fewer than 60 people waiting in the very nicely-​appointed lobby Budget provided to its waiting guests. Confirming that we had not prepaid, we left and walked to the National counter, where the gentleman very nicely provided us with an identical car and price for our trip to Sedona.
Last week, our birthday celebration took us to Napa Valley. Our reservation was with FOX Car Rental at OAK. A single counter person managed a long line, and after a 20-​minute wait, she very pleasantly informed us that it would be a 30 – 45 minute wait for a car. She offered to let us speak to her manager, but he found himself «unavailable». Frustrated beyond words, we decided to see if our friends at National would rescue us once again.
After trying every code and trick she knew, Christina found us a comparable car at the pricing reserved by FOX. Christina rescued us single-​handedly, but we found the rest of the rental process seamless. We were able to select our own car from a number of options, and when we returned, we were asked by no fewer than three people (one of them in a suit) how our experience was. It was GREAT! Today we are enrolling in National’s Emerald Club, because we deserve the kind of service provided by Christina and her team EVERY time!

I’ve been using National a lot recently for work. I am an Emerald Club member, so I love the ease of just walking directly up to the aisle and picking my car. My only issue is knowing which car to choose! I’ve had great luck with my car options and have gotten typically gotten a passat or jetta. I haven’t had any issues with the cars except pairing my phone with the car, but I now think it’s an issue with my phone. I also didn’t realize that VW gas tanks are opened by pushing the actual gas tank, but now I know! The cars don’t come with the manuals, so if you’re trying to figure out how to use things, then you’ll have to google it.
Service has always been fast and friendly here. The last time I got my car, I went through a different checkout lane and got a different person and he couldn’t find my reservation. When I said I had my confirmation number, he said he found it, but upon checkout when I returned the car, the amount differed from my reservation. I mentioned this to the guy helping me out and he gave me a discount to lower the rate to what it was supposed to be. It was still $ 1 or $ 2 off, but I didn’t have time to get it straightened out since I was on the way to the airport. What I learned from this, is to make sure that you give them your confirmation number when first leaving the lot with the vehicle. Even after this mix up though, I still highly recommend National. They have great rates, great service, nice fleet selection, and it’s quick!

I love being an Emerald Club member; no hassles getting out of or back to the airport. However, since this location is off-​site of the airport, you have to take a shuttle to and from the airport. It isn’t a big deal… unless you’re like me and always rushing to get to places/​make the flight back home!
Note to self: don’t fly here first thing in the morning as all the business people get in at the same time and the Emerald Club aisle is cluttered with cars trying to exit. Plus, almost had to drive a mini van because the sedans were being claimed right away!

I am an Emerald Club member. I love the lack of hassle. Many times I don’t see a huge difference in the Executive Aisle vs Emerald Club rentals. I’ve only had one bad experience… recently got a nice little mid-​size. Cruising along the freeway, turned the AC on and GAG! Out rushed the malodorous scent of nasty old french fries… and nasty mens cologne. Horrific! The tags were from NV, so I can only deduce that someone partied it up in Vegas. And left a little piece of themselves behind. *Note to self — check AC every time you rent from now on, before leaving the lot! I had to leave the windows open a crack for THREE days before the smell started to fade. When I turned the car in and told the stinky tale, she gave me $ 20 off. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but at least it was something. Gag.
On the flip side, one trip there were lots of Emerald Club members waiting, and the only EC vehicles were mini-​vans. Everyone waiting was given free Executive upgrades. I cruised around in a Mustang convertible for a week. Sweet. And it smelled just fine.

I am an Emerald club member and really like the no hassle service. The price is reasonable and the choices of vehicles exceed my expectations most of the time. My only issue would be that sometimes the choices in the executive aisle looks pretty much the same as the club aisle. I guess because of the demand, the service people have to turn the car around fairly quickly. Due to that, I feel the cars dont come back as clean and dry as it should be. What I hate is getting into the cars while it is still dripping wet from the quick wash. They seem to never wash the inside of the windows. Overall, National cars always meet or exceed my expectation. I just wish they had better promotions or discounts for longer term renters.

I usually use National and like the quick in and out, but I wouldn’t typically write a review about a rental car agency. I’m writing this review because on my last visit to Oakland, I left my eyeglasses in the car. I had some time before my flight, so I went back to the car rental facility to see if I could retrieve them. The staff looked everywhere and even brought the car back for me to inspect, but no luck. I exchanged cards with Jess, the manager, and a few days later, she had tracked down my glasses. She put them in the mail that day — I’m very happy to have them back and truly appreciate the extra effort.

Usually I rent through Enterprise via my employer, but this time National had a better rate. All of their employees were very polite and accommodating, professional and courteous. I rented a «premium SUV» and had three to pick from, all were in adequate condition and level of cleanliness. Only upon further inspection after renting did I find a uncleaned spill in the back seat floor, and some old mail from the previous renter in the glove compartment, which leads me to think their cleaning service is not very thorough. My only other complaint would be the lack of a manual in the SUV, considering the amount of technology that was left unexplained on the dashboard. I did find it funny that the employee at the desk offered me a GPS when the car I rented had one built in.
Overall I would probably rent from them again, being aware of their limitations.

Update to my last post — Oakland National manager took care of my complaints.

In general I like National and always use the Emerald Aisle, but Oakland Airport was the worst experience I’ve had.
I looked at 6 different Chevy Impalas and none of them had remote key fobs, which, since you can’t open the trunk with the key, is kind of a big deal. None of the imports had owner’s manuals, which matters to me because of how complicated the infotainment systems and electronic dashboards are. I ended up with a Malibu as the only car on the lot with both an owner’s manual and a key fob, but its owner’s manual had instructions for a different set of electronics than were in the car, so I never did get my phone synced to the system so I could use it. I ended up using my bluetooth headset which fortunately I brought with me.
So what was usually a 5 – 10 minute checkout took me almost an hour and with that I still was not happy with the car. And for some reason they gave me 2 huge key fobs on one key ring that I could not open, so I could not actually share one key with someone else, all it did was double the bulk in my pocket.

I am a frequent renter of National rental cars all over the country. In general, I am happy with them. At the Oakland airport facility The emerald Isle had plenty of undesirable standard cars. Executive Selection had the same class cars as the emerald Isle! This is not good. I ended up with an entry level Jeep Compass (it was a real piece of junk). It was the best selection of 20 vehicles on Executive Selection section of the Emerald Isle!
Oakland airport National, order some nicer cars please!!!

This location has great customer service, I gave it only 2 stars as the car was very, very dirty. I had to spend 20 minutes cleaning the windshield, brushing off the seats, getting some form of crud off of the driver arm rest… need to clean the cars better…

I’ve worked with many car rental companies over the years, as I travel a great deal for business. I most recently have been using National Car Rental and have found them to be very customer oriented, pleasant to deal with and very efficient!
I most recently rented a car at Oakland Airport in California and found the service and check in procedure and support to be terrific. If you have not used National in the pas, it’s time you gave them a try!

Process to get your car is easy.
After you land, walk through the terminal, walk across the street, wait for the car shuttle, after about a 5 minute wait, and then a 5 minute shuttle trip, you then navigate your way through the car rental depot.
I’m Emerald, so I just walked into the lot and got into my rental. My Chevy is full size, clean, and runs great. The process could not be any easier.
If you are on a time budget, assume 15 minutes from the terminal until you are driving your car, assume about the same amount of time from drop, it will take 15 minutes until you are in the TSA line.