Everyone knows that there’s very little point renting a car in New York, especially if you’re only intending on visiting the central areas. However, for those looking to head out of the city to places like New Jersey, Woodstock, or even the Hamptons, then a rental car makes much more sense.
Upper West Side (Photo: Andy via Unsplash)
With this in mind, travelmag.com has carefully compared the three main car rental companies operating in Manhattan West basing its research on value for money, conditions of cars, wait times and overall customer feedback.
Hertz – Manhattan West 83rd Street
Hertz is one of the largest car rental companies in the U.S. with over 3,000 neighbourhood and airport locations. As is the case in the bulk of their branches, this Hertz branch in Upper West district of New York not only has a good range of standard cars, but also a Hertz Dream Collection that includes premium sedans, sporty roadsters and small and large SUVs. For common folk, Hertz has plenty of vehicles between $50-70 with both the Ford Focus and Chevrolet Spark at $62 per day. It’s worth noting that their Hertz Gold Plus Re-wards® program is not only free to join, but unlocks discounts on their rental vehicles of up to 25%.
Opening hours Monday – Thursday; 7am – 8pm, Friday – Saturday 6.30am – 10pm.
National – Manhattan West 58th Street
Broadly speaking, it’s surprisingly cheap to rent a car in New York; on our dates in early September, most car rental companies had daily prices starting off from as low as $60 per day. National’s vehicles were a little more expensive at this period of the year than either Hertz’s and Alamo’s however, at other times, they were comparable or even cheaper. Whereas Hertz tends to stock American cars (Chevrolet, Dodge, Chrysler and Ford), National favours Japanese vehicles from Nissan and Toyota. Apart from pricing, statistically, National’s fleets are newer with fewer miles on average than Hertz or Alamo. It also picks up slightly better customer service scores with many people complementing the general friendliness, and willingness to help, particularly those who assist Emerald Executive customers.
Opening hours Monday – Friday; 7am – 6.45pm, Saturday 7am – 2.45pm, Sunday 9am – 8.45pm
Alamo – Manhattan West 58th Street
If, for whatever reason, National or Hertz don’t have the car of your choice or you are already part of the Alamo Insiders Program, then this particular branch of Alamo has a fine a selection of vehicles at competitive rates. Operating in the same building as National, Alamo offers a similar range of vehicles but on the dates we researched, their car rental prices were marginally cheaper. In another favourable comparison with National, Alamo accepts payment in cash (as well as credit and debit cards). Apart from payment differences, there is very little between Alamo and National which hardly comes as a surprise considering they both operate under the umbrella of the same holding company.
Opening hours Monday – Friday; 7am – 6.45pm, Saturday 7am – 2.45pm, Sunday 9am – 8.45pm