Advantage Rent A Car

It only took me three hours to finally get a car. When I did get one it was dark and I have never been
to DC before. Worst yet, I finally got onto the wet slick, dark freeway and my lights just stopped working. I was freaking out and will never use nor recommend this place to anyone ever.

After just reading other people’s reviews I have to say that I also agree that renting from this place is a HUGE MISTAKE! As noted by other people it is not at the main airport garage that houses the majority of the other rental car companies. This one is offsite and takes much longer to get to than the ones that are right at the airport.
Once there, the people behind the desk were lazy and not particularly helpful or polite. The first car they gave me was really banged up badly and when I turned it on both the water temp and the oil level lights went on. So I went back in to exchange it and I accidentally left my personal Ezpass on the counter. But instead of them handing it back to me or calling out to me to remind me that I had left it they just kept it and it wasn’t until I was about to drive away that I remembered I didn’t have it and went back in and it wasn’t sitting there on the counter — and when I asked they were like «oh yeah we think maybe we have it». So what they were going to just keep it? Very shady.
Then the second car was also pretty banged up outwardly and especially the front driver side tire who’s rim was really bent and banged up as if it had been in an accident. I brought it to the attention of one of the managers and he said it was no big deal.
So it just took forever to get my car and I never felt safe in the vehicle and the service was subpar.

This place is a scam. If you try to turn down their insurance, they tell you that they require proof of full liability coverage. If you don’t produce proof on the spot they make you pay an additional $ 24 a day for their coverage. Because they’re off site of the airport, they assume you’ll just bite the bullet and not try to go elsewhere. DO NOT RENT HERE.

All in all– terrible experience and I will never use them again. I could have handled the incorrect address being listed and having to go off site from the airport, I could have handled the almost hour process it took to get my car, I could have handled the lack of information provided when booking the car (such as the insurance info being needed to pick up car or about the $ 200 deposit), but I could not stand for the sexist and demeaning comment that was made to me when actually getting the car. Unacceptable.
1. Address is incorrect. This is not at the airport (DCA) — you have to take a seperate shuttle from the airport to the off site location. 15 minute wait for the shuttle to come, it was like 20 degrees out.
2. When I arrived there was one person in front of me and two people at the counter being assissted. It took at least 30 minutes for me to get to the counter.
3. The woman who did assist me had zero customer service skills. Didn’t greet me, mumbled so much I could barely understand her, and was short with me when I asked questions.
4. I booked my reservation online via a third party site. At no point was I told I needed to bring proof of insurance when picking up the car (I would have provided when I booked the car). Had to figure out login to my car insurance provider to pull up insurance info as proof– not a huge deal but it took me a good 5 mins or so to sort this out and there was a long line behind me!
5. Was also told when at the counter that I would be charged a $ 200 deposit and the $ 200 would be refunded when car was returned. I thought this was sketchy– I’ve never had this done when renting with other companies. I was told people most commonly lose this deposit when they return the car without filling up the gas tank– Advantage charges $ 9 a gallon and takes it out of the deposit. Luckily– I had no issues and received my deposit back.
6. Finally get everything sorted out and paperwork signed and then was told to stand by the door and wait for my car to be finished in the car wash.
7. About 10 – 15 minutes later an employee takes me outside to bring me to my car. We walk all over the parking lot and she can’t find the car. We go back inside and she assigns me a new car.
8. I can’t get the new car to start. At this point very frustrated and not sure if it’s me or the car having the issue. Maybe the battery is dead? I flag down an employee in the parking lot and explain the car is not starting– not sure if it’s user error or if battery is dead. Employee comes over and tells me to get in car and hold brake pedal down when turning ignition. Car starts. That was obviously my bad– I’ve never had a car that required that. I thank him, embarrased about this situation. He says «I see that rock on your finger, maybe next time you should bring your husband and he can show you how to do it.» SERIOUSLY? What a lovely sexist comment to round out my Advantage experience.
9. I didn’t notice when I drove the car off the lot (probably because I was fuming about the rude, sexist comment by the Advantage employee) but the car stank. They had given it to me as soon as it came out of the car wash (it was still wet) and whoever had it right before me obviously smoked or vaped something in it. I couldn’t use the AC/​heat due to the smell increasing greatly when I did and (had to open the windows to air out car each time I drove it (it’s like 40 degrees here). I only had the car for two days so I just dealt with it but this was obviously super annoying.
10. This location had Advantage and Dollar Express. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you book your rental with another rental company. All of the other ones are on site at the airport!

My experience is similar to any of the negative reviews posted here. They claim that they are on-​airport but they are somewhere in Crystal City. We had to wait well over half an hour for a shuttle, and when we arrived there was a single employee to serve a long line of people. Even getting out of the parking lot was a hassle. When I turned my paperwork over to the guy in the kiosk, he spent 5 minutes entering information onto the computer. So with a 10 pm arrival, and with 2 children in tow, we didn’t get on our way until well after midnight.

I can only affirm what everyone else has said. I rent cars all the time and have never had such a miserable experience. Not only were the attendants both slow and rude (including and especially the manager), but they have some ridiculous policy for people who live within 65 miles of the airport that they need their own insurance. This was never disclosed to me before the fact – the manager claimed it was on the website but could not show me where – and they don’t sell insurance there (I of course purchased the supplemental insurance when I rented the car, but apparently that wasn’t good enough).
So, on CHRISTMAS EVE, I was told I wouldn’t be able to rent a car, and wouldn’t be able to drive home to see my family. Please, as a Christmas favor to me, rent from ANYWHERE ELSE.

In the past 20 years I’ve rented over 200 cars. Advantage is easily the worst I have encountered. After spending 40 minutes looking for a means to there off site location, there in no signage directing you to the pickup, I arrived at the tiny rental office. Two indoor seats for customers, with maybe 10 customers standing around. No restrooms either. I was told my car would be ready in 10 to 15 minutes, 55 minutes later I got the car. The car was good, a VW Jetta. Every other aspect terrible. Look somewhere else than Advantage.

dear Unilocal,why can I not leave zero stars!!!
DO NOT RENT FROM HERE.
I have reserved a car from this location three times, and only once have I successfully driven off the lot. I will not be trying ever again. their «corporate policy» on insurance for local drivers is inconsistently applied, I guess depending on if the rude desk agents feel like working that day or not.
DO NOT RENT FROM HERE.
for what it’s worth, I do have insurance; I am a co-​driver on my significant other’s policy. because I am a co-​driver, and I do not own a car, I do not have a paper insurance card. this is not a problem anywhere else on the planet except at this flea-​bag advantage location.
DO NOT RENT FROM HERE.
the first time I rented here, I was given a car after verbally telling the desk agent our insurance carrier and policy number. the second time, I was denied a car because my proof of insurance did not list my name. the third time, I was denied a car because my proof of insurance listed my name, but not the policy expiration date. I think if I did try again, I would be denied a car because I prefer doggies over kitties. and before you judge me, no, none of these so-​called requirements for proof of insurance are listed anywhere in the rental agreement when booking on the advantage site. and good luck if you book through a third-​party, which doesn’t even list the insurance requirement for local drivers!
DO NOT RENT FROM HERE.
even if you have to pay $ 5 or $ 10 more to rent from a legit business at the airport, it is well worth it.
DO NOT RENT FROM HERE.

There should be negative stars, Advantage does not deserve not even one star.
Bad location, bad service, they try to rip you off with the insurance.
I’ll never use this company again

They were advertised on Kayak as being on-​airport. They are not. Not fun to get to the rental cars only to learn that there’s no
Advantage location on-​airport. We cancelled our reservation and went to Budget, we’ll stick with them from now on.

The service was slow at midnight and the car not perfectly clean… but…Derek was a real pro and handled a long line courteously. It took almost 45 minute to get my car but Derek was pleasant all the way to the last man.
Well done!

How about not having cars available!!! What Is a reservation for then?! Unbelievable

To tell the truth, if I had looked at the Unilocal ratings for this location when booking a car for a personal trip this week, I never would have used Advantage — and that would have been my loss! The rental site is TINY, and I think that accounts for many of the complaints.
Anyway, my experience — when I got to the rental desk (off site, wait for the shuttle about 15 minutes) the line was short, except the people in front of me (1 person, really) had major complaints about the cleanliness of the car he had just gotten. I have no idea if his complaints were justified or not… but I was getting worried, because I HAD read Unilocal while waiting for the shuttle.
After about a 30 minute wait (due to complaining guy), the young lady at the desk was professional and took care of my rental efficiently and reasonably quick. The car I got was a little dirty on the exterior and a little dinged up, but I noted the major ding on the sheet I was given. The inside was very clean with everything in great shape. The car was perfect, ran well, no problems.
I returned the car 2 days earlier than I had planned and they took it with no problems. As a matter of fact, the guy checking it in ran after me to check it in faster when I assumed it was an office return. I was only charged for the time used, no penalty of any kind. Plus, there’s a gas station right next door so refilling it yourself is a breeze.
Bottom line, the employees were very professional and efficient, the rate was about $ 30/​day less than everyone else, and the car was very satisfactory.

I’d give it zero stars if I could. I knew when we were waiting on the shuttle and my significant other showed me Advantage’s one star average rating on both Unilocal & Google that we were probably going to have an issue. I wish we’d looked at the reviews before booking, honestly.
So, we took the metro to DCA and then spent about an hour trying to find Advantage’s shuttle and get to the check in desk. It was not easy, the signs are small and easy to miss. I was pretty frustrated by the time we finally figured it out and got on the correct shuttle. We even called the national hotline for help, but they were pretty clueless about how to give us directions.
We arrived at the off site (about a mile or so from the airport) location to check in, and there was no one at the desk. A lone employee, moving at a glacial pace, rubbed sleep from her eyes and came out to assist us, yawning and acting like we had just woken her up from a nap.
I booked this rental on Expedia and purchased their additional insurance for the trip (mini-​vacations are the best!). The employee took my driver’s license and credit card and then asked me for proof of insurance.
I told her that I bought additional insurance on Expedia — she says they don’t recognize it because I live within 65 miles of the Advantage location and do not have an airline ticket in hand. What? I don’t own a car — why would I have a full insurance policy? This is why I buy additional coverage.
She says they can’t rent to me, but she’d be willing to make a one time courtesy exception for the tune of $ 39. ARE YOU SERIOUS?
No. Absolutely not.
So, needless to say, I’m out the non-​refundable amount that I paid to Expedia for additional insurance AND I don’t have a rental car, which means no mini-​vacation. So now I’m back home, writing this review instead of using my vacation day for something entirely more fun.
Don’t rent here. Ever. I will NEVER rent here again ever, not in ANY capacity, not even if it was free.

If we could give a negative star, we would. Pre-​paid car rental months in advance. Got into DCA at midnight, waited 20+ minutes for rental company shuttle to pick us up, no one showed up, asked around and was told they closed at 11:00 pm. So basically our family (with small kids) was stranded at 1:00 am. Thankfully, Budget was open and got a car. Called Advantage customer service the next day to complain (nicely) and they could care less. What kind of people do they hire? They said they will honor the reservation but we have to wait because there is no car available that morning. Whaaatt? We have pre-​paid for the rental!!! Honor the reservation my ass!!! Stay away from this company. They are unprofessional and sleazy! Don’t go cheap because that’s what you’ll get. Plenty of good rental places out there. Lesson learned.

If you live within 65 miles of the Advantage location and do not have an airline ticket in hand, you must present written proof of liability coverage for damages and injury. This was not disclosed while I was booking my reservation, nor in the confirmation email. I was denied my rental and had to find another agency to rent from at the last minute, or purchase their $ 40/​day coverage.
The rental agent was remarkably patient with my bad attitude, but she was also disingenuous about the information she had provided me.
As others have mentioned, this is not on airport grounds and requires a shuttle which is inconsistently timed. While it’s not necessarily difficult to get there, given all the other obstacles you’re better off renting elsewhere. I ended up getting a last minute Budget rental for half the cost of the original Advantage rate.

Rental office is located far outside of DCA. We came in late, around midnight, and an associate says that there are a few cars left (5) and we happened to be the 7^th group in line. No more cars would come in until 9 am the next day. If we have a reservation, shouldn’t we have a car ready for us? They just left us out to dry with no compensation substiution. This place is a gamble, but I wouldn’t go to this dealership again.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. RUN AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE UNTIL MANAGER IS FIRED. Whatever you do not rent anything from this place. I made a reservation online and when i got to the lot, which by the way looks like a bomb disposal field, i happened to be the only in line. The rep who later confirmed he was a manager was playing on his phone and did not once look up to acknowledge me or say give him a minute. I waited for about 2 minutes while he was playing on his phone and i said excuse me do you work here and he said yes give me your credit card and license. I handed him the requested information and i simply said is this how you provide customer service; a customer works in and you don’t acknowledge him, make eye contact or say give me a few minutes and i’ll be with you. As soon as i said that, he said «take your license and credit back i will not serve you and you can get out. I was so shocked that i asked if he was kidding and he repeated again, i will not serve you, leave. That really irked me and i believe i asked for a manager and he said that i should leave or else he would call the and i told him he was the biggest idiot i ever met and he should take some training in how to treat customers who pay his salary.
At that point, i told him since this was a non refundable rental as stated online and since he said he would not serve me to go ahead and issue me a refund so that i can go to Hertz, who i normally rent cars from and who treat customers with respect. He said he wasn’t going to give me a refund and said that i should call customer service. I said no that the reservation was for this location and he should be issuing the refund. He said no that i should call customer service and while i was waiting in the office to speak to customer service rep, he called the cops and when i arrived i was on the phone with customer service who said they don’t issue refunds and only the manager at that location can issue refunds. The cops even had the gesture that this guy is just nuts and heard me on the phone with the customer service rep and then took my ticket back to the so called manager. Whether he processed the refund or not, i dont know because something is seriously wrong with him.
Long story short, i went to Hertz at Reagan, and while i was making reservation, their system went down for like 5 minutes and the gentleman at Hertz offered me a bottle of water and told me to wait until the system came back and not more than 5 minutes later the system came on and e said for the wait i’ll discount your reservation. I told him that wasn’t necessary and he insisted. I have always rented from Hertz and had great experience. every single time but every single time i try a different car rental company its always a hassle. This is the sign that i simply belong to Hertz and will always rent from them no matter how expensive. The funny thing is the difference in price between Hertz and Advantage was only $ 30. So it makes sense to pay a little bit and be treated with respect than pay a lower price and have to deal with people that know lack basic customer service skills. THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME ADVANTAGE AND WILL BE MY LAST. It is shame Advantage will allow such individuals to represent their brand.

I CAN’T BELIEVE I MADE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN! Almost two years after my first debacle with Advantage, I made the same mistake and reserved another car here through Priceline via Kayak. I forgot the address is listed incorrectly on Priceline, indicating that this business is AT the airport and experienced déjà vu (all over again) when I showed up to rent my car and realized I’d have to shuttle to the off-​airport location. The staff was nice this time, although slow, and said that they’ve called Priceline numerous times to try to get the address corrected.
In the future, I plan to rent at one of the airport locations over this off-​airport spot. .. as long as I can remember to avoid Advantage!

I booked my deal through Rental Car Momma and had a pretty good rate. Not knowing the rental car lot was not at the airport spent 45 minutes taking the main airport shuttle to the tiny Advantage/​Dollar shuttle. The driver of the Advantage shuttle was checking his text messages WHILE DRIVING and the door to the shuttle barely opened so I had to squeeze out.
These were the signs I should have turned around and left:
1) When the shuttle pulled up I saw at least 20 people sitting outside and they all looked like they had been waiting too long to pick up cars. 2) The building is shared by Dollar and Advantage and it looked like everyone inside wanted to pull their hair out. 3) the Advantage line was very short and the reps looked miserable and told each person who does not have a reservation ‘there are no cars available’. 4) when I came up to the counter I told her I had a reservation; she then proceeded to say ‘company policy requires proof of car insurance’. WHAT?!? I sold my car three years ago but I have a drivers license, why the he! do I need proof of insurance?
I got back on the shuttle. 45 minutes later I’m back at the main rental car terminal getting a car at Avis.
Note: Book your rental deals via Priceline! If you use Rental Car Momma avoid Advantage and Dollar!