We rented a vehicle from Alaska Auto Rental during our trip to Fairbanks. Overall, the experience was good, but there were some issues with the pickup process that cost us over an hour of vacation time. Our vehicle was supposed to be waiting for us at our hotel, but when we arrived, there were two Alaska Auto Rental vehicles parked side by side--both Chevy Equinoxes, just different colors. Apparently, another customer accidentally took the vehicle assigned to us because the lockboxes used the same access code. As a result, we couldn't get into the vehicle listed on our contract and were left confused about which car was actually ours. To their credit, Alaska Auto Rental answered our call and sent someone out to help. After some investigation, we realized the other customer had taken our vehicle and we had been left with theirs. New contracts had to be issued for both rentals to correct the mix-up. The replacement vehicle had noticeable damage, including scratches down the side and a broken passenger-side mirror, but it otherwise drove well and met our needs. While the situation was frustrating, especially after traveling, the staff was helpful and worked to resolve the issue. Fortunately, we didn't have any tours or excursions scheduled that day, so the delay didn't impact our trip. I would rent from them again, but I hope they improve the vehicle pickup process to prevent similar confusion for future customers. read more

FOR PIKES LODGE LOCATION super close to the hotel Around 2 staff i think. Warm inside has water and pamphlets. The staff was very chill and patiently answered all our questions, no hidden fees. Car usable and relatively new. It did keep mentioning oil changes. Rental was around $88/d including coverage, all awd, has chevy. The car play doesn't really work. Return was easy (just drop off key), they do have short hours of operation. The car includes scrapers and cord for heating. read more

Alaska Auto Rental - Pamphlet for winter driving - Car Rental Near Me - Fairbanks, Alaska

Probably the best car rental experience I've had and I travel quite a bit. My family and I really enjoyed our rental and the services provided to us. I typically rent from your normal, Alamo, Budget, etc. but man am I glad to went to a more local place for this one... the experience does not compare! I would strongly recommend and will be looking at more local places to rent from moving forward. Great job guys! Keep it up read more

Great service, great car, responsive staff and excellent company all around! It was easy and all good!

Alaska Auto Rental is easily the most unethical and money-hungry company I've ever dealt with. They charged me a fee over $2,000 just for taking the car on a gravel highway for one day -- even though it came back with no damage and in the condition I took the car in (I have before and after photos to prove it). I rented a car for 22 days and unknowingly took a short, 1 day trip on a restricted gravel road. Because I picked up the car after hours, I was never verbally informed of these restrictions, and I missed the clause in the contract that prohibited gravel road operations (my mistake, which I acknowledged). I apologized and offered to pay a fair fee, but they refused to be reasonable and only seemed focused on squeezing as much money out of me as possible. Even after admitting fault, being transparent, and returning the car with no new damage, they still imposed an outrageous fee (over $2000) -- threatening collections if I didn't pay. The whole thing felt super shady, especially since they said they'd contact me shortly after I returned the car but didn't end up reaching out for the fee until over two months after I returned the car. This experience showed a complete lack of integrity and customer service. I'll never rent from them again, and I strongly urge others to think twice before doing so. read more

1 / 1 I was very pleased with my rental experience at Alaska Auto Rental. We used the location at Pike's Waterfront Lodge. The lodge shuttle picked us up from the airport. Very convenient! The staff was very friendly and helpful, and the 2023 Chevy Equinox I rented was in great condition and still smelled new inside. I highly recommend Alaska Auto Rental! read more

Alaska Auto Rental - 2023 Chevrolet Equinox. Looks new and smells new inside. - Car Rental Near Me - Fairbanks, Alaska

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Everything went smoothly. From my initial contact to online reservations to pick up and drop off at the airport. No problems at all. The car was a newer model SUV that was a good deal for the price.I would definitely rate Alaska Auto Rental over the usual suspects (the well-known rental car companies) at Fairbanks Airport. read more

Terrible. Do NOT rent from them. I have been trying to cancel my reservation for 2 days and can't get a hold of anyone. You call and it goes straight to voicemail saying, "you will not lose your place in line." no, they just call you back at all. I have left 2 voicemails with no reply. I have emailed them twice and no reply. Have found other reviews saying how money hungry this place is and scared I have basically lost my money even though I am within their "7 day cancelation time" read more

We had confusion about the pick up - the instructions emailed to me told me to go the Pike's Waterfront Lodge, but when we got there - they told us the car was at their main offices. They gave me a code to get the key out of a numbered lock-box. But the number didn't exist and the code didn't work on any of the lock-boxes. Car had a full-size spare - BUT it was just loose in the trunk - taking up luggage space. That should be made clear that you lose half the trunk space for the spare. If I'd known - I would have rented a larger vehicle. Windshield wiper on passenger side was ripped and didn't function well. They should also let you know ahead of time that you're expected to take the car through a carwash before returning it. Staff was friendly. read more

We rented a car at the Anchorage Airport. When calling to make a reservation the customer service representative was very polite and helpful. It was very easy to call them when we got to the airport to get a shuttle to take us to our rental car. Easy to pick up the car. You just go to the lock box and get the key and you are on your way! Very clean vehicle. read more

Everything was perfect! So easy and well affordable. I would recommend to anyone coming to Fairbanks to use Alaska Auto Rental! Great service read more

The only place you should rent in Fairbanks! Conveniently located at Pike's Waterfront Lodge (shuttle available). Driving in Alaska was my #1 worry in the dead of winter. It is really nothing but ice. But our rental car never failed us once. Easily handled the road to Chena which was our furthest destination. Used the plug in for the first time and car started up perfectly everyday. Service was great and key drop off a breeze. I would never trust a typical airport car rental company in Fairbanks unless they could guarantee that your car was winter ready like Alaska Auto Rental can! Highly recommend! read more

Yeah that was a last-minute rescue they came through other than the fact that if I didn't have my card with me and I had to put like a pretty large deposit down but yellow the car ran perfect I got everything done that I needed to get done and you know they didn't ask me about blah blah blah the dude was very relaxed and the lady there was cool as a fan also man she was sweet so yo them they were awesome least to me that day read more

We rented an all-wheel drive Chevy Equinox for five days. It was very easy to take a Lyft to/from the airport to AAR's site (about $12 with tip). I had submitted all of my paperwork ahead of time via email, so it was very easy to pick up the car. There was an ice scraper & electric cord included, both needed & appreciated in early April. The car was fantastic. The staff explained who to call with any questions or problems (I had no need to call). They were the ONLY rental to guarantee me an all-wheel drive vehicle, which was truly necessary as it snowed on us every day. No sliding here!! read more

Alaska Auto Rental - Scraping snow off the Equinox, a daily duty for us! - Car Rental Near Me - Fairbanks, Alaska

The staff were so helpful, when I got to Fairbanks and needed a rental! The car was really nice, (a pretty "blue" I hadn't seen before") and super clean. I would completely recommend. Suree wish they were available at the airport for pick-up! LOVED that, for a fee, the car can be dropped off at the airport. That was nice, for a 6 a.m. flight. Thanks again! read more

Alaska Auto Rental - Super cute color! - Car Rental Near Me - Fairbanks, Alaska

It is my pleasure to highly recommend Alaska Auto Rental. We had a rental for about 2 weeks, picking up in Fairbanks and returning in Anchorage. As advertised, we got the vehicle we requested at the time and place we specified. The vehicle was dropped at our hotel in Fairbanks an hour before our requested time. We had a year-old SUV with less than 6000 miles on it in great shape. I called the office a couple of times before our trip and in both cases reached a real, pleasant human in Alaska. They are not cheap, but Alaska is expensive in general, and if you are road tripping there you do not want to take chances with your vehicle rental. Beware of some national chains whose "reservation" system is more of a suggestion than a commitment to rent you a car. Thank you, Alaska Auto Rental! You were the easiest part of the trip. read more

+ New car + Friendly, helpful staff + Pickup/drop off location + Pump prices for fuel fill up + Great communication + Car ready to go in -40 temperature - Spouse not permitted to drive vehicle without prior authorization - Hassle providing proof of insurance documentation read more

Absolutely flawless. I have rented a lot of vehicles in my life, and this was by far the easiest and smoothest rental process I have ever had. Completely stress free from beginning to end. I can't say enough about how well the whole experience went. Will definitely be recommending Alaska Auto Rental! read more

I rented an economy class car from Alaska Auto Rental from their Fairbanks location in March 2021 for 4 days. Amazing experience from beginning to end! Quinn was the person who helped us out with the rental and answered all our questions and he was very kind and informative and very personable even though most of our interactions were over the phone! (Also, if you're reading this Quinn, we're sorry if we spelled your name wrong) Pre-booking: we had some questions about car insurance and gravel highways and Quinn was able to get all our questions answered. They sent us a few docusign documents to review and sign as well. We also had some confusion on who was driving the car and Quinn was more than happy to change the booking and honored the same price that we originally booked at. Day of rental pickup: we rented on a Saturday and the office was closed for the weekend but we were fully aware of this and were provided with clear instructions beforehand on how to pick up our car. Basically we were able to go to the office and get our keys from a lockbox and take some photos of the car. Then we were good to go! Even though the office was closed on Saturday there was still a number to contact them if needed (we didn't). The car was in excellent condition and had pretty low mileage. There was some light snow and ice on the roads and we generally had no issues with our economy car. The tires had very good traction. There were a few times when we were driving up more inclined roads in the ice and the roads were a little slippery but I'm chalking it up to road conditions more so than anything wrong with the car. Returning the car: Quinn took a look at the car when we returned it and was kind enough to drop us off at the airport afterwards for our flight out of Fairbanks! We were very grateful for that! Overall, Alaska Auto Rental exceeded all of our expectations and we would highly recommend it for anyone looking to book a car in Fairbanks. They advertise winterized tires on all their rental cars and it can make a big difference when driving in the often winter conditions of Fairbanks. read more

Awesome rental, great service and hospitality. The team were very kind to explain things especially for a first time driver in Alaska winter. Couldn't recommend them more! read more

Locally owned and operated Car Rental company offering flexible driving options throughout Alaska! Services offered in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Seward, Whittier, Denali National Park, and others. Gravel highway approved vehicles truly allow you to see Alaska your way, on your schedule. Very knowledgeable customer service representatives. You can tell that they company cares about its customers by how dedicated they are to ensuring that your rental experience is the best it can be. read more

BEWARE of this rental company This company needs to be educated on the ADA laws We rented a car for a family trip for a week 1st when we got the car the inside was not clean then when we had a problem with the key that we had to fix ourselves I travel with a service dog they were informed that he would be with us we took reasonable precautions ie a cover an the floor and he always stayed in that area when the car was returned undamaged they charged a $250 pet cleaning fee when we called them they said it doesn't matter if it is a service dog or not the fee is still charged they need to learn the ADA laws I have filed a case with the US department of Justice read more

Any damage that you give to one of the AAR rentals, will result in large amount $$$ you will pay back. In my case, I couldn't avoid the object due to traffic and ended up with a $1700 bill even after my insurance paid for the damage. Thanks AAR. read more

We really appreciated the help with filling out the waivers etc via phone when we were picking up our vehicle from Sophie's Station. The car was great and having the ice scraper came in very handy. You thought of everything. Great place to rent a car! read more

Thank you for your service. Reasonable prices and large inventory of vehicles on hand. All other car rental companies did not have any inventory Alaska Auto Rental came through and had no problem with having a car available. read more

Price Gauging! Be careful!!! I made a reservation for a premium SUV in early May 2021. Since I hadn't made a decision if I would go to Wrangler national park (thru Mccarthy Road), I didn't choose the gravel paved vehicle. I called Alask Auto Rental right after I made the car reservation online to ask them if I could upgrade it and how much is the upgrade fee. And they told me yes I could upgrade any time and I only need to pay $400 for upgrading. In June, I heard the rental cars are hot and almost all sold out since people are eager to travel after the whole year of Covid related travel restrctions. I felt I'm lucky that I booked the care in early May. However, when I called today to upgrade it to the so called gravel-paved vehicle, I was told the upgrading fee is $805. Yes, they doubled the price! I reminded them that I was told in May that I could upgrade it any time at $400. But they denied. It is ridiculous!!! I asked them to pulled out the phone record, they did say the difference between non-gravel paved car and gravel-paved one is $400. But they insisted on $800. Stay away from them! Use big chain rental company instead! read more

I have had a SUV rental with this company for almost two months as I am here for work. They go above and beyond with customer service! From the time of reservation with the docu sign to the pick up at the airport it was a great experience. The vehicle itself is well maintained and since I had it during the winter month and now into summer they scheduled maintenance on the vehicle for switching summer tires and an oil change. They picked up the car when I was at work and returned before I even noticed it was gone. They take pride in their vehicles! It is a local business and they make you feel safe and secure with all your transportation needs. It is great knowing you are talking to someone local vs car rental chains. I would definitely rent again from them! read more

I rented cars all over America, this is the first time I ever been charged an extra cleaning fee..my dogs werent even in the car the hair on seat came from my wife coat she been wheelchair bound since breaking her leg and ankle. we took the suv over 2 mountain passes all paved roads car was dirty and there was dirt from wheel chair being in the back. do yourself a favor unless you want surprise fees after you return the car rent from a major rental company thanks for the $250 dollar lesson, I won't make that mistake again read more

I rented a Chevy Equinox for 4 days in January on my first trip to Fairbanks. I landed around 9 pm, and simply took the free shuttle to Pikes' Waterfront lodge. I followed the very easy instructions, picked up the keys from the coded lockbox, used the provided ice scraper/snow brush to brush some snow off the car, and was on my way all in few minutes. Returning was even easier. Parked the car in the same place, drop the keys in the drop box, caught the shuttle and was at the airport in a matter of minutes. The car was spotless and flawless, with necessary electric cord included. (I'm from Texas, and was not accustomed to having to plug in the car, nor to the -23F low temp!) My flight was canceled and I was booked on a later flight, and the staff was extremely nice, knowledgeable and helpful, allowing me to keep the car the extra half day and, in this case, didn't cost anything more! I not only would recommend Alaska Auto Rental... I already have! Darren H. read more

These guys should be watched closely. They charged a BS smokers fee of $250 when we did not smoke in the vehicle and when we asked for proof or photos they sent photos of "ash" under the front seats and on the seat rail underneath. They also said we had the opportunity to inspect the inside of the car before leaving. I've never had to inspect under the seats. It looks like a way to enhance the revenue from people who live far away. What they missed is that we are in the travel industry and have been to Alaska 8 times and sent hundreds of people there. This story will be shared many times with travelers and agents. Beware. I understand renting a car is hard post pandemic and we paid an outrageous rate for a crap vehicle that lunged on acceleration and had to be babied when braking. We knew that was the situation when we drove out. But this attempt to collect a bonus fee was underhanded and a business practice that should drive away potential customers. read more

Awesome service - Peter provides us with outstanding help with great customer service. Highly recommendation. read more

Alaska Auto Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Fairbanks, Alaska

Total scam. They will claim you damaged the vehicle then take advantage of your insurance. There is a reason they ask for your insurance in advance. Save the headache, go with a big name. Totally sad we can't support local business. Read the other reviews, its no joke. if you're already committed to them video tape the car inspection and document every rock chip or scratch. Renting a well used rental car with over 50k miles for $120/day then getting a $3k bill sucks. read more

Took cruise to Seward and wanted to drive to Fairbanks via Homer, Anchorage and Denali. These guys delivered a nice 4 door Toyota Camry to my Seward B&B and left the keys in the glove box. Great, reliable car that comfortably held 4 adults and luggage. Price was $1303 for 8 days which seemed a bit breathtaking until I shopped the nationally branded competition. Only one other company in Seward and they wanted almost double that price. Priced renting at Anchorage airport and they were no better. Dropped the car in long term parking at Fairbanks Airport and left it unlocked with the keys in the glove box. No pain, no strain. They also have a branch in Denali. If you take the train and want a car for the rest of the trip to Fairbanks, this is a great option. read more

I had a really sad experience when I rent a car here. It was cold and snowy day with a lot of snow on the ground after a winter storm.My family wanted to go to a lodge in the middle of nowhere, but the car we reserved was a compact. We asked a man from this rental car shop if we could upgrade it to AWD, then he said we could. However, the price he offered us was really expensive. I realized later that the price was equivalent to a price of an AWD plus a compact. It was obviously not upgrade but just he had added an AWD on the compact. We told him we had asked if we were able to upgrade, and then he even told us he had upgraded it already. He insisted this was just because an AWD price on that day was expensive, so the price was correct. We had a small kid in our party, and again that was really a cold day, so we had no choice but to rent a car with that price. I don't know if it happened because we were Asian. I just cried. I won't never ever recommend this rental car shop for anyone else. read more

Great experience. Instant pick-up at the airport and an almost brand new car was waiting for us in the class we reserved. No hassle drop-off and an instant ride back to the airport. read more

My wife and I were staying in Denali and needed a car. Peter was helpful during the whole process. When we arrived on the train from Anchorage, the car was in place that it was supposed to be. We will book again with this company if back in Denali. read more

Alaska Auto rental is an excellent company to rent from. They pride themselves in making sure your vehicles are clean,ready and safe for all operations. The vehicle I rented was awesome and came with winter tires. This was a huge plays for me. Thanks for the fantastic experience! read more

Be careful with these guys, they are sneaky and unethical. I made a reservation in January for a trip in June. The original agreement was to pick the car up around 1000 on a Sunday. I have the original invoice. They have no staff working on Sundays but said they would arrange a pickup. They charged my card for $566.00. Fast forward to June 6. About 8:00 pm in our hotel room (after starting our day at 3:30 am and two flights later) I get an email from these guys with the rental contract to sign. I did this in January. So on my iphone screen I review the contract and initial accordingly. In the right column there was something saying 17.00 and pick up time. It looked like a 17 dollar charge to me. The next morning about 9:00am I call, no answer. It took over an hour to get someone on the phone. They said my pick up time was 5:00pm. I said it was 10:00 and the guy (forgot his name) said the contract I signed last night said 5:00pm pick up. He said he would see what he could do. After waiting almost another hour for a response, my wife booked a reservation with another company. We got the car in less then an hour and were on our way to a long day of driving to our fishing lodge and afternoon fishing. After our trip, I called to ask for a refund. The guy I talked with (supervisor maybe, Cory??) would not budge saying I signed the paperwork for a 5:00pm pick up. He said it was written in military time as 1700. Looking at that invoice I told him there was a line that said 17.00, he said that was it. I told him military time has no decimal point it should read "1700" and it did not register as such to me. He basically told me they still would not refund my charge. I would not recommend anyone use these guys, especially with a Sunday pick up. read more

We decided to rent from Alaska Auto Rental vs the standard nationwide rental agencies because we wanted to make sure we could get a 4x4 SUV that had winter tires and had been properly winterized. Alaska Auto Rental far exceeded our expectations and we had an incredible time driving all around the Fairbanks area. Quinn was our rental agent and he was fantastic!!! He picked us up from our hotel and spent the ride pointing out fun things to do, restaurants to try, and telling us about places outside of town we should visit. It was so nice to spend time with someone who really understands great customer service! We will absolutely be renting from Alaska Auto Rental whenever we're back in town! read more

With basically no competition in Denali, its amazing the service and value this place delivers!! Everything went smoothly--pickup from the train depot, easy check-in and check-out, and just the vehicle we wanted. April was fantastic--she was uncommonly friendly and helpful, as when she took us back to the hotel to retrieve a forgotten item even though it was way out of her way. The one possible downside is that it's a little far from the park entrance in Healy, but really that's a minor thing, especially since they're willing to shuttle you back and forth. read more